At Gov. Charlie Baker’s Inauguration, George Montilio Makes the Cake

Images via Montilio’s Baking Co.

Governor Charlie Baker is going to take a bite out of the State House—literally.

Baker, who was officially sworn in to take the reins on Beacon Hill on Thursday, will chow down at an inaugural celebration at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston later tonight, and enjoy a specialty cake in the shape of the State House, baked by George Montilio and his family.

A Baker-supporter, Montilio and his team at Montilio’s Bakery Co., which has locations in Braintree, Brockton, and Quincy, recently spent dozens of hours whipping up the fully edible replica, and topping it off with a Golden Dome.

On display when Baker took the oath of office, the 480-pound cake will be doled out to thousands of supporters of the new Republican governor during the event at the BCEC, Montilio said.

“It’s great. It’s great to see it finished, and to be able to get involved in the celebration of another inauguration,” Montilio said. “It’s going to the convention center, and will be served to maybe 3,000 or 4,000 people.”

Montilio, who is the second-generation owner of the South Shore baking company, said it took workers nearly three days to complete the State House cake, which sits atop a base-layer that’s shaped like Massachusetts.

“We have edible images on it, and the gold is painted with an oil-based finish, which is also edible. It’s 100 percent edible. Even the stairs! You can even eat the stairs,” said Montilio.

He said to make it, first, two workers had to bake all of the cake layers before others set up the sheets, using dowels as support, to create the shape of the building. From there, they meticulously applied the details to the cake with frosting, bringing it to life.

“I would guess it took about 60 hours total doing it, baking it and doing it all,” he said.

But the efforts paid off, he said. “Today has been great, people have been calling me all day and saying, ‘hey, we saw it!’”

Montilio’s company is no stranger to celebrating politicians’ wins. Since his father, Ernest, first opened the bakery in 1974, Montilio said they have made cakes and other desserts for the likes of Ronald Regan, George Bush, and John F. Kennedy.

It’s also not the first time Montilio’s has put together a celebratory cake for Baker. Back when the now-governor was first elected in November, Montilio said he created a smaller-scale State House confectionary for Baker.

“He got kick out of it,” he said. “He tweeted back to me, ‘thank you, George.’ Hopefully I’ll get to see him tonight.”