Chocolate Dalek

Oh, don't ask how I got started making a chocolate Dalek cake. It's a long story. Pictures of the whole experience are available here: Chocolate Dalek Photo Set.

For the body:
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4 Betty Crocker devil's food cake mixes
2 cups egg beaters or plain soy yogurt
5-2/3 cups water
1-1/3 cups canola oil
1 stainless steel bucket or ceramic flowerpot, approximately 9" high and 6" base diameter
foil or waxed paper
baking spray
Pyrex bowl (with a flat bottom), 5.5" inch diameter
dome shaped bowl, 5.5" diameter at the top

For assembly & decoration:
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bamboo skewers
2 vanilla frosting tubs
2 milk chocolate frosting tubs
jumbo marshmallows (2)
Special Dark miniature chocolate bars
pirouline cookie sticks (2)
Pocky (1)
black licorice twists
chocolate-covered bite-size cookies
chocolate chip (1)

Bake the cakes. Mix the cake mixes with the egg beaters/yogurt, water and oil. Line the bucket with a double thickness of foil. Spray the bucket and 2 bowls generously with baking spray. Fill the bowls/bucket two-thirds full. (I had a little too much batter... I poured it into mini-loaf pans, which I baked with the bowls.)

Put all baking receptacles onto baking sheets (to catch any potential spillage) and bake at 350 degrees. Pull the bowls out after 25-30 minutes. The bucket may take several hours. Use some bamboo skewers to test the bucket's done-ness... you're finished when the skewer comes out clean.

COOL COMPLETELY. YOU MUST OBEY!

If all goes well, you should have a huge bucket-shaped cake, a cylindrical mid-section and a half-dome for the head.

Now you shall sculpt! Turn the bucket upside down onto a round serving platter and unearth your alien body. Using a large knife, slice off the sides of the body. Affix one of the sides to the front of the body. Secure with toothpicks or skewer pieces.

Mix the chocolate and vanilla frosting together. Frost the entire base using a butter knife or spatula, making sure not to frost too thickly. Set the midsection on top of the frosted base. Set the dome on top of the midsection. Insert two skewers all the way through the dome, midsection and body to secure. Frost the midsection and the dome.

Now you will DE-COR-ATE! DE-COR-ATE THE DAAAA-LEK! Using 2-3 licorice twists, rim the base of the Dalek. Slice 4 or 5 licorice twists in half lengthwise. Use the halved twists to rim the seams -- where the base meets the midsection (leaving an open space in the front for weaponry) and 3 in successive rows where the midsection meets the dome.

Place the Special Darks lengthwise around the midsection between the laces.

NOTE: If you are transporting the cake to another location, do not affix the bumps until you have arrived. They will sag and slide downwards!

Prepare the eyestalk and weaponry. Pierce 2 marshmallows with skewers, then remove. Squish one marshmallow so that it flattens out -- this will be the plunger. Impale it on a cookie stick. Break another cookie stick in half to be the gun. Impale the other, plump marshmallow on the Pocky. Dip the chocolate chip in frosting and stick to the end of the marshmallow. This will be your eyestalk.

Affix the bumps and weaponry. Take the bite-sized chocolate-covered cookies, dab them in frosting and place in vertical columns -- 3-4 down -- all around the base. Using a skewer, draw vertical lines to delineate the columns. Cut a bump in half and place the halves on the dome to serve as lights (or Mickey Mouse ears... whichever you prefer). Carefully insert the plunger, gun and eyestalk.

Behold! A menacing chocolate Dalek!