Inspired by ... Books!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Books are never far from our mind. Especially these days, now that we have written one of our own and understand how involved the process is from conception to publication. We have complete respect for authors who put in a great amount of effort to share their knowledge, making many sacrifices along the way. Books have long inspired the creation of art and have brought people together. In the cake industry, books have been a continuous source of inspiration for designers.

We have assembled some of our favorite themed cakes made by cakelava and inspired by books. Many of these books are classics and included on lists of people's favorite books of all time.  Each cake included was made by Rick. All decorations were handmade and painted and the art was done freehand. The client gave Rick creative license to design the cake as he felt best, and as with most of our celebration cakes, we didn't know what the cake design would be until he was actually working on it.

We want to acknowledge each of the book authors, whose timeless words and art inspired us to create!

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Thomas the Tank Engine

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Sandra Boynton books theme

Piglet from Winnie the Pooh

The Wealth of Nations

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake

We were excited when we got the order for The Very Hungry Caterpillar cake, because I was more than just a little familiar with the book. It was one of my favorite children's books growing up, and it's popularity exploded over the years. Millions of copies have been printed of Eric Carle's beautifully painted book and this children's classic dating back to 1969, has been translated into 30 languages! Although I could have easily remembered each and every page from memory, it always helps to have the book in front of you for accuracy, and our client was happy to bring us one for Rick to work from. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a great match for Rick because of the painterly style throughout the book, and he had a lot of fun with this one. The cake had partly eaten handpainted fruits completely around the cake and the gluttonous caterpillar placed on top. The cake was gorgeous in person with the varying shades of color and painterly style. It was a nice trip down memory lane, and one we're happy to take anytime!

Aloha, 'til next time!