Baked in Birmingham

Happy Birthday, Churck!

Happy big 3-0 to Chuck Hooten (who will always be “Churck” to me, thanks to a misprint in a church bulletin). Chuck is quite a character with a very distinctive style. And when his milestone birthday rolled around, I knew that I could immortalize him perfectly in gum paste. His dirty wash jeans, army fatigue cap, and arm tattoo are just very…Chuck! So one Boston Cream Cake, some piano keys, and a messy kitchen later…

So with any cake decorating attempt, I always reflect on what I did super, and what I need to work on. For this one, I learned two things. First, if something needs to stand vertical on a cake, use gum paste and not fondant (um, drunken piano keys?). The second is not to let my husband carry my cakes…because I had to redo the piano when we got to the UCF House!

*7/3 – update: I don’t know what the flip is going on, but this picture isn’t showing up. Sorry to anyone whose having problems with this on their browser.*