Photo: shelleymillerstudio.com
The Cake of the Episode!
For this Cake of the Episode, I decided to create a conceptual cake based off of Shelley's work. Taking inspiration for her POWER graffiti as well as her sugar tile murals, I baked up a 2" round, four layer chocolate cake using basil olive oil, basil an herb of wealth and prosperity in magical thinking.
Filled—and somewhat spackled rather than coated—in a basic shortening-based, American "Buttercream," a beetroot-colored confectioners sugar glaze envelopes the top and sides some, a not-so-subtle hint at the blood of lives lost during the heyday of the sugar trade. Tinted frosting accents ring the bottom of the cake as well as a handmade sugar plate painted in a blue similar to that which Shelley uses on her murals.
If you're curious, the cake and frosting recipes can be found in THE BAKER'S APPENDIX. The chocolate cake a half-recipe of the variation on Snacking Cake (pgs 64-65) with basil olive oil as the fat, the frosting the American Buttercream (p 74) using shortening, and the Confectioners Sugar Glaze (p 80) with 1t beetroot powder added for color and flavor. Feel free to reach out if you would like me to email you the recipes.
Ridiculously easy Sugar Plate instructions can be found here
Resources:
http://a-sweetspot.blogspot.com/2012/02/thousand-years-of-sugar-sculpture.html
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-sugar-sphinx
https://stormking.org/exhibitions/lightlandscape/artist/lamson2.html
https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/sugar-cups
http://www.avmcuriosities.com/blog/2018/13/month/pleasant-vices-sugar