Well, I didn’t make it out to Ukrop’s big one-year anniversary celebration on Saturday because I was preparing for the hubby’s birthday party. But from the looks of the parking lot, it was a big success.

I promised Jonathan Rhudy, my PR contact at Ukrop’s, that if he sent me a picture of their Mill Mountain cake, I’d post it on the blog. So here it is, before it was demolished and eaten by a crowd of Ukrop’s shoppers. The fellows standing behind the cake are Jeff Ukrop, zone manager for Ukrop’s, Jim Goodman, Ukrop’s executive pastry chef, and Jason Woodcock, Ukrop’s Roanoke store manager.

I think it’s kind of fitting that this picture came in the week after I wrote about brightly colored wedding cakes. If anyone wants a kelly green wedding cake, this is what it might look like. Minus the little tractor trailer (or not — whatever you’re into).

A few fun facts about the cake:

- The custom Ukrop’s Mill Mountain cake took roughly 15 hours to complete, including baking, preparation and decorating time.

- The cake was made of Ukrop’s signature pound cake and yellow batter cake. It was iced with traditional butter cream and was decorated with rolled fondant and modeling chocolate.

- The edible creation weighed more 200 pounds and served more than 400 people.

- The cake’s designer, Jim Goodman, Ukrop’s executive pastry chef, currently serves on the board of directors of the Virginia Chefs’ Association as its vice president.

Source: Ukrop’s