Let them eat volcanoes!

We're nearly settled in Norfolk now. We just said goodbye yet again to very dear friends with whom we've crossed Naval paths several times. I always hate when you can't stay near the gems you find in the Navy world. Le sigh.

Anyway, I figured I might as well take a minute to upload a couple of cake pr0n photos from elder sprog's last birthday. His natal day isn't actually until this week, but we figured we'd let him have an early party before we left Monterey in order to be sure he'd actually have fun with his friends.

So the backstory on the cake is thusly: He wanted a volcano. He drew photos. Photos included tiki torch candles. I found some online, but they were ridiculously priced, so I bought basketball candles, shaved off the black markings, put my blow dryer to them, and then molded the softened wax into tiki heads. Then I realized I'd be making this cake after the packers and movers had come through our house. How the hell was I going to do this?

I went to the commissary and ordered a quarter-sheet cake with absolutely no decor. I even told them just to put a crumb layer of buttercream and leave the rest undecorated. I think they were planning to call the wacky wagon on me, but they relented. The day before his party, I picked up the cake along with a cake mix. In the BOQ, where we were staying, I mixed the cake mix together (red velvet) and nuked the cake. I used modeling chocolate for the decor this time, plus a bit of gum paste, and threw it all together. On the little, teensy, tiny table in the BOQ. With the BOQ kitchen instruments of doom. That's right.

And here was the iffy result:


We also used some dry ice to create the smoke for his volcano. He was pleased. :)

It's impossible to see the awesome carve up I did on the candles. But they're there. Trust me.