The Story of Foopmallet

3 Weeks after the wedding, I was informed that Kirk was unable to part with his cake at the wedding, so they never did serve it! Foopmallet had been displayed on their dining room table ever since!

A few things came to mind:

A.) What a shame! Redbull cake was awesome, and they never got to try it!
B.) Wow.. now THAT is a unique compliment!
C.) Wait.. that cake is full of an egg based frosting. Is keeping it even safe at this point?
D.) It would suck to have to throw it away, after all that effort. I wonder if there's a way to preserve it?
E.) ACT FAST! Once that frosting starts going, the whole thing will collapse on itself!

I made some calls - to food stylists, taxidermists, and a few cake people. No one had ever heard of such an idea, and there wasn't a lot of advice for them to give! This was going to take some creativity. I met up with Kirk and Amanda to get Foopmallet, who was looking a little under the weather. He had started collapsing on himself, and was bulging out at the stomach with some tearing.

Due to the nature of this - and I cannot emphasize this enough for my clients - I brought Foopy HOME, not to the kitchen. I had NO idea of what I was facing, and certainly didn't want to contaminate my baking area. So, the photos you'll see are at my work table at home, NOT where your cakes are made!

We got a bag of desiccant and I set about attempting the first "Cake Taxidermy" that I can find any record of! 🙂

Wow, was I ever glad I brought him home! Upon removing his head, shoulders, and arms I was overwhelmed with the stench of mold. Ugh. He was full of a black mold, throughout a lot of the cake and frosting.

I have a really keen sense of smell - it helps with the cooking and baking, and is generally a good thing... but was I ever cursing my sense of smell that day! Gagged the whole way through the gutting of Foopmallet, trying really hard to keep lunch down. (Just the subject to address on a cake website, right? LOL).

I very quickly (but carefully!) scooped all of the cake and frosting out of Foopmallet. Nastiest thing I've ever had to do!

Once every bit of mold, all of the cake, and almost every bit of frosting was gone, I was left with a shell of fondant. The icing had left the inside of the fondant shell fairly wet, so it wasn't very stable.. I knew I'd have to act fast. Emptied the bag of desiccant into the shell, and pressed it up against the inner wall of the shell.

Then I quickly whipped up a very dry batch of Rice Krispie Treat, which would be what the body would be filled with. I carefully packed that in, ensuring I wouldn't exacerbate any of the damage to the sides.

After letting that dry and harden, it was time to start the reconstruction phase of "Cake Taxidermy". A lot of the trim was falling off - the result of the bulging/collapse of the cake. I picked most of it off, and replaced it with new trim.

Then I just put the head back on, affixed the arms and shoulder pads... and voila! Foopmallet LIVES!

I am the freaking MacGuyver of cake! Muahahaha!(I just hope I don't have to do that again!)

Photos of the whole adventure:

Head, Shoulders, Arms, and chest plate removed	Ugh, Mold. That cake was all yellow/white!	Almost all of the cake matter removed.
Desiccant pressed up the walls.	Building up the inside with Rice Krispie Treat.	Inside rebuild is done.
Inside is sealed off.	Greyed trim picked off, replaced.	Head on for placement.
Almost all of the trim redone.	New Belt on. Bit wider, to hide breakage.	Head reattached.

Almost done!.

All that is left is to let him dehydrate for a few weeks, then seal him off with shellac!

Interested in making wickedly delicious cakes? You'll LOVE my second cookbook, Evil Cake Overlord!

We've long been known for our “ridiculously delicious” moist cakes and tasty, unique flavors. Now, you can have recipes for all of the amazing flavors on our former custom cake menu, and many more!

Bake your moist work of gastronomic art, then fill and frost your cake with any number of tasty possibilities. Milk chocolate cardamom pear, mango mojito.. even our famous Chai cake – the flavor that got us into “Every Day with Rachel Ray” magazine!

Feeling creative? Use our easy to follow recipe to make our yummy fondant. Forget everything you’ve heard about fondant – ours is made from marshmallows and powdered sugar, and is essentially candy – you can even flavor it!

Order your copy directly through my site, through Amazon, or through any major bookseller!