I have had a lifelong sweet tooth. One day, my sister and I were walking home with the spoils from our day’s candy harvest. Eager to satisfy her cravings, she tore into a candy bar. But sensing something was not quite right, she investigated the newly nibbled bar, only to find it was teeming with maggots. The image of that bar with maggots creeping out has stayed with me for decades. Although it did not deter me from eating candy, neither of us ever ate one of those bars again.
• photocopier
• label and candy bar templates
• baking parchment
• serrated and craft knives
• 10 x 12 in. (25 x 30 cm) wooden cake board, 1/2 in. (1 cm) thick, covered with black self-adhesive shelf paper
• large piping bag and quick-ice tip
• spatula
• rolling pin
• airbrush
• scrub brush
• light box (optional)
• scissors
• plastic wrap, to protect from airbrush overspray
• modeling tool
• 1 recipe cake batter of choice, baked in 1/4 sheet pan
• 3 cups (700 ml) decorator’s buttercream icing
• 3 oz. (85 g) modeling chocolate
• 11/2 lb. (675 g) white fondant
• airbrush colors: chocolate brown, fleshtone, black, and ivory
• 4 oz. (110 g) white fondant, tinted fleshtone color
• 8 oz. (225 g) gray fondant
• silver luster dust
• vodka or lemon extract
• 1 sheet wafer paper
• edible markers
• piping gel
• 3 oz. (85 g) ivory fondant
Print out photocopies of label templates. Set aside. Use candy bar template to cut out piece of baking parchment. Attach parchment to chilled cake with dab of buttercream. Following outline, cut candy bar shape from cake with serrated knife.
With serrated knife, carve top edges of the cake until rounded. Slice off one end of cake at an angle to create the “bitten” end. Arrange cake diagonally on the cake board, using dabs of buttercream to hold cake in position.
Using large piping bag and quick-ice tip, pipe buttercream icing over the top and sides of cake. Smooth over the icing with a spatula, taking care to maintain the rounded top edges.
Roll long, thin snakes of modeling chocolate. Apply the snakes along length of iced cake in a curvy pattern to create the swirl detail on the candy-bar coating.
Roll out white fondant onto dusted surface. Drape over iced cake. Smooth fondant with hands, tracing around modeling chocolate swirls. Trim excess. Tuck edges of fondant under cake. Pinch around “bitten” end to create sharp edge.
Avoiding the “bitten” end, spray the candy bar with layers of chocolate brown airbrush color. Spray extra layers of color to create darker shading around swirls to emphasize them.
Roll out fleshtone-tinted fondant onto dusted surface. Press with scrub brush to create nougat texture. Moisten “bitten” end of bar with water. Fix textured fondant in place. Trim and create more texture with scrub brush. Airbrush “nougat” with fleshtone color.
Roll out gray fondant. Drape over bar, leaving 2 in. (5 cm) exposed at “bitten” end. Trim and tuck in edges. Mix silver luster dust and vodka or lemon extract to milky consistency. Use to airbrush wrapper silver. Add shading with black airbrush color.
Place sheet of wafer paper over photocopies of labels (made in step 1). Trace the label outlines and coloring (use light box, if you have one) onto wafer paper with edible markers. Let dry. Carefully cut out labels with sharp scissors.
Apply a thin coat of piping gel with a spatula onto back of wafer-paper labels. Turn over carefully and place onto candy bar. Lightly smooth to attach.
Roll out leftover gray fondant. Cut out irregular strip for wrapper edge. Fix to wrapper and fold over. Pinch to shape torn end. Covering exposed candy and labels, airbrush wrapper edge silver. Add shading with strokes of black airbrush color.
Roll out snakes of ivory fondant. Cut 3/4–1 in. (1–2.5 cm) lengths for maggots. Pinch ends. Roll tip of modeling tool around maggots to mark segments. Curve maggots. Airbrush on ivory color. Let dry. Insert into candy. Scatter maggots around.
