The Van Gogh Tardis Cake

June has been a month of learning new things for me, as I settle into my new position as a library clerk. Suddenly I was days away from my husband's birthday and half of the house was coughing from an icky cold. I almost let the day pass. I was too tired to come up with a theme for the cake.

I sat down in front of the computer Googling cakes based on various sci-fi shows he enjoyed. We are currently watching the fourth season of Babylon 5, and he loves shows like Star Trek, Supernatural, Grimm, and Dr. Who. Dr. Who finally gave me the inspiration I needed. I love that Van Gogh was featured on Dr. Who, not only because of my artistic background, but also because nothing is as forgiving in cake decorating as Post-Impressionism (edited for accuracy by art history minor daughter).

I admit, I was going for quick and somewhat easy. I made the square buttermilk chocolate cake from the Fannie Farmer cookbook the night before. One layer became the base, the other was cut into square sections, smeared with melted chocolate and stacked. Some slanted cuts created the roof of the police box. Whipped cream frosting in different colors painted the cake and box. In hindsight, I should have made the orange and yellow blast bigger. It looks like it landed on an octopus. Cocoa in the blue frosting might have helped to get a darker blue. It was a little too bright for universe and Tardis blue. Notice how close it matches the tablecloth. I used some sugar wafer cookies to create windows and to square off the edge of the roof. Then I put the whole thing in the freezer to let the frosting stiffen a bit.

At some point, the Tardis became wibbly wobbly. I had no patience for another issue like the cupcake goblets, so I speared the entire police box with a wooden skewer and clipped off the excess. That succeeded in keeping it in place. Next came the finishing touch, the light on the top of the box:

Half of a blue candlestick, lit just before singing, gave it that old timey-wimey feel. Again, looks do not mean as much to me as taste, and this was tasty. The Tardis was like a Ring Ding with the cream filling on the outside, if Ring Dings were made with fresh ingredients.

And thankfully, everyone was healthy enough to eat cake on the big day.