2014 Elmo's first annual BSA cake auction

I have been neglectful in completing this post of the 2014 Elmo's First Annual BSA cake auction. One week after returning home from Marcie's because of Corbin's birth, we met with the boys and YM leaders on Tuesday, January 27, to decide on what cakes to make for the cake auction. Because they had never done it before, they were surprised at the options available. During the power point presentation of different cakes, one leader said he wanted to do a t-bone steak. I told him, "Great, let's do it." He was shocked that it could be done. So then the creative juices started flowing and the boys/leaders gave me their ideas. 

The next difficult question was - what flavor? You mean there is something besides chocolate and white. Yep. Sister Thomas gave them ideas and they went to town on it.

A side note: We usually don't invite the 11-year-old scouts to join in the fun but these were Sister Thomas's old Primary class that she loved very deeply so she insisted that they would benefit from the monies raised so they could/would be involved. 

Sister Thomas, after committing to this project and the cakes were ordered, realized and remembered she no longer had the large kitchen with tons of counter space like she did in Grantsville and most of her specialty pans were lost in the hundreds of unopened boxes downstairs. My 35-year-old oven is crazy here in Elmo - never knowing what temperature it really is at. It is definitely inconsistent. Oh boy what had I got myself into now!! I cried a day (not really but I felt like it) and then decided to suck it up and deal with it. We didn't have the same freezer space available so John would take them down to the church after they were cooled. It was CRAZY! 

The week after the orders were placed I had the challenge of figuring out how to make the shapes they ordered. This is the best part for me because it is always a challenge and I love it. It stretches my imagination and creativity. How to make a cowboy hat? I was perplexed finally decided on using my breadmachine pan which is rectangular and use twinkies for the top. The scout used folded aluminum foil to make the brim fold up. How to make rodeo racing barrels? I used tomato juice cans. They were the hardest by far. I had to redo them several times. How to make a t-bone steak and baked potato? The t-bone steak was a brownie cut in the steak shape and the baked potato was two cupcakes engulfed with aluminum foil just like the real thing. How to make a plumber's crack? I used two small metal serving bowls "butted" up against each other with a little bit of the cake trimmed to make a "crack".

Now Sister Thomas likes to have the decorating part accomplished in an orderly fashion with only 5-6 boys at a time to allow for the best teaching environment. One set of boys (deacons and their leaders) come on Tuesday night. Then another set (teachers/leaders) come on Wednesday night. Then another set (priests/leaders) come on Thursday night and the last group (11-year-old scouts/leaders/anyone who missed or couldn't come) comes on Friday night. Well, that didn't happen. 

We had 15 boys and leaders come on Tuesday night creating a ton of stress on me and not being able to teach them properly. It shows in some of the cakes. Yikes! I was NOT happy. I ran out of frosting because I didn't plan on everyone coming. And to make it worse, four extra boys came that had not "ordered" a cake previously so then I had to make four more cakes the next day. My cake-making-system was cleaned up and put away. Not cool.

Teaching the unteachable was difficult too. Some would not listen to me because they had decorated a cake before. Sure enough, they had crumbs in their frosting. I tried teaching them but they would not listen and too many newbies all at the same time. Maybe next year?

So here are the results. 

  

pizza and baseball field

The pizza cake took first prize. Made by a barely 12-year-old deacon, James Johansen. It was root beer flavored cake. The "toppings" were made out of fondant by him and his sister at home. It was sold in a real pizza box. It sold for $50.

The baseball field cake was made by an 11-year-old scout, Jordan Ekker. He didn't come the first night to choose what kind of cake so he had to take one of the other boys cake and he didn't have a plan on what to make so it was a quick decision. It was a Dr. Pepper cake. It sold for $95.

airport with airplanes

The airport with airplane cake was decorated by Kaden Allred, teacher. His cake was Dr. Pepper. His cake was a cake made using a cookie sheet to make it big enough for several airplanes. The plane was made of twinkies, creme wafer cookies and Oreos. It sold for $80.

BYU football and old-fashion TV with BYU-tv

The old-fashioned TV with BYUtv on the screen was decorated by Luke Stilson, 11-year-old scout. It was suppose to be a TV screen inside an old-fashioned TV with antennas and turn dials. He had never seen one but he was willing to make a try. It turned out well. It was chocolate. It sold for $100. 

The BYU football was decorated by, Evan Stilson, the 2nd counselor in the bishopric. It was suppose to be on top of the the BYU football field but he decorated them separately and didn't want to mess up either of them so they were sold separately. The football was chocolate. It sold for $75.

city with a park and mall

The city cake was created and decorated by Abram Hadfield, teacher - almost priest. It took third place. His city consisted of high rise buildings (creme wafers), a large mall (creme wafers) and city park with trees and bushes. Abram was very teachable and learned how to make the trees and bushes from frosting. The cake was maple flavored. It sold for $80.

2 liter of Coke

The Coca-Cola bottle was not made by me. One of the YM leaders, Doyle Jensen, was skeptical from the get-go that the cakes would be eatable because the scouts were making them. So he volunteered his wife to make his. She encased the unopened 2-liter bottle with rice krispie treats and frosted it to look like the bottle. Then she said it was suppose to be a cake so she made cupcakes and placed them on a Coke tray. Later, he repented and said they were good enough to eat and bought several cakes. In fact, his adult daughter asked to sample each cake to determine the best flavor. It sold for $80.

cowboy hat and bucking bull rodeo

The cowboy hat was made by Koy Jensen, teacher. He was very teachable and creative. It was fun working with him. His cake was an Oreo cake: white cake mixed with crushed Oreo cookies. He took second place.It picture doesn't do the cake justice. It sold for $80.

Caleb Rubio, deacon, wanted a bull rider in a rodeo arena. Again, the picture doesn't do justice to it. He laced the licorice wire around the fence posts, added graham cracker crumbs for loose dirt and the cowboy is face-planted after getting bucked off the bull. It was cute. It was chocolate. It sold for $100.

Minecraft Ender man

Minecraft is a big video game so the next two cakes from 11-year-old scouts, Zachary Hadfield and Ethan Staples, are from minecraft. 

Zach's is a Minecraft Ender man. It was red velvet flavor to represent blood. It was the first cake sold and not everyone understood how the process worked so it only sold for $10. His parents weren't there to bid it up.

Minecraft pieces

Ethan's is Minecraft pieces. Again, his was red velvet to represent blood. His dad had planted a bid partner so he got the cake up to $160. It was fun entertainment.  

pig

The pig cake was difficult to bake. I had to redo it. It was baked in a metal serving bowl. The first one fell apart but it tasted really good. The second one worked. The ears are twinkies and the snout was a cupcake. One of the 11-year-old scout leader, Pete Johansen, was scared to do it at the church so he took it home for his wife to decorate it. It was a white cake. It sold for $50.  

demolition derby car

The demolition derby car was decorated from extra cake on the last night after several boys didn't show up. Brady Staples, another 11-year-old scout leader, used a Dr. Pepper cake and chocolate cake make this cake. It sold for $30.

Plumber's crack

Brady's original idea cake is next. It is a plumber's crack. His wife was mortified with the idea. See the Wrangler pockets and label along with the belt? The night he decided to make that cake, he laughed and hoped it would turn out right. I think it did. What a funny idea! It was intentionally chocolate. What else would be in a plumber's crack. It sold for $32.

Rodeo barrels and plate of spaghetti

The rodeo barrels took 3 times - a charm to bake. I drank 5 cans of tomato juice to make these cakes. It is actually 3 different cakes - a single and then two stacked together. He purposefully decided on root beer for the flavor. You know root beer barrels. Anyways YM leader, Cody Jensen, was a great sport. Melanie and Autumn wanted to have eat a cake so John bought it for $35. It was going for cheap and it was a good flavor. That's what grandpa's do for grandkids.


Tommy Johansen, new deacon, made the plate of spaghetti. It was a round white cake covered with licorice and chocolate donut holes. He decorated the whole thing without help. So it was rough looking. Maybe next year he will listen. It sold for $32. 

BYU football field and t-bone steak with baked potato

The BYU football field was made by Evan Stilson. Once again, it was suppose to have the BYU football on top of it but he worked so hard to get the hash marks perfect that he made them two different cakes. It increased the donations so it worked out ok. The cake was BYU blue (blue raspberry) flavored. It sold for $127. The auctioneer auctioned off the BYU and UofU cakes at the same time just like a football game - one bid was a touchdown, PAT, or punt. It was fun to have it go back and forth amongst diehard fans. 

The t-bone steak (brownie) and baked potato (two cupcakes) was decorated by Fred Rubio, the auctioneer and YM leader. The cake was red velvet and the cupcakes were white.

UofU football field

The U of U football field eventually got goal posts after pictures were taken. Brent Hadfield, YM leader, is a diehard Ute fan so it was a must to make it. His cake was snickers flavored - chocolate with peanuts and caramel bits mixed in. YUM! It sold for $150. Now the Utes didn't win the battle of $$ because the Y fans said there were 3 separate BYU cakes that added up to more than the Ute cake. The debate will linger until .......next year??

US flag

Matt Christensen, 12-year-old young man, came unexpectedly on Tuesday night so he had no plan. I told him to make a US flag because it was easy. There was absolutely no listening to instructions and it shows. Some spots didn't get frosting and other places the crumbs were very mixed together. Yikes! It was a chocolate cake. It was proudly purchased by his grandparents for $45. 

basketball and M&Ms

The basketball was decorated by Jerol Lofley, YM leader. He was meticulous about getting the frosting smooth. It got the colors backward though. The basketball court should be brown and the ball should be orange. Oh well. The cake was peanut butter flavored. As previously mentioned, the cake taster declared this one to taste the best at of all of them. It sold for $70.

The M&M cake was made by Spencer Hadfield, deacon. His dad took over the frosting job and let Spencer put the M&Ms on. Some dads need to step back and let their children learn from their mistakes or triumphs. It was peanut butter flavored. It sold for $55.

wheat field

Okay. This one was a hard one - not to make but the story behind it. Justin Rasmussen, deacon, was asked several times what kind of cake he wanted. He repeatedly insisted he was not coming to the auction so he was NOT making a cake. (His parents were protesting the dinner/auction for personal reasons - not liking the Thomas' taking over and doing something that was out of the it's-always-done-this-way thing) He showed up on Tuesday night ready to decorate a cake. I was fuming! But, I couldn't take it out on the young man so he used someone else's cake. He had no idea what to make so here is a wheat field. It has stocks of wheat (pretzels) with blue water furrows. Another crumby mess because of the lack of listening.

It was a super fun event. After it ended, everyone raved about it's success. The boys raised over $2700 to purchase a trailer to haul around their gear. Previously, their annual fundraiser made around $200 so they were shocked with all the $$.

It was not without controversy. As previously mentioned, most of the active members of the Elmo Ward did not attend out of protest: It's-not-the-way-we-do-it-here attitude. The stake YM president who lives in our ward came alone to see the cakes before it started and quickly left. He wanted nothing to do with it. Several families had girls playing basketball in the state tournament that weekend and they were mad that it was poorly planned. The Thomas' fault again -yeah right! The ward council set the date back in November. The team lost their first game and didn't play that night but it was a protest to not attend. Like not supporting the young men was hurting the Thomas'. Don't get me started!!!! 

It was noted that it was probably the best missionary tool that Elmo had ever seen. Because of the member's protest, most of the attendees were inactives, members of different faiths or visitors.

Now everyone is excited for next years. John and I smiled knowing that it would be a success. We just had to get past the doubters. The secret is making the cake and decorating it without the parents. They have to come to the dinner and auction to see their son's cake. Thinking the cakes would go for $10-$30, some people were shocked that they didn't get a cake. 

Next year will be even better.

The boys were so excited with the fun they had and what they learned. They are looking forward to making better designs and flavors next year. I love to see the boys succeed.