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by Barbara Jo
You can see the layers on the platform here, created to give Orville uneven ground to climb out of. The platform is made out of foam core, glued together in layers and covered with royal icing.
And here we have the full dirt presentation. The French creams are arranged around Orville, creating a lovely field of dirt. The different types of nuts create a nicely varied texture.
This is the hard candy lettering that followed the curve of the base, reminding us, "They're Coming To Get You, Barbara!". Usually Barbara Jo just pours the hot candy directly onto the marble slab in the shape she wants. The letters require more detail than that method allows. The candy is hot enough to melt a paper or plastic pastry tube, so she used a 70's-era metal pastry tube, and filled that with the hot candy. I wasn't able to find a similar one online, and I'm not sure they're even made any more.
Orville looks pretty happy in the French cream dirt. Too bad about his eye.
Wow, Orville has big hands. You can see that the shirt covering the raspberry blood bag has now been distressed (as you'd expect a zombie's shirt to be).
And here we are post-explosion! When Barbara Jo squished Orville's left shoulder, the blood shot out his left eye, slightly splattering both of us (but fortunately none of our guests).
Barbara Jo puts our cleaver to good use serving the cake.
We did a fair job on the back of Orville's head, but of course we had at least three quarters of the cake left. I brought it in to work the next Monday, but my co-workers were oddly hesitant to cut into the face. I eventually dissected him and removed the face and all the plumbing, and that seemed to be more appetizing.
Lovely parting shot, eh? During the first spurt of blood, the frosting cap over the mouth didn't come off. Once Barbara Jo removed it, the blood just kind of oozed out the mouth, it was very nice. I really like the little drops of blood on the right cheek.
The Practical Candymaking Cookbook
Professional Methods Adapted for Home Kitchen Use
by Paul Villiard
(recipe for French creams, hard candy, and cordial cherries)
Jacques Torres
(general inspiration)
Colette's Wedding Cakes
by Colette Peters
(recipe for chocolate ganache and modeling chocolate)
Colette's Cakes: The Art of Cake Decorating
by Colette Peters
(recipe for buttercream icing, rolled fondant, and royal icing)
Cakewalk: Adventures with Sugar
by Margaret Braun
(general inspiration)
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