Young Cultivators Merit Badge: Icing on the Cake, Beginner Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,861 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—9,721 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane 

For this week’s Young Cultivator Farm Kitchen/Icing on the Cake Beginner Level Merit Badge, I sat down with the two whippersnappers in my life (Nora and Piper) and we made ourselves a list.

Lists are my life.

I brake for lists.

Me and lists forever.

Lists: A Love Story.

Normally, the rugrats scoff at my list making, but this one was one they could get behind. And in front of, and across from, and so on and so forth. Why, you ask? Because it was a list of Things You Could Put On a Cake (T.Y.C.P.O.A.C. for short).

Who wouldn’t want to keep adding onto a list like that?

photo by James Petts via Wikimedia Commons

We were going to need more paper …

Frosting went without saying, though surprisingly, none of us are fond of it. We all agreed it is what’s under it and on top of it that could float our boats, culinary-ly speaking.

Nora, Piper, and Yours Truly’s T.Y.C.P.O.A.C.:

• Powdered sugar dusted over a paper doily would make a lovely pattern.
• Glazed nuts are a delish alternative.
• Dislike of frosting can be remedied by cream cheese. Turns out, we all swoon for cream cheese icing.
• Coconut makes a wonderful presentation, and if you tint it with green food coloring, you’d have edible “grass.”
• Marzipan is fun to shape into creatures and such (and tastes a bit better than most fondants).
• Pretzels
• Dried fruits
• Candy (Well, come on. They’re kids. Not gonna get away without some candy.)
• Peppermint sticks
• Graham crackers, either in pieces or ground into crumbs
• Gummy worms or bears
• Edible flowers: nasturtiums, dandelions, day lily, squash blossom, lavender
• Small toys (do not eat)
• Coconut, brown sugar, butter, and nuts, all spread on top then broiled under the broiler until bubbly
• Homemade whipped cream
• Meringue
• A dollop of yogurt or sweetened sour cream
• Marshmallows
• Sprinkles (use them one at a time to make an “embroidery” like pattern)
• Cereal (think Trix, or Fruit Loops, or Lucky Charms, but look for their organic alternatives)
• Chocolate that has been drizzled into shapes, then hardened
• Cookies
• Chocolate rocks
• Cinnamon sticks
• Orange-peel curlicues
• Chocolate shavings (or white chocolate)
• Raisins
• Berries
• Small sprigs of pine tree branches make a pretty forest
• Fruit leather cut into shapes
• Crumbled Oreos (the organic kind, of course!)
• Chocolate-covered coffee beans
• Popcorn
• Poppy seeds
• Candied ginger
• Star anise
• Birthday candles (What? We were getting tired, and our hands were sore from writing.)

After all this brainstorming, we were seriously famished. Ravenous. Starving. Our bellies were rubbing our ribs. Our tummies were rumbling.

In short? We needed cake. Stat.