Contestant fuses passion for art and baking into winning entry in UCLA Edible Book Festival

Lauren Peikert’s pound cake, shaped like an open book, was topped with a chocolate powder garden and candy vegetables and exuded a playful and imaginative take on “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” As the winning selection of two of the festival’s categories, her piece did not go unnoticed.

This year, the fifth annual Edible Book Festival featured 12 contestants, including UCLA students and faculty members, all creating baked goods based on favorite stories. Lauren Peikert, a student from Santa Barbara City College, emerged as the winner of both the People’s Choice award and the Best Student Entry award with her homage to the children’s story “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.”

“First I thought of a lot of different (books) but I chose the book ‘Peter Rabbit’ because I got into the idea of making a little garden. The copy of the book I had was one from my childhood and it was just a favorite story of mine,” Peikert said.

As a student who wants to pursue a major in art at UCLA, Peikert’s “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” rendition was an expression of her creative interests. Though this was the first time Peikert entered UCLA’s Edible Book Festival, she said she has participated in edible book festivals from her hometown, Santa Barbara.

“I just started doing it for fun about three or four years ago. It started off from getting inspired from those cake shows,” Peikert said. “Mostly the art and sculpture aspects of building the cake are what got me interested.”

Spencer MacRae, a high school friend of Peikert, also attended the Edible Book Festival. He said he recalls several birthday cakes made by Peikert in the past, his favorite being based on the Hayao Miyazaki film, “My Neighbor Totoro,” made of Rice Krispies Treats.

“It goes back to her background in art,” MacRae said. “She loves doing 3-D designs and so she’s always made all of her friends awesome cakes for their birthdays.”

Peikert has exhibited a strong interest in art and sculpture from a young age. Her mother, Chris Bohinc, said since Peikert was 4 years old, she was able to create complex origami designs. From then on she continued to express her artistic abilities through local competitions such as edible book festivals.

“She’s been coming up with her own recipes (since) second grade from what she has learned in the kitchen with me, and she’s not afraid to try new ideas and new materials,” Bohinc said. “She’s a very hands-on person so it’s easy to translate her vision into a 3-D product.”

Though Peikert’s interest in art and sculpture is reflected through her participation in creative baking events, she is still deciding what to pursue professionally with an art degree. While considering career paths in the bakery business, she is still considering other options.

“It’s a side thing, but I’ve sort of thought of having my own bakery,” Peikert said. “For now, this is really just more of a hobby that I really enjoy doing.”