A Memphis man who saw Brooks's work there admired it so much that he arranged for her to create a butter portrait, of Mary, Queen of Scots, to be displayed in his offices.

[8] In late 1873 Brooks read King René's Daughter, a verse drama by Danish poet and playwright Henrik Hertz.

Brooks was inspired by this character, and created a butter sculpture, Dreaming Iolanthe, depicting the innocent girl just before learning the truth.

An article appearing in The New York Times declared that the "translucence [of the butter] gives to the complexion a richness beyond alabaster and a softness and smoothness that are very striking", and that "no other American sculptress has made a face of such angelic gentleness as that of Iolanthe.

"[8] Brooks created other versions of Iolanthe, including an alto-relievo which was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition – the 1876 world's fair held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[8] As a demonstration that she had, in fact, sculpted the piece, she created another head, in about ninety minutes, for a panel which included Exposition officials and members of the press.

[2] Observers were impressed both by the quick performance using crude instruments to sculpt in an unusual medium and by the artistic qualities of the finished work.

Even though the circumstances of the demonstration may have seemed like a stunt, Brooks was largely considered to be a serious artist whose creations should be regarded similarly to work sculpted using more traditional methods and materials.

"[9] Following her very successful showing at the Centennial, Brooks gave lectures and demonstrated her craft while touring many cities, including New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Des Moines.

The latter, based on the Charles Dickens character who was a friend of Dick Swiveller from The Old Curiosity Shop, was reported to be Brooks's first full-length sculpture.

She opened a Washington, D.C., studio[4] and in 1878 sculpted a life-size version of Dreaming Iolanthe in butter,[3] and shipped it to be exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.

Finally financially able to purchase marble, she used that material to sculpt subjects including Thomas Carlyle, George Eliot, James A. Garfield, Lucretia Mott, Emanuel Swedenborg, Thurlow Weed, and a group sculptural portrait of Alicia Vanderbilt La Bau (daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt[12]) with her four children.

[2][3] Brooks exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts and the Woman's Building at 1893's World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago,[13] including a bas-relief of Christopher Columbus in butter, and four marble sculptures – Lady Godiva Departing, Lady Godiva Returning, the Vanderbilt family portrait, which she renamed La Rosa, and a marble version of Dreaming Iolanthe.

[8] When attempting to sail from New York to France with a life-size butter sculpture, she was forced to delay her departure until she was able to secure passage on a ship with sufficient ice to preserve her work throughout the journey; and then she faced the task of finding a railroad car which also had enough ice to safely transport the piece from Le Havre to the final destination of Paris.

After preserving her original butter Dreaming Iolanthe for a half a year, she desired a method which would not require keeping it in cold storage.