A chicka interpretation of The Walking Dead

http://www.mcfarlanetoysstore.com/mirestwadeha.html

Being an avid TWD (The Walking Dead, if you don't know what it is, shame on you!) fan, I was disappointed for missing out on this awesome Michonne collectible statue so I decided to make my own Chicka version.

 Start with a wire armature. Yeah, something like this.

Wrap with florist tape.

Make the zombie. A touch of entrails is a good thing. BTW, did you see the TWD comic issue where a zombie's entrails got caught and he was snapped back like a bungee cord? That was awesome!

And this is my Chicka interpretation of Michonne.

Zombie head. Looks more like alien at this stage. But every head goes through an alien stage. Yes, even zombie heads.

 Attach head with a splatter of red isomalt blood.

Make the shoes. Yeah yeah, I know Michonne wears leather boots but my Chickas wear floral Docs, so floral Docs it is!

JUST LOOK AT THE FLOWERS!! Handpainted with a 0000-size Winsor & Newton round tipped brush, using Americolor airbrush paint (edible, of course!) and with the aid of a pair of very cool-looking magnifying goggles, so cool that hubby thought I should wear them to work.... yeah, righto hun!

 More painting. Bigger brush this time.

Waiting for things to dry..... patience is not my greatest virtue!

 Dreadlocks really tried my patience but here she is, finally finished..... phew!

This cake more epic than the last!

If I thought the dolly cake was epic..... all I can say is, "Phew!" I couldn't wait to apply the skills I learned at Jo Binkin's 3D novelty cake class last weekend (thanks Latorta for organising the class), so this is my attempt at a 3D cake.... well, 2 cakes - the piggy is essentially a 3-tier cake carved into shape and the bottle is a small cake on its own, torted and carved into a bottle. 

25 fondant lace butterfly cupcakes to go with the birthday cake.

Dressing Little Miss Piggy. LOL...

Halfway dressing Little Miss Piggy, the TNT truck arrived with my new iPhone 5.... exciting!! Okay, Piggy will just have to wait while I rush off to the Optus shop to get a micro-SIM. The phone is so new that there are no accessories to go with it. Even the new Canberra Apple Store has yet to stock up on screen protectors and covers. Seriously contemplating making a makeshift cover out of bubble wrap, we spotted some screen protectors and phone covers at JB Hifi. Not much of a choice - only sunset yellow...yuck! Oh well, that'll do for now.

Putting off tinkering with my new phone, I finally finished Piggy. Here she is with her sunny daisy overalls and bottle of wine.

Add some butterflies...

All dressed up and off to Sydney she goes.

BTW, this is the cake I learned to make at Jo Binkin's class last weekend.

Epic!

"As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!"

Just like Gone With the Wind, this cake is epic! It's a 4-day saga.

Day 1, Thursday: Bake the cake. It's a super rich and dense chocolate mud cake from my Planet Cake book. Check out the super rich dark Lindt chocolate, 70% cocoa. Add to that, another 50gms of decadent Koko Black cocoa powder, eggs, and only a smidgen of flour but almost half a kilo of caster sugar! This is no cake. This is chocolate, pure and simple! By the end of Day 1, my house smells like a chocolate factory! Eat your heart out, Willy Wonka!

As if that's not enough of chocolate, add a layer of Darel Lea dark rocky road filling!

Day 2, Friday: Get 1.3kg of premium white chocolate... no, it's not a typo. It really was 1.3 KILOS!

Melt white choc with pure cream to get a smooth ganache. Slice the cake in half, fill with ganache and chopped rocky road. Sandwich cake together and leave to set overnight.

Day 3, Saturday: Ice the cake with white chocolate ganache prepared the day before. This is where hubby's cement rendering skills come in really handy...

      

Make sure the ganache is as smooth as a baby's bottom, or in this case, a mother's boob. LOL. Leave to harden overnight.

   

Day 4, Sunday: Decorate, decorate, decorate. Start with dressing up the gown in fondant...

   

It helps to make a template first. I basically use the template to create panels of the gown and attach them one panel at a time. This is because I simply don't have a rolling pin large enough to roll out a giant circle for the entire gown.

Add the doll, finish off the rest of the gown and accessorise. Doll's hair styled courtesy of Emma Walsh. Thank you so much for doing such a great job. When I first asked Emma to style her hair, she thought it was the weirdest request she's ever received. Emma is a qualified hairstylist and has done a lot of hair but never a dolly's hair. Still, she gave it her best and look at how glamorous she made my dolly.

         

Thanks to hubby, Greg for the great job in piping these royal icing flowers!

Day 5, Monday: A cake is meant to be eaten so Dolly's minutes are definitely numbered!

 Bring out the knife!

Attack!!

"I'll definitely not be hungry after eating you!" says the Birthday girl, Emma Wright.

BU-WAHAHAHAHA.......

First slice off Dolly's back...

Dolly's back all gone!