Monday, January 19, 2009

That Poe Bird

Monday, January 19, 2009

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore" nevermore?
Well, maybe if Poe had had a rock handy...



Today is the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday (thanks to Amy H. for calling my attention to it). If you don't know who that is, you probably didn't get this post, either, and should remedy the situation immediately.

And as always, thanks to Melissa of Wild Cakes, who makes "eating crow" tasty, if not exactly appetizing. ;)
Her. said...

Gee, that's certainly appetizing.

James said...

I think you mean 200th?

That cake looks very appropriate and delicious. I'd like to see Fall of the House of Usher myself. :)

The Cheap-Arse Film Critic said...

That is unspeakably amazing.

Anonymous said...

Edgar AllAN Poe, actually. I'm teaching his stuff this week! :)

joyce said...

What a fun way to "eat crow". Much better than eating my hat. Or having to eat my words.

Hyena Overlord said...

I laughed out loud at this one. I like it, it would be a good hallowe'en cake.


wvotd mente: Is the Italian word for mind.

Anonymous said...

Appropriate since the Baltimore Ravens lost last night...

Boozy Tooth said...

Love it! Those feet-up Canary cakes get a little old after awhile. Give me the bloody goth take on a dead bird cake any day.

{Licking lips}

The weird antisocial one over at http://casahice.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

200th anniversary (b in 1809)

Anonymous said...

I love this!! I don't think I could actually eat the raven...but it's gruesomely awesome! Edgar Allen Poe is my favorite!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't care what anniversary it is, my reaction to that cake (?) would be 'never'. It casts a gloom over my day just looking at the pic.
Ha! word verification - sonres. In sonres tones the raven quoth..

Jennifer said...

That is just plain nasty.

Anonymous said...

FYI it is the 200th anniversary!
-jeremy j.

jengersnap said...

Do crow cakes carry West Nile?

wv: perfere. I perfere Annabelle Lee

Anonymous said...

I love, love, love this cake! It so makes me want to have a Poe party now. I can think of all kinds of possibilities. Maybe a pit of dip with a pendulum to dip with. And for sure this cake for desert.

Anonymous said...

I think that's one of the most horrific-looking cakes I've seen yet! :) Please tell me it wasn't red velvet inside!!

Meg said...

It's the 200th.

Anonymous said...

Now that I could NOT dig a fork into.

Angie (from over at www.HalfAssedKitchen.com)

jackie31337 said...

I vote for a "well-executed, but entirely unappetizing" tag.

After seeing this post, I decided to go look up Poe on wikipedia. Reading about him again took me back to middle school, where I first read some of his works. I'm originally from Baltimore, so our English class even took a field trip to visit his former house there. If I had known what a goth was back then (late 80s), I'm sure I would have been one. Interesting to contemplate how I might have turned out.

The Caked Crusader said...

is it wrong to love this cake quite as much as I do???

Tantra Flower said...

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

(psst -- it was 200 years ago today...)

FreedomFirst said...

Eeuuww. There was a little kid who used to come into the shop where I worked before my kids came along, and he would bring ravens' feet from his Dad who kept shooting them at their vacation home. :< He always tried to sneak up and stick me with the yucky dead claws. Little rascal. They were gross.....

Anonymous said...

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

...

Poe wrote on both!

Anonymous said...

LMAO okay I have to admit, I would do this IN red velvet...for my mother.


It's awesome.

Georgine said...

Tabitha, you are hilarious! Seriously, what kind of frosting is that?

Anonymous said...

ok... was not expecting THAT this morning...

gotta go stop choking now

The Curries said...

As a devastated Baltimore Ravens fan, to come here and see this this morning was just the twist of the knife.

Brianna said...

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! The blood, scares me... is ie Jello or what is it???? Well, whatever it is, it scares the crap outta me.

Laurie T. said...

Entire poem can be found here.

The Raven

[First published in 1845]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

Unknown said...

"Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

Suddenly, out of nowhere, this like, huge black bird comes flying, flying at my chamber door, and promptly killed himself when he flew right into the solid wood door.
Stupid bird, no more shall he say Nevermore."

~Amy B

Anonymous said...

I.
Love.
It.

Anonymous said...

"Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849)" Trust me, its 200 years, check out http://edgarallanpoe200.com/

Brianna T said...

Another example of bizarre concept done well.

Anonymous said...

I love this cake! And can we have the whole cast and crew of Who killed Cock Robin? (I know that's not by Poe, but still.)
This reminds me of aeons ago when I was in Jr High and we had an all school assembly--two guys in black suits who performed several of the Poe short stories. I especially remember The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. Really spooky, and they did it without costumes, props, or lights. Just good story telling technique.
WV: voundir. I voundir what they were thinking to make that cake.

Mokki said...

That really "takes the cake" as we would say in norwegian... I'm laughing so loud that my stomach hurts!

Anonymous said...

LOL... yes Tabitha, it was indeed red velvet inside!

This was a tiny little cake done because 2 people had words over hockey and one had to "eat crow". It was a little crudely done as it was very tiny and a long time ago!

The icing is fondant with a TON of black food colour, and the feet were royal icing.

Perhaps the funniest part is that my father is a game warden, and when I told him about the cake I had to do, he actually brought me a dead crow in a ziplock bag to use as a model! (no.. it did not come into the kitchen with me LOL)

Melissa

Anonymous said...

I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT THAT CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

Anonymous said...

That would be a great Halloween cake! Love it!

Anonymous said...

I feel horrible for loving this cake as much as I do.

Anonymous said...

This would have been perfect for the Steeler party yesterday!

Laura said...

well that's certainly more entertaining than the cake Duff made for the birthday party yesterday...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27896711@N02/3210202986/

Alli said...

200th birthday.

Jeanna said...

OMG, that is priceless. I'm going to have to give another one of your posts a special link.

Inspire Portrait & Design said...

I think today would have been his 200th b-day, not 300th b-day.

Anonymous said...

hahahahahaha...I loved seeing this on the day after the Pittsburgh Steelers slaughtered the Ravens on the football field. This would have been an awesome cake to have at a football party yesterday!

Unknown said...

Wow, that is extremely disturbing!

TheDaughterOfTyr said...

Seeing as Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favourite authours of all time I approve of this cake!

Jessica R. said...

Ah, I always say... A good bird is a dead bird. That cake could let me taste that theory!

Miranda said...

GUH. BLARGH. That's going much too far. Look, I'm a goth and I wouldn't eat it!!!

word: denticri

Eating cake wrecks makes your denti cri.

Miranda said...

Jackie, it's never too late to come to the dark side. *extends black-nailed hand* (FYI, I'm 40 years old and still goth.)

We have cake. Deep dark chocolate cake. You know you want it.

Amanda said...

HAHAHAHHAHAA!!!!

omg i love tht cake
XD

Anonymous said...

falnfenix said...
well that's certainly more entertaining than the cake Duff made for the birthday party yesterday...


Got to agree. Nice execution and just wacky enough to make a point with the guy who lost the bet.

Anonymous said...

As a Steeler fan and Pittsburgh girl, totally a fitting cake!!!

Actually, the game was the first thing I thought of was the game last night! I didn't know it was Poe's birthday

Kathy McC said...

I, too, am a Baltimore Ravens fan and this was pretty fitting for the a$$ beating they got last night. Oh, well...the Steelers are a better team. :-(

Alejandra said...

That is seriously amazing!
I'm a huge HUGE fan of Poe and never expected to see such a cool cake (go ahead, call me sick :-p)...

I was up until the wee hours of the night first waiting for midnight to come but then got over excited and decided to make a tiny Bust of Palas and a Raven out of polymer clay to go with my tiny Edgar...

WM said...

How big is the raven exactly, was this part of a bunch of single servings or just much bigger than it looks. Very funny.

Typo Tat said...

Ewww, ick, a dead bird cake!

It might be appropriate and all, but hardly appetizing.

Stacy.Wills said...

So fitting that this was the cake the day after the Pittsburgh Steelers ran over the Baltimore Ravens to get into the Super Bowl! Are you sure you're not a secret football fan? ;-)

WriterGirl17 said...

"Nevermore" was actually the raven's name in the poem...

EthylBenzene said...

Oh man, thanks for that, just perfect after the Steelers whupped the Ravens :D I realize that's not the *original* intent, but I think it works :)

Anonymous said...

Eek! Fix the typo! It's "Allan."

Terri said...

Oh my.....

Alexis said...

Hee, that's awesome. And Poe references make me happy. :-D

Lost in... wait where am I? said...

So cool.
:)
Love its little feet sticking in the air... hehehe

Sara said...

I can appreciate the time and talent put into this cake...but EEEWWWW!

Anonymous said...

Jen, thanks again for making me laugh out loud!

Anonymous said...

love it, love Poe, love the Raven.

Anonymous said...

Seriously, Redd, don't feel horrible. THATISTHEAWESOMESTCAKEEVERILOVEITILOVEITILOVEIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WV: dosist Do sist me in telling everyone that that cake is NOT a wreck!!!!!!!!

Bedlam said...

that is so cute!!1

E.A.D. said...

OMG i actually laughed out loud in the cafe at the comments. I think the guys who just walked by where I´m sitting must think I´m nuts.

wvotd: harpla - similar to hoopla, but it´s the result of your mother-in-law gossiping to her friends.

Cat said...

That is actually incredibly well done, very cool!

Anonymous said...

Now there is something I would eat and not think twice about...

clueuin said...

Quote the commentors: "Nevermore"
To all those that think that this cake is in bad taste.....
...Come on think back you know you've seen worse.
This is Cakewreaks after all!
As it stands this cake is kinda appropiaiate when you think about it. 200th aniversay of one of the most siminale horror/Sci-fi/fiction novel of all time!
Come on! Open up your sense of humor box. ;)
Peace,
Clueuin

Lightkeeper said...

Heavens! There it is the cake I needed to have on election day. Heck, after I swore I'd never vote for John McCain I got stuck doing so since I couldn't stomach the liberalism of Obama, but it was tough getting that bird down. I consoled myself with the idea that I was really voting for Palin's conservative leanings rather than McCain's lean to the left mentality. Here was the cake I needed in NOVEMBER!! Maybe I'll try to get ahold of one now! It would be much better than the winged version I was trying to swallow before!

Anonymous said...

Looks good to me! Gave me a good laugh.

Mamani said...

Most of those cakes were beautifully executed- proof that even a skilled baker cannot render a tacky theme tasteful.

Tash: The-Insane-Snow-Leopard-Lover said...

*Leans away from screen* W.T.F?

Cupcakes Lady said...

That is just plain nasty. lol xx