Rapa Nui, (Easter Island) – 9/5/14 – Here it is! The first of the Secret Collaborations I’ve been working on!! This project, for Cake Masters Magazine, was called “Around the World in 40 Cakes”. Some unreal talent was included in this Collab!! Each Cake Artist took a Nation to represent in Cake. I chose Easter Island, or Rapa Nui. This was great fun! Be sure to check out the entire Collaboration – there were some jaw-drop cakes. Photography by incredible food photographer Annette Slade Photography, Inc.. Thank you again Rosie Cake Masters and Avalon Yarnes. XXOO.
Here is the text I included for the magazine to describe my contribution: "Easter Island – a.k.a. Rapa Nui

“Easter Island evokes images of stone heads on barren landscapes against a vast ocean. But the Story of Rapa Nui, the island’s original name, is far more significant. In 300CE the island was settled by Polynesian voyagers, a lush jungle landscape. 300 years later the first of the statues, or “Moai” were erected in honor of seven scouts reputed to have discovered the island. Between 1250CE-1600CE over 900 were created. Legends say a king of the island called upon the gods and ordered the statues to walk, but we really don’t know. Much theorizing has gone into how these huge statues, averaging 4 meters high/15 tonnes, were transported to their final location. Pollen studies show the island was heavily forested until 1200CE, but that all traces of tree pollen had vanished by 1650CE. Shortly before that ecological collapse, the Birdman Cult appeared. The Island was discovered by Europeans on Easter Sunday, 1722CE. Peruvian Slavers kidnapped 1000 natives in 1860CE, and the culture nearly faded into obscurity. Today it is the focus of many preservation projects to both conserve and re-discover this incredible lesson of Respect for Nature and her limits. This is the original story of the “Lorax”. Here, I focused on the young native traditionally garbed, taking comfort with his ancestor Moai, watching as the Sooty Terns escape to the heavily forested island, away from the desolation of cut tree trunks. The Birdman adorns the rock behind them. The wild and silent beauty of this place is striking to me, and I hope I shared it with you"