What better way to celebrate an occasion than with a “memento mori”—a reminder of our own mortality? Whether it’s a “Happy birthday, you SURE are getting OLD!” or a “Happy Halloween, let’s remember the reason for the season,” digging into a cake gravestone reminds us all to eat, drink, and be merry today, for we will be dead soon enough!
• gravestone, skull and crossbones, and “R.I.P.” templates
• baking parchment
• 12 in. (30 cm) square wooden cake board, 1/2 in. (1 cm) thick
• shelf paper (self-adhesive)
• 3 ft. (1 m) length 3/8 in. (8 mm) doweling
• drill
• no.6 wood screw
• serrated knife
• 2 ft. (0.6 m) length 1/8 in. (3 mm) doweling
• thin cake board
• large piping bag and quick-ice tip
• spatula
• rolling pin
• craft knife
• modeling tools, including ball tool
• scrub brush
• airbrush
• stiff paintbrush
• 2 x recipe vanilla cake batter, baked in 1/2 sheet pan
• 41/2 cups (1 liter) decorator’s buttercream icing
• confectioner’s sugar
• 31/2 lb. (1.5 kg) white fondant
• black and white airbrush colors
• 2 cups (225 g) crushed chocolate-colored cookie crumbs
Use the gravestone template to cut out a gravestone-shaped piece of baking parchment. Cover cake board with self-adhesive shelf paper. Chill cake in freezer for 3-4 hours, until almost frozen, so it won’t crumble when stacked.
Measure and cut a length of 3/8 in. (8 mm) doweling for the center support. It should be about 2 in. (5 cm) shorter than height of gravestone. On the reverse of the cake board, mark where center of the cake will rest. Drill pilot holes in the board and dowel. Screw dowel into cake board with no.6 wood screw.
Place the baking parchment template on the firm, almost-frozen cake, fixing in place with a few dabs of decorator’s buttercream icing. Using a serrated knife, cut out the gravestone shape from the cake.
With a serrated knife, cut horizontally across the lower part of the cake, dividing it into 2 in. (5 cm) wide sections and stopping below the shaped top. These will become the cake layers. Put two dabs of buttercream icing on either side of the dowel support on the cake board to secure the first layer.
Fix bottom layer of cake to board. Spread buttercream icing over top surface and dust lightly with confectioner’s sugar. Cut two 6 in. (15 cm) lengths of 1/8 in. (3 mm) doweling and insert into either side of cake. Cut a piece of thin cake board to shape and place on top of iced surface.
Continue stacking the cake layers, fixing in place with buttercream icing and 1/8 in. (3 mm) dowels as described in Step 5 until all the layers are in place, including the shaped top.
Using the large piping bag and quick-ice tip, apply buttercream icing over the entire cake in strips. Smooth over the iced surface with a spatula.
Roll out white fondant and cut out a strip that is long and wide enough to cover the sides of the gravestone. Slowly roll fondant strip back onto your rolling pin, then unroll onto the sides of cake. Trim as necessary.
Cut front and back shapes of gravestone from rolled-out fondant using parchment template. As with sides, unfurl onto cake, smoothing with hands to fix in place. Cut thin strips of fondant for decorative trim. Attach with dab of water.
Roll out remaining fondant to about 1/4-1/2 in. (.5–1 cm) thick. Using template, cut out skull and crossbones detail. Fix on gravestone with dabs of water. Add detail with modeling tools, creating cracks and imperfections. Imprint texture on surface with scrub brush.
Trace “R.I.P.” template onto baking parchment. Use as guide to imprint letters on stone by pressing with a ball tool. Airbrush black lightly over stone. Use stiff paintbrush to splash with black and white airbrush colors to create stippled effect.
Pipe a mound of buttercream icing around base of the stone using piping bag and quick-ice tip. Press crushed cookie crumbs onto the icing until fully covered. With a stiff paintbrush, brush away any loose or unwanted soil.
