Hundreds turn out for cake challenge at Shawnee Country Club

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — The decor was more upscale than an outdoor table. Tea wasn't the menu item drawing the attention. It was, however, all things Mad Hatter on Saturday at the Shawnee Country Club.Four local cake designers, along with a series of individuals in Alice in Wonderland costumes, brought the classic story to life for the Lima Junior Service League's annual Cook for Books Ultimate Cake Challenge. The event is the main fundraiser for the service club's youth literacy programs. Hundreds turned out for the event.“Cuts in government funding make tonight's fundraiser more important than ever, and we are truly grateful for all of our sponsors and our guests tonight,” said Vanessa Damschroder, president of the Lima Junior Service League. “Our mission is to service children's literacy in our community. We go into the Lima City Schools two to three times a year and we put books in the hands of kindergarteners through fourth-graders.”This year's bakers were Misty Caprilla from Beantown Cakes, Amanda Dunn from Beloved Confections, Alisa McPheron from Fat Cat Diner and Karen Sue Wagner from Cakes by Karen. They varied from Caprilla's interpretation of the Mad Hatter himself pouring a cup of tea to an intricate tea cup design by Dunn.“He really is a 30- to 40-hour cake that we get to put together in two hours,” said Caprilla's husband and assistant, Frank.Dunn's creation won the cake challenge. A people's choice for taste was won by McPheron.The goal is to raise more than $30,000 to keep funding the book giveaway and other youth literacy programs.Damschroder said the organization has been doing the Cook for Books program for more than a decade. The idea to transform it into a cake challenge evolved as more TV programming focused on the art of decorative baking, she said.“It really seemed like the media was really turning into this cupcake wars, they were more interested in the cake competitions. Ten years ago, the big thing was the iron chef challenge on the Food Network,” Damschroder said. “Now it seems like everything has exploded with these bakeries that are being highlighted. We just kind of followed what was going on around the nation and their interest in the confectionary wars.”