Email   Print   Share By Erin Rogers, Sentinel Staff

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At Fort Hood’s Culinary Arts Center Tuesday, Spc. Rebecca Kuschka, 615th Aviation Support Battalion, and Sgt. Marc Susa, III Corps, begin rolling out the foil that will line the giant board the 500-pound Army’s birthday cake will sit on. Ila Stuart, Sentinel Graphic Designer

Ila Stuart, Sentinel Graphic Designer

Spc. Nicole Kanyer, 581st Area Support Medical Company and culinary artist for the Army, decorates a 1st Cavalry Division patch for a cake at Fort Hood’s Culinary Arts Center Tuesday. Kanyer was part of a selected group of Soldiers who worked on the Army’s birthday cake, and used her precision to create decorations that adorned the 500-pound delicacy. The birthday cake was made to feed more than 1,000 people, and will be cut and served at the Army’s birthday recognition held at III Corps. Ila Stuart, Sentinel Graphic Designer

Pfc. Jamie Nakamoto, 589th Brigade Support Battalion, sculpts the middle stages of the Phantom Warrior Horse made mostly out of chocolate at the Culinary Arts Center Tuesday. The chocolate Phantom Warrior Horse will be rotating in-between layers of the Army’s 237th birthday cake, amid edible patches from the units at Fort Hood. Ila Stuart, Sentinel Graphic Designer

Sgt. Marc Susa, III Corps, carefully places the edible ivy adornments onto a vine-lined pvc pipe that will act as a decorative support for the Army’s 237th birthday cake which is French vanilla-flavored and has three different icing types including buttercream, royal icing and rolled fondant. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Staff

Edible patches from brigades and major units on Fort Hood and the U.S. Army logo, were made to decorate the bottom layer of the U.S. Army’s birthday cake, celebrating 237 years of loyal service to the nation. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Staff

About 20 of the 30 layers of French vanilla cake that make up the bottom layer, sit on the cake board before the culinary arts Soldiers begin to frost them. More than 40 pounds of buttercream frosting was also vanilla flavored. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Staff

The 6-foot tall, 500-pound Army birthday cake has been a week in the making, and will be served at III Corps Headquarters at 11:30 a.m. today to help celebrate the Army’s 237 years of service to America.

Today’s 237th Army birthday celebrates Soldiers, Families, civilians and veterans who have shown dedication and commitment to keeping the United States free and opportunistic.

In honor of the almost two-and-a-half centuries of service, Fort Hood’s Culinary Arts Soldiers from different units around post have created a 500-pound birthday cake that will be served at the Army’s birthday celebration held at III Corps Headquarters.

The cake designing began June 4 and the action started Monday, with the culinary artists making edible patches for 22 Fort Hood units around post. All of the adornments on the cake are edible and were created with precision.

The finished product reads, “Happy 237th Birthday America’s Hammer” on the top three layers, topped with an edible 3-D U.S. Army seal.

The next few layers read, “America’s Army, The Strength of the Nation,” with the III Corps and Army logos, dog tags and ivy leaves surrounding the words. The bottom layer is made up of 30 French vanilla cakes, and is decorated with Fort Hood’s brigade patches.

In the center of the cake, between layers of fondant and edible decorations, is a rotating chocolate Phantom Warrior Horse, to match the statues at III Corps Army Headquarters.

Throughout the process of designing the patches and icing the cake, there were more than 20 different food colors used, and three different types of icing.

Much of the cake’s weight comes from its icing, with more than 10 pounds of royal icing, more than 30 pounds of rolled-fondant and more than 40 pounds of vanilla buttercream frosting.