Sarah Shreves chose to learn how to bake and decorate cakes with two types of icing for her senior project. She made one cake with buttercream icing and another with fondant icing to show the judges the differences between the icings. While she had some initial problems with the fondant cracking, she was able to solve it. Through her research and hands-on work, she learned many skills involved in cake baking and decorating, though she does not plan to pursue it as a career since it requires a slower pace than she prefers. Overall, she believes the senior project requirement is valuable for exposing students to new topics and skills.

1. 1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
March 28, 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
Hello, my name is Sarah Shreves. I enjoy playing basketball and hanging out with my
friends. Today I will be telling you about cakes. I chose to learn how to bake cakes and
also to decorate them with two different kinds of icing. My goal, (with the help of my
facilitator) is to make a cake decorated with fondant icing and a cake decorated with
buttercream icing. I chose this as my project because I have always loved baking as a fun
pastime so I figured why not do something that relaxes me?
My product is two cakes, one made out of buttercream icing and the other made out of
fondant. I will be showing you the significant differences in both icings. I will also show
you how some designs work better with fondant while some are better when using
buttercream icing. In my research leading up to my research paper I learned different
ways to make both icings and how to easily put them on cakes. I had a few problems
when I started my first cake because the fondant kept cracking and was too sticky to roll,
but I used powdered sugar and water and it started working perfectly.
Through all of my research I learned a lot about cakes and the skills that it takes to make
them. It is a fun process, and I can see how a baker could very much enjoy his/her job.
Though I enjoyed doing my project on baking, it is a career I do not think I would like to
pursue. I like faster-paced work environments and decorating cakes takes a lot of time. I
am glad, though, that I did this because now I can use what I learned next time I make a
cake.
My thoughts on the Senior Project are that it is not as bad as most people make it seem. I
learned a lot about my topic and I never would have if it hadn’t been for this project. So
overall I think that they should continue to do this project because you never know what
you can learn from it. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Sarah Shreves