Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sunday Sweets: Bookin' It

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Loyal wrecky librarian Saima has informed me that this week is National Library Week. Now, when I was a kid we made weekly visits to our local library, and every week I came home with a teetering stack of books taller than I was, so libraries are near and dear to my heart. That little building was my literary nirvana - a kind of free candy shop, where the lollipops were spun poetry, and the chocolate bars were the stuff of legends, sci-fi, and fantasy.

So today, I'm dedicating these delicious book-inspired Sweets to Saima and all of her fellow librarians and library workers. Shush on, my friends. Shush on.


Where the Wild Things Are:

Submitted by Ashley C. and made by Glenda's Good Witch Goodies

Alice in Wonderland:

Submitted by Kate O. and made by SliceofCake

The painted roses cupcake is genius. GENIUS, I say!


The Ugly Duckling:

By Leapula

Handpainted *and* little ducklings around the edge? Awesome!


I'm in awe of this Chronicles of Narnia gem:


WOW.

This one is a map of the land of Oz:

By the Cake Doctor

Love the design!


This one combines several of the classic Mother Goose stories:

By jaimecakes09


And I'm sure you can spot Beatrix Potter's classic style anywhere:

The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse by The Cake Mamas

So sweet.

Another classic: Goldilocks and the Three Bears:

Submitted by Lindsay B.; baker unknown.


Here's a more modern entry - and if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend The Hunger Games:

By Pikko

It's one of those books you won't be able to put down. (And for those that have read it, note the deadly nightlock berries on the cover. Talk about a great finishing touch!)


If you're a fellow Terry Pratchett fan, then you're going to love this final cake:

Made by Frances C.

These are all inspired by Pratchett's YA series beginning with The Wee Free Men. The 9-year-old heroine, Tiffany Aching, is a hedge witch aided by tiny blue men called the Nac Mac Feegles, who are always spoiling for a fight and almost always drunk. (Did I mention these books are funny?)

If you look closely, you'll see outlines of the Feegles on the tier below Tiffany's hat:

And they're also supporting the sheep field below:

Besides the main cake is a bottle of sheep liniment (Tiffany's family raises sheep), a block of cheese (which she's quite good at making) and two of the books she consults frequently...in the book. Heh. I love it when a baker nails the details this well! So cool.

Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com.

Now, go visit your local library. :)
Chalotte said...

I think the Alice in wonderland one is my favorite. But narnia is also pretty awesome.. Happy national library week!!

Stephanie said...

Loving the Narnia and Beatrix Potter cakes! The Alice in Wonderland cupcakes are amazingly well done, too! :)

I didn't visit the library as often as you did when I was a kid, but I was quite the bookworm too. I actually got in trouble once for reading a library book in class.
That reminds me, have you ever seen any Beverly Cleary-inspired cakes? Those would be so cute (The Mouse and the Motorcycle comes to mind).

Anonymous said...

Oh so darling. I love them all :D

Alma said...

Amazing collection of Sunday Sweets! I love all the attention to detail from the stories :)

huntress said...

We are serious Pratchett fans and this artist absolutely gets it! Thanks for sharing it. The Wee Free Men look just as I imagined them!

Nisrine said...

The Mrs. Tittlemouse cake is so cute. Makes me want to be a kid again so I can have it for my bday :)

Anonymous said...

HUNGER GAMES CAKE! NIGHTSHADE BERRIES!OH, THE DETAIL!*dies*

Jennifer D. said...

The blue packet on the WFM cake is Jolly Sailor tobacco, which her Granny smokes and which plays a key role at several points in the books.



The audiobooks of this series are FANTASTIC - even if you've read them already, the narrator is amazing at bringing the characters to life.

Maya said...

Squeeeee! I want to have that Wee Free cake forever and ever!

Anonymous said...

I too used a weekly foray to the Library to borrow an oversize load of books, Legends and Myths, history, Sci-fi and Poetry, we have a lot in common I bet :)I usewd to use my Mum and Dads membership tickets so i could borrow enough books to last me a week in the holidays(juniors were limmited to 4 at a time),
and I love this weeks sweets ,FYI just finished the latest Tiffany Aching book 'I shall wear midnight' its REALLY good.

lauge= a way to count words.

Aron said...

The Feegles are spot on! What a fantastic piece!

kimberj said...

I love good YA series :) The Hunger Games threesome is amazing and now you've given me another good series to read! Thank you, thank you, and oh yeah... THANK YOU!!!!

Larisa said...

My 12 yr old daughter and I are Hunger Games fans. She more than I. She tweets out a count down text every day with the number of days until the movie comes out. She draws pictures of Peeta and Katniss. She wants a Hunger Games birthday. (hopefully a tad more civilized). Now I know she'll ask me to make this cake!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the HUnger Games....but I did not like the last book. Anyways,I'm glad I was alone while readin this because I just yelled Ooo,oooo, The Hunger Games! Oh, and there is nightlock!!

mel said...

My mother was a library and my father was a bookstore. Thanks for the nod to libraries and books! And cakes and books are a perfect match -- I think it was Sir Francis Bacon who said something like "Some books were made to be tasted...some to be eaten...some to be digested." Great cakes today -- combining food for the body, food for the soul.

wv - reelyfur: the distance between the earth and the moon.

Lynnette said...

Holy crap the Tiffany Aching cake! Unbelievable! Who is this person and how do I get them to make my birthday cake in Los Angeles?

Katrina said...

I love the Feegles cake! I just finished the latest in that series "I Shall Wear Midnight", Crivens! We love Terry Pratchett! :-)

Unknown said...

NAC MAC FEEGLE!

*squee*

Wonder if the cheese is Horace. Wouldn't be quite right to eat Horace...

That cake is a hat full of awesome.

Paul Erickson said...

Boo! No Harry Potter cake! :'(

Hannah B said...

I just finished reading Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass last week so it was fun to see those cupcakes! Also, you guys become more and more awesome to me every post. I LOVE the Tiffany Aching series. And I want to eat a Wee Free Man now. Thanks for all the delicious eye candy. Keep up the good work!

wv - ingdork: A person who only speaks in words that end with "ing."

Nessa Happens said...

Oh dear god I freaking LOVE the Tiffany Aching cake!!!

KC said...

The Terry Pratchett cake is just amazing, so much detail! And I love how the tier below Tiffany's hat has the Wee Free Men with snowflakes for the Wintersmith book! LOOOVE it!

Anonymous said...

The Hunger Games Trilogy cake is my favorite, mostly because they are my new favorite series. (Sorry, HP. You have to share my affections.) How awesome are these cakes?!?!?!

cq75 said...

Daft Wullie! And William the Gongagle! And Rob Anybody! Now if I could only find No'-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock-Jock...

Oh waily waily waily!

Great cakes all!!

mickeyp415 said...

love them all, but have to say that the alice in wonderland mini-cakes are a-ma-zing! thanks as always for sharing...

Romaine said...

FANTASTIC! I want the Mrs. Tittlemouse cake for ME!

Christine said...

I love the Alice cupcakes, and the Wee Free Men cake is amazing. <3

Anonymous said...

I love love love love LOVE the Hunger Games cake!!! It's one of my favorite books!

meredith said...

Love the Nac Mac Feegle cake, though the large figures are not, I believe, edible. They appear to be the resin figures that you can purchase here: http://www.paulkidby.com/feegles/index.html

(And that website is your number one source for all things Discworld.)

Kelly said...

Crivens, a Wee Free Men cake!

I about cacked my kecks.

Anonymous said...

My favorite books as a child:

http://cakecentral.com//gallery/38335

LindaGladh said...

Oh my GOD (offler or whoever), I LOVE the Terry Pratchet cake! 'Specially since I started to think I was the only one who loved his books, none of my friends even heard of him.

But they don't have as good taste ;-)

(ok, he's not THAT big in sweden, but seriously, he's the funniest guy alive. Or dead. HE REALLY IS.)

Val said...

I just wanted to let you know I was at my local library on Monday, & I was looking for another book, when I spotted your Cake Wrecks book on the shelf. It made me smile, & I said to myself "How cool is that!" Thanks for the double sweets weekend.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you and thank you so much Jen and Cake Wrecks for recognizing librarians and library workers. These cakes are amazing. I love them all.
Sincerely,
Saima

Robin said...

LOVE the description of your childhood library experience. Mine was much the same, and part of the reason I'm a librarian myself. I would like to add the following:

"So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone."
— Roald Dahl

Darcy said...

My coworker and friend, Saima (yes, THAT Saima), told me she was sending you an e-mail earlier this week. I have to admit that I had an "oh, that's nice" and shrugged it off.

Now I'm a squealing mess!!

Seriously, Jen, when we are tears-tired with budget cuts and increased workloads, we turn to your blog for much needed laughter. It makes us sweet again.

Thank you. Truly.

P.S. Saima, we *need* cake this week.

ATigerInTheKitchen said...

I love this combination of my two favorite things: Sweets and books! What gorgeous cakes -- they make me want to hone my cake skills to I can bake one devoted to Sylvia Plath. (Too esoteric?)

Anonymous said...

Jen,
Just out of curiosity, what are your top 10 favorite books of all time? I'm always looking for new authors/books to try out.

Nonie said...

The most heartwarming for me is the Beatrix Potter one, but as an adult I am utterly in love with Terry Pratchett's books, and loved all the details of the Tiffany Aching cake.

I see someone's already mentioned the blue object is a Jolly Sailor Tobacco pouch. Note also that "Special Sheep Liniment" is actually moonshine whiskey....

The black stacks holding up the top tier look like the standing stones. However, I don't believe the cheese is Horace; isn't he a rather runny Lancre Blue?

All these cakes are a delight--thank you SO much for posting them all, and the Hobbit ones yesterday as well.

Your utter fan,

--Nonie

Nonie said...

Eeee! I also missed a few other details on the Pratchett cake: the jelly bears on the middle tier, the cairn treasures trimming the bottom rim, and the design of the White Horse of Uffington on one of the white petit-fours in the back left. ("It ain't what a horse looks like; it's what a horse BE.")

However, I can't figure out the two gold things near the base of the snow/Mac Feegle frieze. Anyone?

(Fan cakes are cool enough even if they only do one thing - say, a good portrait of The Cat in the Hat. But I especially enjoy the complex ones with all the little details you can only find on the fourth or tenth look.)

Monica said...

I love the library! I too have fond memories of visiting the local library and coming home with a giant stack of books. That Terry Pratchett cake is adorable! And the Narnia cake made me go "Wow!" too. I've never read Hunger Games; that should go on my list of books to read. Thanks for the recommendation!

WV: gramoly. I like yogurt topped with gramoly for breakfast.

Lan said...

I have to say, I'm amused at the criticism The Hunger Games has produced, claiming it's too violent. For those who know about it, the concept of the story is a little too close to a Japanese book called Battle Royale: much more violent, and very much into the psychology.
That being said, whoever wanted to be young so they could have the Beatrix Potter cake, doesn't it say 'Happy 40th' on it?

Andy said...

Very cool post, but National Library Week was actually last week! :) I work at a library, so I know these things...

Anonymous said...

As other people have mentioned, I will echo that the blue "book" is actually a packet of Jolly Sailor Tobacco. I loved the Beatrix Potter cake too. I adored the stories when I was a girl. Thanks for the recommendation of The Hunger Games, I'm always on the lookout for another great YA book. If you haven't read him you should check out Charles Delint and his YA and Adult fantasy novels too.

Sara

Anonymous said...

Ah, a perfectly sweet encore to National Library Week. What a wonderful collection ... all fantasy, too. Thanks for sharing ... sweets, libraries, and books are timeless.

Anonymous said...

Crivens! These are all AMAZING!! But the Feegle cake! :O *picks up jaw from floor* Love Terry Pratchett's books! Thank you! XD

Unknown said...

Did anyone else die of happiness when they saw the Wee Free Men cake? I've loved that series for years! Reading the 4th book right now and it's AWESOME

Michelle said...

If you haven't seen the Wizard of Oz pop-up book by Robert Sabuda, you should go find it immediately. All the brilliance of that cake x 1000000!

http://amzn.to/gOhUl2

expelliarmus010 said...

Yes! READ THE HUNGER GAMES!!!!It is sooo awesome! *One of* the best books ever!

The cakes are a-MAZ-ing! Love the Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz one!!

Can you do another Harry Potter Sunday Sweets post? I love seeing the books come alive!! ;) stay happy
-expelliarmus010

The English Teacher said...

Ah, the English teacher approves of this post. :)

Anonymous said...

"However, I can't figure out the two gold things near the base of the snow/Mac Feegle frieze. Anyone?"

I think the left-hand gold thing is a gummy bear, like the ones Tiff's brother eats in the first book. Not sure what the gold thing on the right is, however.

Arlene said...

Ah how I love Sunday Sweets. I love the Beatrix Potter cake. I used to love her books when I was a kid. Still do lol. Narnia cake is a marvel to behold..

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Mother Goose nursery rhymes! I would love a cake with the cat and the fiddle and the cow jumping over the moon.

Christine said...

It's not a block of cheese in the Wee Free Men picture, it's the pat of butter Tiffany makes at the end, with a witch stamp on it to start changing the local perception of witches.

/reads too much Pratchett

Anonymous said...

For the feegle cake - the yellow bit on the left is a gummy bear, on the right, it looks like a Sou'wester hat, like the type worn by the sailor on the tobaco pouch ( the blue cake )
What's in front is a butter pat ( you can just make out the flying witch stamp ) and at the back I think are the 'Soft Nellies'? the other cheese that Tiffany makes.
You're right about the Feegle figurines though, they are the resin one, I have some myself. It's still an excellent excellent cake design - the details are great!

Analise said...

I LOVE THAT YOU LOVE TERRY PRATCHETT! you made my monday. also the hunger games. love finding fellow reading enthusiasts.

john said...

Most of these are classics that anyone would know, but for others, what is the "education" process for bakers? Some of the details these great bakers include show deep familiarity with the subject matter. Does the customer have to provide a ton of art & ideas, or what?

Audra said...

these are awesome! I would love to see some one make a cake about "The Edge Chronicles" if you haven't read them, you are missing out.

Laura P. said...

Wow. Just wow. When I saw the topic for the blog I was secretly hoping for Narnia and LOTR cakes, and boy did you deliver! That Narnia cake is AMAZING! I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't a LOTR cake here, then I went back and saw the post from Saturday. Boy did I squee! :-) Happy Library Week!

w.v.- relshmy: boy do I relsh my time reading this blog!

Shira :D said...

Am I the only person who doesn't like Hunger Games? I read the first book and hated it. I love every single one of those other books, but I can't stand Hunger Games.
Love the cake though. Super cute! (Are the Harry cakes too overdone? D:)

tiny purple elephant said...

Im with blogger Stephanie, have you come across any Ramona and Beezus or Henry Huggins cakes?

Also I love the Hunger Games Trilogy! Buy it and read it, but don't read the back cover or any of the online reviews before hand.
I didn't and it made for a better reading experience.

Also I met Suzanne Collins at a meet and greet at a bookstore last year. She was super friendly and it was a great experience.

crowleyancanto said...

Narnia cake looks like it was created in a magical lab by sorcerers!

Unknown said...

If you ever need more book cakes, check this out: http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/readathon/ediblebook.html. Annual Edible Book contest held at the University of Florida every April!

Anonymous said...

Nightlock berries!! That detail on the Mockingjay wings! *faints*

queen_lame said...

Hunger Games! Oh my gosh! I gasped loudly and my brother said "what?"
I didn't know how to explain. 0.o
I LOVE THAT CAKE!! :D

ksaldria said...

<.<

>.>

*steals Terry Pratchett cake*

Rachael said...

I LOVE the Narnia one! Too cool! I love Narnia! It's my favorite book EVER!!!!! Did you know that one of the Narnian summer months is called Greenroof, or that the world of Narnia lasted 2,555 years before Aslan brought it to an end in the last battle?!?! Narnia even had a Queen named Swanwhite at one point! NARNIA RULES!!!!!!!!!!!

Rachael said...

Oh my word, when I saw the Narnia one I seriously screamed! I have loved that series since first grade! Last night I seriously dreamed about Narnia cakes! I'm debating printing out the picture for my wall! It's amazing! Narnia is only my favorite series ever, and now it finally has a Sweet! I'm jovial! Yay!!!!!

Niki said...

Could someone explain the sheep in the hole on the Prachett cake?

Jude said...

ZOMG!

And, and SQUEEE!!! Yes, with THREE exclamation points! Squee!

Lessee, I gots
1) a new series. Been putting off Terry Prachett, and why? No more!
2) Hunger Games magnificato. Whether you like the books or not, that is a well done cake.
3) someone else mentioned the Edge Chronicles! Would make The.Coolest.Cake. Series. Or four. teen. :)
4) A chance to pump my super favorite series, the Bloody Jack books by L.A. Meyer. The audiobooks are fantastic.
5) Absolutely no compunction about what to DO with the things - who really cuts into these things? Really? I mean, come on, really?! Now I get to bookmark and visit and squee whenever I feel the need. Oh yes.

And on that note, the clock says three hours and an insanely boring meeting between now and my next library visit. :)

Thanks - to amazing cake decorators, librarians, authors, and Jen & Crew! :D

WV: ancicsi: the opposite of concise, aka me.

Anonymous said...

That sheep tushie is the cutest thing ever!

Monica (aka monnibo) said...

One of my favourites is this Golden Snitch cake from Harry Potter: http://insanknitty.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/wanted-seeker/

Nonie said...

Niki: Re the sheep in the hole on the Pratchett cake, since the main hole in the ground in those books is the hidden home of the Nac Mac Feegles, I was guessing the sheep was most likely being stolen, but might have just stuck its head in to see what was happening.

Anyone else?

ME! said...

All are incredibly well done, but my favorite attention to detail is the Oz one on the Dorothy-blue gingham board!

Allyson said...

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I WANT THAT HUNGER GAMES CAKE!!!

Boon said...

The Hunger Games! Yay! Those books are awesome! - Including the last one! **Glares at those who disagree** ;)

And I'm always up for an Alice in Wonderland cake.

Anonymous said...

Oh my be still my bookworm heart!

I have to show everyone the Pratchett cake!!

*swoons*

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tribute to libraries! I love the wild things cake!

Anonymous said...

Hunger Games kicks butt!!!!!

queen_lame said...

<.<
>.>
Harry?? Harry Potter? Where are you?
Katniss, Peeta, Harrys not here!
Oh well, awesome Hunger Games cake! ^_^

Lydia said...

Nightlock berries! Didn't even notice em'! So awesome! The Hunger Games is the best book in the world! And I'm only thirteen!

Kristen said...

I am smitten by the Hunger Games cake!! I envy whoever got that cake for their birthday.

Emma said...

I just *had* to make a Terry Pratchett shout-out. I've loved his books since 5th grade or so and "Wee Free Men" was the first book of his i read. I've never met anyone (other than my family) who's even heard of him! It warmed the cockles of my heart to both see a Terry Pratchett-inspired cake AND find out that there is someone out there who can appreciate it like I do. I tip my invisible pointy hat to you.