Making tasty treats out of cake

The Cub Scout Pack 913 Father and Son Cake Bake is an annual Saipan activity. It’s a cake competition combined with an auction fundraiser. The Cubs and their families, along with the community, look forward to this event. The annual attendance is well over 100 people, and the average dollar amount raises is $200.

The money donated though the sale of the cakes is used to run the Pack for the year. Pack expenses include advancements, activities, awards and other nationally recognized competitive activities such as the Rain Gutter Regatta (boats raced down a rain gutter, powered by a scout’s breath), the Pinewood Derby (small cars raced down a track), and the Space Derby (spaceships on a line powered by a propeller).

For the Cake Bake, the scouts are each given a topic that may be similar to Cubs and Movies, Cubs and Family Fun, or Cubs and Insects. The Cubs are also given a secret ingredient and/or decorative item. Each Cub must use his imagination to create a cake with the help of male helpers only.

The rules are:
* Only males can work on the cake: dads, brothers, and uncles, etc.
* Every thing on the cake must be edible.
* Each cake should relate to the theme.
* In the auction you can’t buy your own cake (varies).
* Cake must use secret ingredient.

Each Cake Bake event allows for every Cub to win a prize. There are as many categories as there are Cubs. Additionally, there is the overall champion: the 1st Place winner. Some categories might be Biggest Cake, Best Use of the Secret Ingredient, Most Thematic, and Best Use of Color, for example. Each award has a corresponding prize. The Biggest Cake award might be a giant candy bar, and the award for Most Colorful Cake might win a packet of spray paint candy, for example. The 1st Place Prize is usually a bucket full of cleaning supplies and a big blue ribbon. The reasoning behind the cleaning supplies refers to the mess in the kitchen that’s surely been left behind.

Everyone is invited to join in the fun of the auction. And fun it is. While the judges are deliberating, the Cub Master awards the Cubs with any earned advancements. The Cub Scout age is from 8 years old to 10 years old.

This year’s Cake Bake was held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 18. The Cubs that participated were: Carter Smith, Sterling Brown, Kenyan Schultz, Ben Esplin, Wallyson Wally, Joel Fruit, and Anthony Fruit.

Baking a cake is a breeze when you have the help of a mother. Making a cake, though, without the help of any female is a whole other thing. The Cub Scouts have an annual father-son cake bake every year. Each year has a different theme. This year’s theme was “Cubs and Movies.” There is also a secret ingredient this year: Milk Duds. My brother, Dad, and I decided to make a popcorn tub cake, a drink cake, and Milk Dud cake.

“I was so excited that I won because I thought I was going to lose. There was a couple that were also as good as mine. I also won the biggest cake award,” says Carter Smith.