Plucky efforts the icing on the cake

Mitchell's guitar cake took 12 hours to make, including baking, woodwork and decorating.

By Kyra Gillespie

A local Year 9 student has officially taken the cake earlier this month after earning first prize at the the Dandenong Show cake-decorating competition.
The intricate guitar cake was created by Beaconhills College student Mitchell Johnston for his Personal Best, a Year 9 program where students have one term to work on a project that is their personal passion – and bring it to fruition.
He entered the cake in the Dandenong Show’s adult novice section and not only won first place in that section, but champion in show.
Mitchell said the cake took about 12 hours to make, including baking, woodwork and decorating.
“The hardest part was putting the strings on the guitar, as the icing was too soft to hold them tight,” he said.
It’s not the first time Mitchell has entered his cake creations in the show – he entered a 3D octopus cake when he was only 10 years old.
Despite his cooking abilities, Mitchell has no real aspirations for a career in food.
“I would like to be a vet, but I will enjoy making cakes for friends and family in my spare time.”
Beaconhills was the first school in Victoria to introduce an on-campus Year 9 program, in response to the observation that Year 9 was traditionally when students switched off from their learning – often the most unproductive of the senior years.
The program became the blueprint for many similar programs in schools across the state.