A sweet 'Homecoming'

It was a dream come true for Candy Repsher Knappenberger.

Last Friday, the local cake decorator and sugar artist not only got to meet her childhood heroes, she created a cake just for them.

A lifelong fan of the 1970s television show "The Waltons," the Lehighton woman was watching reruns on the Gospel Music Channel with her husband a couple weeks ago, when she saw a commercial about a showing of "The Homecoming" at a theater in Jersey City, N.J. to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Christmas movie.

"The Homecoming," loosely based on the life of writer Earl Hamner, was the precursor to the long-running television series, "The Waltons."

She told her husband she wanted to go, and he suggested she look into tickets. She found the website online and ordered tickets through Ray Castro and McCastmore Productions.

While a visit to the big city, a show, and maybe dinner would have been a fun, relaxing evening, the wheels in Knappenberger's brain began to turn.

"I hear 'anniversary' and the first thing in my mind is 'cake,'" she admits. "It's a huge event," she thought. "They better have a cake."

She tracked Castro down on Facebook.

"I wrote to him and offered to make a cake," says Knappenberger. "I explained who I was, what I did, how I felt about the Waltons and that I would be honored and privileged to make a cake for them."

She soon heard back from Castro, who asked what she had in mind. She told him she was thinking of recreating the Walton homestead and lumber truck.

"He told me he was not concerned, and said he had looked at my pictures (on Facebook) and he knew it would be good."

It was initially agreed that Knappenberger would bring her creation to the theater to be unveiled after the showing of "The Homecoming," and the panel discussion with the cast that was to follow. After more thought, Castro contacted her and was concerned that by the time the cake was presented, it would be so late, around 11:30 p.m., it really wouldn't be fully appreciated.

He asked her if it would be possible to bring it to a luncheon for the cast, their families and the event sponsors. The cake had to be at Rita and Joe's Italian Restaurant in Jersey City by noon on Dec. 2.

With extra help at home and in her workshop, Knappenberger was ready to roll up her sleeves and get busy.

While her dad, Paul Repsher stepped up and did all the cooking and chauffeuring for her kids, she assembled a team of experts to help her in the workshop Sheila Miller of York, Pa. and Mark James of Freehold, N.J.

"When thinking of what I wanted, I knew it had to be spot on," says Knappenberger.

"I knew Sheila and her husband had competed in a gingerbread challenge. She is great with scale. And Mark and I work super well together. He is excellent with electronics and making things move."

Knappenberger refers to Miller as her "cake mom." The two met through ICES (the International Cake Exploration Societe). She met James when the two went head to head in a cake challenge, and again when they were paired together on a "Zombie Walk" cake challenge.

With distance preventing the trio from working in person, they used technology to transfer ideas and photos. Knappenberger did her research and downloaded numerous pictures of the Walton homestead, including the house; barn; cottage where son John-Boy used to write; and the family's 1928 Ford Model AA lumber truck.

While Miller was figuring out all of the dimensions for the buildings, Knappenberger had a special job for James.

Even a casual viewer of "The Waltons" would recall when the show was over, the closing scene was an outside view of the house with the upstairs lights on. As each family member said 'good night,' a light would go out until the final, "Good night John-Boy."

Knappenberger told James, "That's your job."

"He said 'No problem,'" laughs Knappenberger. "Everything with Mark is 'no problem.'"

In addition to putting lights in the cake, James created all of the trees that surround the house and barn. He made the trunks of chocolate clay and the leaves were made of medicinal herbs, moss, tea, seaweed and kelp, purchased from an oriental market near his home.

"We used as many edible things as possible," said Knappenberger.

While James made those items ahead of time, Knappenberger got busy herself. Using homemade Rice Krispie Treats, she crafted the truck, which was then covered in fondant and airbrushed to the right colors. She baked the cakes that would be used in the house. The porch, roof and chimney were also made of Rice Krispie Treats.

The barn and cottage were made of Styrofoam. Both pieces were covered with fondant and then modeled to replicate the originals.

They needed to have enough cake to serve 70 people, says Knappenberger, but there was actually enough for 125 people.

With a bit of a jump-start, the team began to assemble. On Wednesday Miller arrived, followed by James the next day. They worked until about 4 a.m. Friday and got about two hours sleep before heading to Jersey City.

The homestead was set up on a 30-inch by 48-inch board. It took three people to carry it and it barely fit in the back of Knappenberger's truck.

Not only was the cake complete, the detail was extraordinary. Special impression molds were pressed into the fondant to create siding on the house, and wood grain on the porch floor and barn, as well as the fish-scale shingles on the roof.

Details even included normal wear, mud splatters and moss on the roof and siding.

During the luncheon the trio of decorators stood guard over the cake, which was hidden by special screens on a table against a wall. When it was finally unveiled, the cast members were stunned.

"It was the biggest thing for us," recalls Knappenberger. "We knew we did a good job when we unveiled it and Michael Learned (who played mother Olivia Walton) came over and said 'Candy, we need to pull the table out so we can get a picture with you guys.'

"Me and Sheila grabbed the table and pulled forward and everyone rushed up to get their picture taken with us!"

Knappenberger was also touched and proud when Kami Cotler, who played Elizabeth, the youngest Walton sibling, said "That was exactly the way it looked the last time I was there."

Those at the lunch were so taken with the cake, they refused to cut it. Instead, they insisted Knappenberger and her team bring the cake to the Lowe's theater, where "The Homecoming" was being shown, so that it could be displayed for the fans to see as well.

Since the cake still wasn't going to be cut, and they did not want to bring it back to Pennsylvania, they donated it to a silent auction at the theater. A couple who flew in from Michigan for the event were the high bidders.

While they didn't pay anything close to what the cake was worth, which Knappenberger estimates to be around $3,000, she said it was never about the money.

"The reaction we got was well worth it."