The voodoo doll is derived from the English poppet, a doll used in folk magic and witchcraft to represent a specific person. It’s said that actions performed on a poppet are transferred to that person. Lovesick? Sick of a loved one? Fashion a cake doll of your target, and insert pins. What better way to say, “I’m thinking of you”?
• Styrofoam block, for drying pins
• paintbrushes
• small container
• rolling pin
• no.2A and no.6 icing tips
• craft and serrated knives
• baking parchment
• doll template
• large piping bag and quick-ice tip
• 12 in. (30 cm) square wooden cake board, 1/2 in. (1 cm) thick, covered with black self-adhesive shelf paper
• curved spatula
• fondant smoother
• stiff burlap
• modeling tool
• stitching wheel
• airbrush
• heart cutter
• 6-8 thin spaghetti strands
• silver luster dust
• vodka or lemon extract
• 6 oz. (175 g) red fondant
• super pearl dust
• 2 oz. (55 g) black fondant
• 1 recipe devil’s food cake, baked 8 in. (20 cm) square pan and 2 holes of miniball pan
• 21/2 cups (585 ml) decorator’s buttercream icing
• 1 lb. (450 g) white fondant
• 4 oz. (110 g) modeling chocolate
• warm brown airbrush color
Start making the pins at least a day ahead of presenting the cake. Break off small lengths of spaghetti, about 2–3 in. (5–7.5 cm) long, and carefully insert into the Styrofoam block so that they are held firmly upright.
Paint the spaghetti strands with silver luster dust mixed with a few drops of vodka or lemon extract. Place in Styrofoam block to dry.
Pinch off small pieces of the red fondant and roll them into very small balls to create the pinheads.
Place the fondant pinheads in a small container, a few at a time, and lightly sprinkle with dry pearl dust. Insert a pinhead carefully onto the top of each dry painted spaghetti strand. Leave overnight to set.
Roll out the black fondant on a lightly dusted surface to a thickness of about 1/2 in. (1 cm).
Using the larger end of the no.2A icing tip, cut two round shapes from the rolled-out black fondant. Set aside the trimmings.
With smaller end of no.2A icing tip, imprint rim detail on buttons. Using smaller end of no.6 icing tip, cut four holes in each button. Roll out more black fondant and use craft knife to cut thin strips for thread. Insert into buttonholes. Let dry.
Cut out baking parchment shape using doll template. Attach parchment shape to chilled square cake with a few dabs of decorator’s buttercream icing. Cut body shape from the cake, following the outline of the parchment shape.
With the serrated knife, shape the sides of the doll’s body, slightly rounding the cake off at the edges.
With large piping bag and quick-ice tip, pipe a strip of buttercream icing onto the covered cake board, and lay the body-shaped cake on top to fix in place.
Pipe a layer of buttercream over the flat surface of one mini half-ball of cake. Place the other mini half-ball of cake on top to form the doll’s head.
Place the cake head onto the body on the cake board using a dab of buttercream icing to fix it in place.
Pipe buttercream all around the outline of the head and body of the doll, then pipe more buttercream over entire top surface of doll until it is completely covered in icing.
Using the curved spatula, carefully smooth over the entire surface of the icing, covering all of the doll.
Roll out the white fondant onto a dusted surface. Using fondant smoother and stiff burlap, imprint surface of fondant with texture.
Carefully wrap the textured fondant loosely around rolling pin. Gently unfurl the fondant onto the iced doll, covering the body and head.
Trim off excess fondant from around the doll with a craft knife and set aside. Tuck under edges of fondant on doll for a rounded look.
Using modeling tool, mark outline of muscles and other anatomical details by adding folds to the body and legs of doll.
Shape the arms from modeling chocolate. Roll out reserved white fondant and wrap around the chocolate arms. Trim away excess fondant.
Attach the arms to the body with a dab of water. Imprint the arms with burlap, as was done for the body in Step 15. With stitching wheel, add stitching detail all along the sides of the head and body.
Airbrush light layer of warm brown color all over the head and body, emphasizing the details and shape of features.
Roll out remaining red and black fondant. Cut voodoo heart template from red fondant with cutter. Fix to doll with dab of water. Indent holes at stitch sites on mouth, arms, neck, and heart. Cut thin strips of red and black fondant and insert ends into holes.
Position the prepared button eyes in place on the head and fix in place with a dab of water. Use modeling tool to emphasize the detailing on the eyes.
Carefully remove the prepared pins from the Styrofoam block and insert into the body of the voodoo doll.
