Food and Drink: Mr. & Mrs. Bones Cakes Tutorial

Firstly, I should point out that Valentine's Day is not really something I care about one way or the other. I don't think I've ever celebrated it, but I don't hate it either. It's just kind of....there. However, if you're going to mark the occasion, why not do so in horror-themed style? Or at least give the object of your affection matching skeleton cakes!


Mrs. & Mr. Bones cakes

If you can't or have no wish to bake cakes, then don't worry, this entry is all about how to decorate store-bought slices! You can either decorate one of each, or two of the same depending on your relationship and, you can even customise the accessories to make them more personal to your darling devil. to top it off, they're really simple too!

How-to guide after the cut below↓

You will need:

Food colouring, cocktail sticks, 2 slices of cake, a knife, a plate

Marzipan

STEP 1:

Cover one side of cakes with marzipan

Dust a small amount of flour on the worksurface and rolling pin. Roll the marzipan out (or flatten it with your hands if you don't have a rolling pin) and place firmly onto one side of each cake. Using the colour of your choice, spread food colouring over the marzipan, using a small brush, your finger or the side of a cocktail stick. You may want to let the colouring dry for a while before putting anything on top of it, as it will undoubtedly get on the skeletons if you don't.

NOTE: If you're a vegetarian, make sure you check the ingredients labels of the food colouring, as even some that say "suitable for vegetarians" actually contain dyes made from insects. Cochineal/carmine in red is common. Silver Spoon usually use vegetable-based colourants, so they're a good option.

STEP 2:

Make two equal-sized "skulls"

Roll a ball of marzipan between your palms. Create a vaguely head-shaped piece and slice in half, creating two 'skulls'. Flatten each skull a little, ensuring they remain of roughly equal size.

STEP 3:

Make the neck & collar bones

Put the two skulls near the top of the slices. Make two small discs and, poking a hole through the middle of each, place them sideways below the head to create the top of the spine/neck. Roll a small, sausage shaped piece of marzipan and place it under the neck to create the collar bone. Remember that the shoulders will be a little wider than this bone, so don't make it too broad.

STEP 4:

Add the arms and pelvis'

Roll four more sausage shaped pieces, making the middle slightly thinner and the ends slightly concave, to create the arm bones. Put the bones on the cakes in whatever position you like, as long as the joints are touching in the correct places. Then make two triangular pieces with two concave sides each, and put them where the pelvis' would be. It's important to do this before you add the rest of the spine or the ribcage so that you know how far down to take those.

STEP 5:

Spinal cord and ribcage

First, make more of the spinal pieces from STEP 3 and place them in a line betwen the collar bone and pelvis, ensuring that they line up with the neck. Next, create more small sausage shapes (the ribs), making one end slightly pointed and the other end wider. Lay them on the cake in the shape of a ribcage.

STEP 6:

Hips, legs & hands

Make two small spherical pieces for each skeleton and add them as hip joints. The add two more sausage shapes, larger than those in STEP 4 but repeating the same bone-making process. For hands, you can either use two circles, adding fingers and thumbs or simply use large ovals and add the details later (STEP 7). Individual fingers probably look better, but on small cakes like these (2.5inches / 6.4cm long) they can be quite fiddly to do.

STEP 7:

Mr. Bones

Mrs. Bones

Add any accessories like top hats, bows, flowers, necklaces, bow ties, hearts etc. that you want, then use the food colouring and a cocktail stick or very fine brush to add details.

Have fun~☆