Death is Random

This is my first entry into Threadcakes and I absolutely loved the experience from beginning to end (though cutting the cake was pretty hard to do!). I had chosen a few designs and it was hard to narrow them down to one but I chose this design for two reasons: my sons and I love these grabbing machines (that's probably not the right word for them but that's what we call them) and I knew they would get a kick out of me trying to recreate this in edible format. Secondly I never get the chance to make cakes that are a little on the dark side so this was a great opportunity. I love the fact that the humans are now the victims stuck inside the machine.

Both them Grim Reaper and the grabbing machine are made from chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. I carved the Grim Reaper from four layers of chocolate cake before covering him with grey sugarpaste (which I then airbrushed later). The skull is hand modelled from florist paste and depth added with black edible dusting powder. The framework of the grabbing machine was made with pastillage while I used modelling paste for the panels around the lower half of the machine.

My eyes nearly crossed over as I made 32 little people including the man hanging from the claw. I tried to give them all little expressions of fear but it was hard working on such a small scale.

The front panel of the grabbing machine is hand painted with edible paints and I love the fact that the clouds look like the Grim Reaper with his scythe.

The hardest part definitely was cutting it. I would have loved to have kept it intact for a while but sure you can't beat a good slice of chocolate cake with a cup of tea!

I loved this experience and will definitely be back next year. Thank you for the opportunity!