Teacher Retirement Cake

I thought this would be a fun cake to share around back to school season.  This cake was made for a special teacher to celebrate her retirement.  Her husband wanted to surprise her with a great cake, so he called me and gave me freedom to design whatever I wanted.  At first I was going to design a pretty cake with flowers and sparkle, but I quickly changed my mind.  It had to be a cake celebrating her great career!

I covered the cake board in a thin layer of black royal icing.  Once it was dry, I painted “Congrats Judy” with white gel food color to look like a chalk board.  I included a piece of fondant chalk nearby.  The apple is made from rice crispy treats covered in red fondant.

I love making book cakes now, it’s my new obsession!  My first book cake was made for a graduation, and I couldn’t wait to make another one.  I made the bottom tier a simple green to compliment the apple.  I called that one “lesson plan”.  The top tier is meant to look like a marble notebook.  I used a clean and new kitchen sponge dipped in black gel food coloring to dab on the marbled design.  I really like how it turned out!

A school themed cake would not be complete without a ruler, number 2 pencil, rubber eraser, and wide ruled paper.  I gave Judy an A+, congratulations on your retirement!