Last fall, I entered a cake in the America’s Baking and Sweets competition. The theme was “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” After wracking my brain trying to think of an interesting design that showcased multiple materials and skills, I settled on what I hoped to be an award-winning sketch:

I wanted the cake to seem as if this magical, chocolatey world was literally gushing to life, straight from the book’s text. As if the reader were imagining it true.

A metal support screwed into a wooden base, with a wooden circle on top of which the two circular tiers would balance.

In the end, the cake looked pretty close to the sketch. And it turned out to be an award-winning sketch, after all- my fondant Wonka took home the top prize in the Theme Cake division. Yahoo!!

The first thing I needed to do was find the appropriate passage in the book- the part where he describes the rivers of cascading sweetness. (Ok, I’m getting hungry writing this post!) I typed the passage, printed it out, and cut each word out so I could place them on the cake evenly. I used a food-dye marker to hand-write the words, and then drew the illustrations and painted them with food coloring mixed with extract. Ta-da! My favorite part of this cake, the book! ❤

Next came Wonka’s face. While looking at a cartoon of him, I hand-drew the face and then cut out the various shades. Then, using fondant I had already mixed those colors, I rolled it out, placed the “puzzle piece” on top, and cut out the fondant piece. One by one, I cut out the pieces and placed them together until it looked like the devious chocolatier.

Next it was time for the goose that lays the golden eggs. I made wings and a body out of gum paste and let them dry for several days. Once they were completely hardened, I stuck the wings inside the body and began layering wafer paper feathers. I cut out tiny triangles, and, beginning from the tail section, laid them on, leaving the end of each feather un-glued. Once the feathers were complete, I ran a damp paintbrush over the feathers so they would curl up a little bit.

Layering on the green-dyed wafer paper:

And the final product! Wonka in all his glory!

What movie can you think of that would make an interesting cake? Let me know in the comments below!