The Shining Cakes

Heeerrrree'ss Joohhnnnyy!

     First I made little fondant axes based on the one from the movie. I made an eggnog cake (gotta use it up) and a couple of eggnog cupcakes. The icing has some eggnog in it as well. It's a subtle flavour but makes for some really moist cakes! I cut off a slice and decorated it to look like a door, with white chocolate splinters and a chocolate chip doorknob.

Photo credits: Kelly Garsha

     These cakes pay homage to the famous scene from Kubrick's The Shining (1980). This is an excellent film that drips unsettling originality all over the screen. It tells the story of Jack Torrance, a writer who takes a job as caretaker of snowed-in hotel. He, his wife, their young son and a whole host of ghosts live together for months, cut off from the outside world. Eventually the cabin fever gets to Jack and he develops a strong dislike of bathroom doors and hedge mazes. 

Hey, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! And evil ghosts don't help either.

And if you like cakes that don't look like cakes, check out my Evil Dead Cake.

Excision Lungcakes

And now for something gross to test your appetite...

     The cupcakes are basic vanilla with buttercream. I loved practising the swirls with my new decorating tips. I made the "lungs" out of half-and-half (equal parts fondant and gum paste) coloured pink. I made the ridges of the trachea and the branches of the bronchi and bronchioles using a matching pink icing. I then splattered them with a mixture of strawberry jam and grenadine. I got the idea of the lungs from Zilly Rosen's awesome book Zombie Cupcakes.

Photo credits: Kelly Garsha

     These cupcakes were inspired by the seriously creepy film Excision (2012) from newcomer Richard Bates Jr. Excision tells the story of an utterly insane teenage girl who is obsessed with blood and dreams of becoming a surgeon. No one imagines how destructive her delusions would become.The awkward dark humour makes it feel a bit like Donnie Darko, and her disturbing (day)dream sequences feel very Cronenbergian. Overall, the whole thing is superbly acted. It's excellent, but a word of warning: It is a disgusting, nightmarish trip. 

...Something less disturbing next time, I promise!

If you liked my lungcakes, be sure to check out my braincakes as well. 

What other body parts should I make?