Fundraiser # 1

The Sisterhood of the Pink Sneakers (Cartersville) has scheduled our first fundraiser - A BAKE SALE!! It is scheduled for the weekend of 5/1/2010 @ Belk's (more detailed details to follow closer to the date) - and I am getting a jump on the baking part of it - I want to make sure my baked goods are EXCELLENT before putting them out for sale.

I plan to bake a pink ribbon cake for the bake sale. I didn't want this bake sale to be "just another bake sale" or confused with Food Network's "Great American Bake Sale." I wanted to bake something unique: something to draw people to the table; something that makes the statement "Breast Cancer Awareness;" something that would be easily seen from across the parking lot. The pink ribbon does all of that - especially at 13" high! I started by researching cake pans on the internet and found a ribbon cake pan for $50! $50 - can you believe that!!?? The $50 price tag was a bit out of my league, so I decided I would shape the cake by hand. I've never done this before and I wasn't sure how it would work out. As the Food Network Challenge emphasizes: "performing tests prior to the event is crucial." But, I also didn't want to waste the test cake. The first solution: bake a cake for my husband. So, I asked my husband to pick up his favorite cake mix (lemon) and favorite frosting (cream cheese) for this first shaping test (this is the cake you see pictured here). As you can see, it isn't perfect - the frosting wasn't what I was going for, and the shape was a little off - but the cake, now that was a different story! My husband LOVED this cake! Now, if only it was a strawberry cake with pink frosting!

In talking with my friends at work about this test cake they were bummed that I didn't bring any to work so that they could eat it! Then they asked if I was going to bring in the strawberry cake once I baked that one. Then, one of my friends suggested the best idea!!! Now my next test cake - as I want to make it pink and perfect - will be taken to the office and sold by the slice! This way, I feed my co-workers, test my baking skills before the event, keep from wasting cake AND raise money!

So, by thinking a little "outside the box," this bake sale has turned into two fundraisers! Now, I just have to bake the best cake ever! Twice!!