AUCTION CAKE

So, I've clearly been away for a while, and one day I will in fact explain the beautiful and elegant result that came of the greatcoat project.
Right now, though, just look at this.
This cake, made for the Garfield High School auction, was quite possibly the most intensive cake I've ever done. Let me break it down:

• Marbled white/chocolate interior (adapted from Aunt Di's Bittersweet Chocolate Birthday cake, out of All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray)
• Ganache filling (I think it was ganache. Everything tastes like ganache when you've been working on a cake for a while.)
• White Chocolate Swiss buttercream frosting (amazing and delicious. Every true baker should make a Swiss buttercream at least once in their life. I think my recipe came from Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes.)
• Meringue mushrooms (from the meringue recipe in Sunset Magazine's Cookies, and inspired by Martha Stewart's book again)
• And a white chocolate butterfly.

It took a week to finish, it took cancelled plans to frost, it took frantic purchasing of ingredients, it took panic. Was it, in the end, worth it?
Well, it did raise 400 dollars. So... yes, I would say so. :)