This is the summer of candy celebration cakes in our household, with most of the cake making kudos going to my 20 year old daughter Maggie. The first celebration of the summer was when Maggie’s brother Sam earned a certificate from our community college in health care. Sam loves Butterfingers and voila, the Butterfinger cake entered our home and made us very happy for a day or two.
Sam’s birthday showed up on the calendar a month later and we knew he had a special place in his heart for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Here’s Maggie with her peanut butter cup cake creation, before we entered into our short lived love affair with that cake. 
Showing little restraint, we devoured it in a day, although we were kind enough to share with a few folks outside the family. We do believe in moderation, we said indignantly, when asked by others for a few remaining crumbs.
And this weekend there is Father’s Day with a birthday celebration for that same Dad only a day later. We know he likes Pay Days, Milky Ways and gummy bears. Oh, our minds, our hearts, our taste buds tremble with anticipation.
What’s your favorite candy cake?
Remember last week when my friend Karen asked for help with her cake for the Cub Scout banquet? It was a contest between different parents to see who could make the neatest cake. The boys, no doubt, would bask in the glorious creations made by their parents and achieve new levels of social status based on the relative success and handiwork, if only for one evening. When I was a Cub Scout I always felt bad for the kids whose parents bought cakes from a store or brought loaves of spelt bread or some other health food on nights like this. Some of the cakes I have seen in my day looked like they belonged on the Cake Wrecks Blog. I know mine would if I tried something like this.
And at that age – about 8 or so – I would have been quite jealous of Karen’s kids for having such a cool mom who could build a great cake like this. Not only is it a modern engineering marvel based on a modern engineering marvel, but it also won first place at the banquet. Every little piece of it is edible, even the little candy dolphins and fish.
Karen writes:
…a totally edible Golden Gate Bridge cake was a 1st place winner at last night’s Cub Scouts Blue & Gold Banquet. This was a family effort, with lots of planning and assistance…and thanks to my office-mates for the insight ideas! I tried to use candy for some of the items….note the canoe and cars—circus peanuts; the bus – frosted Tootsie Roll; trees – cotton candy; road – gum sticks; stripes in road – sour tape strips; wheels on autos – Skittles…and gummi bears as the people.
Karen, you had me at “circus peanuts.” I can see why your beautiful cake got the blue ribbon. Great job. Your attention to detail is reamarkable. I don’t mean to set up a competition but with some practice you might be able to give Erin a run for her money. The second photo is an aerial shot. Just imagine you are in a tiny candy helicopter, playing tourist for the day.
Have you ever made a cake this fancy with so much candy on it? Tell us about it or better yet, dig into that shoebox or hard drive and send us a photo.
My coworker Connie had a Halloween party last weekend and did a great job making use of various types of Halloween candy as cake decorations. She used Peeps, marshmallow faces and M&Ms. She may have even baked something inside the cake. Since she did not save a piece for me (practically a mortal sin), I cannot vouch for this but it would fit the nature of her creativity to do that. Click the picture to get the full-size image so you can use her decorating prowess as an inspiration for your own cake.
Do you do any Halloween decorating with candy? Take a picture and link to it in the comments or email it to me and I will post it if I get enough submissions.
