I hated making this cake and I am not very happy with it, but I learned lots and will be better prepared to make a book cake in the future. This was for my daughter's birthday. She's taking medieval studies at university. The bottom cake is a replica of her master's thesis and the top is a book on Hildegard of Bingen (who was the inspiration for my daughter's thesis). The "illumination" on the cover as well as the spines are edible images. Vanilla cake with cream cheese buttercream filling.