Dewey's Debut: The Birthday Book Brownie

Birthday Book Brownie!

 This year's birthday cake was extra special because I got to share it with another awesome character... Dewey! I love a good book and this guy's no exception. I drew the little dude as part of my Leadership class project (a donation station benefiting the local library), and then made the cake in honor of Dewey's official debut. So what kind of cake do you bake for such a celebration of literacy?

So we meet again...

A book cake, of course! Or in this case, a book brownie. In the interest of fewer crumbs in the library (and because I make a killer brownie), I opted for a brownie cake instead of the usual. 

Books & Brownies? Yes, please!

A good tip for showstopping brownies? Doctor up a boxed mix with tasty extras like cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate chips. I also swap out half the oil for applesauce, as it's less oily and you can't tell the difference.

Isn't he cute??

When it came time to decorate, I decided to freehand Dewey. The original artwork (above) took me a few tries (and a little Photoshop) to get just right, but I only had one go with the icing...

Now that's what I call food art.

To do the line art, I simply put some chocolate frosting in a ziptop bag, cut off a corner and used it as a piping bag. For single attempt in icing, I think it turned pretty well!

Because sprinkles are for winners!

For some finishing touches, I added a thicker line of chocolate around the edge to mimic the book cover (plus a little at the spine for the bend of the pages). The sprinkles were for extra color and fun. 

Ready to book it!

All packed up and ready to go... to the library!!

A deluge of Deweys!

As part of the Leadership project, our class held a coloring contest featuring Dewey. It was super fun to see so many fantastically colorful versions of Dewey on display and know I had a part in it.

Coloring contest winners - Great job, kids!

These three masterpieces were the winners of the contest and earned their artists great prizes, like the chance to roll the first "gold" coin down the wishing well.

Dewey's Donation Station!

While I did the artwork for Dewey and other graphics on the signs, this wishing well was a huge team effort involving everyone in the Leadership Folsom class of 2015. Thanks to everyone from the build team to the fundraising crew and all those in between, the whole project was a success, and we were even able to donate $3000 to the library at the debut celebration!

Leslie Knope would not approve

The event itself was a total blast—local dignitaries showed up along with parents, kids, business owners, caterers and more! Since the shindig just happened to be on my birthday (and had a delicious book brownie (birthday) cake), I decided it was actually secretly my birthday party. How nice it was for everyone to come! ;)

Let's READ!

 Here's to another exciting year to read, write, bake and otherwise creatively make the world a funner, tastier and all around better place. Let's read!
Location: Folsom, CA, USA

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