Happy Graduation! 2016

Patrice was referred to me by my brother to celebrate four graduations on one cake!  Here was her request: 
"It doesn’t seem critical to me that each of the names is connected to (or near) the specific college logo, but I will trust your artistic eye in creating some sort of happy decoration for the cake! I included logos to show you the colors, in case that helps. I am getting excited for the party, and this will be a special addition. Thanks.  Just to confirm, we are going with half chocolate cake, half vanilla and strawberries somewhere!"
Patrice was very trusting.  She was ordering this fairly blindly, as she had never tasted a cake of mine before.  I assured her that I use the best ingredients that I can...In this particular case it was too early for the strawberries in my garden to be ripe (they were there, but NO hint of red, what-so-ever).  However, I picked up 2 quarts of strawberries from Tendercrop.  Every cake I have made this year get the eggs from my chickens (one of the best additions, in my opinion)!  Again, about a week prior, I started with the gumpaste, which was specific and detail oriented.  I wanted something unique.  She could have gone anywhere for edible paper that layed flat on a cake, so I knew right from the get-go, I wanted to have them raised up and off of the cake.  I decided to take pictures showing how you achieve the two flavor look, going side by side.  The strawberries I incorporated by making a strawberry buttercream.  I cooked down the strawberries, pushed it through a fine strainer, and added this to the buttercream.  I then diced up strawberries and folded it into the cream.  For an outdoor event, you don't want anything cream based...mousses, whipped creams, etc, so I steered Patrice away from anything that would spoil.  This 12 x 18 that served 50 people.