The Second Great Cake Bake

Get out your pastry bag and put on your finest apron. East Tennessee's fanciest cake competition is just around the corner.  Knox County Public Library is showcasing the imagination with the help of a little flour, butter, and sugar.  The second annual Great Cake Bake to benefit Imagination Library is set for 12-5 pm on March 26 in the Tennessee Terrace at UT's Neyland Stadium..  All local bakers and cake makers are invited to participate!

The Great Cake Bake is designed to highlight the regions’ best cake decorating skills in a public exhibit. It's a sweet way to support Imagination Library program—making sure that Knox County children will continue to get free books in the mail, every month, until age 5.

“The Imagination Library program is a great service to Knox County’s children,” Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett said.  “It’s important to support programs like the Imagination Library that foster children’s natural curiosity and encourage our young people to read.”

Participants can enter in one of four divisions: Junior (under 18), Beginner, Intermediate, and Professional; and can bake in one of three categories: All Occasion Cakes, Wedding Cakes, and (new this year) a single brilliantly decorated Cupcake. Also new this year, the decorated cakes will be separated into different groups: buttercream frosting only and fondant/gum paste/mixed sugar art. There’s a place for every cake!

To enter online, go to www.knoxlib.org/cakebake and fill out an easy registration form. Each entry costs $10. Entries must be received by March 14 in order to be entered in the Great Cake Bake. Paper forms can also be downloaded from the Knox County Public Library’s website or picked up at Sugarbakers Cake, Candy & Wedding Supplies.

Winners in each category and division will receive a trophy and bragging rights for an entire year! New this year: the audience gets to pick a favorite cake of their own. The people's choice winner receives free admission to a special Cake Sculpture workshop at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts outside of Gatlinburg. The workshop will be lead by Colette Peters, owner of Colette's Cakes, a specialty cake company in New York City. Colette has created cakes for window displays for Tiffany & Co and Cartier, was commissioned by First Lady Hillary Clinton to create cakes for the White House Christmas display, and has had cakes featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Food Network, and The Today Show.

About Knox County’s Imagination Library:

A program of the Knox County Public Library, Imagination Library mails one free, age-appropriate book each month to all registered Knox County children from birth to age 5. Currently, over 980,000 books have been sent to over 33,000 children since the program began in 2005. 72% of children under age 5 in Knox County are signed up for Imagination Library, helping prepare our youngest citizens for success in school.

The Great Cake Bake is made possible through the generous support of Food City, Sugarbaker's, Friends of the Library, East Tennessee PBS, WVLT, Knoxville News Sentinel, B97.5, Sisters of the Skillet and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.