Sunday, May 23, 2010

The LOST Sweets

Sunday, May 23, 2010

We're doing something different for Sweets today, guys: in honor of the LOST finale I'm including a little of everything: the good, the bad, and the hilarious. Because today, it's all good.

Most of these are made by your fellow readers who are NOT professionals, so please, no cake bashing in the comments! Just enjoy the tasty LOST geekery for what it's worth.

Oh, and if you're behind on the series, rest assured that this is a spoiler-free zone. Mostly because I'd have to be caught up on it myself to give any. :)

So, let's get started by putting our best foot forward, shall we?

Sub'd by Leslie S., & made by Jules

Toe-tally kickin' design.


Sub'd by Jessica W. & made by her friend Amy

Jessica tells me there was even an LED light in the hatch. Nifty.

Speaking of the hatch:

Sub'd by Heather A., made by her friend Melanie

Sub'd by Jen D., made by tim924

Sub'd by Keren, made by deviantART memeber 1337Jacqui


Sub'd & made by Katya

Here's an awesome groom's cake:

Sub'd by Amanda W., baker unknown

Note the numbers on the napkins. :)



Sub'd by Doris, made by A Cake To Remember

Those characters were made with melted chocolate and/or candy melts piped onto parchment paper. It's a really tricky technique, so you don't often see drawings this detailed.


In fact, Davina W. used the same technique to make the flames here on her Dharma bus:


Also made by Davina W.

The Cake Mom had a cookie contest, and her reader Travis honored LOST with these:

Look at the detail on the plane!


Made by me, for John Gjertsens's birthday. (Yes, it was carrot cake.)


Our web designer extraordinaire Aric even got in on the LOST action. Here's what he sent:

To: Jen
From: Aric
Subject: My Lost Cake

If you find it, please let me know.

:D Thanks, Aric.


Made by Samantha C. & her mom


Sub'd by Kay S., made by Captivating Cakes by Becky.


Here's a map of the Island, complete with landmarks of the various stations and important events:

Sub'd by Leslie S., made by Melanie of Cake Walk


I suggested recently on Facebook that someone try tinting cotton candy to make the smoke monster. I've since been told (by much wiser bakers than I) that any spray or colorant would make the cotton candy dissolve on contact. Drat. On the bright side, though, you can still do some cool things with cotton balls:

Nice job, Susannah T.!

As amazing as all of these are, I think this last one has to be my favorite. Check out what Laura M. made for her friend Tracy's birthday:

Sub'd and made by Laura M.

It's a LOST croquembouche!
(Bwahahahahaa!!)

Plus, look closely: Can you spot the carrot jockey filling in for baby Aaron?

That is SO AWESOME. Thanks, Laura.


And thanks also to everyone else who submitted their LOST creations. I'm sorry if I didn't include yours here; I had a lot to choose from, so I tried to go with the most original designs. If you haven't sent yours in yet, though, please do! I may do a follow-up post in the future.

UPDATE: Of course I didn't forget the LOST cake Ace of Cakes made! I just already posted it last year. You can see it here along with some nice detail and cast shots.

Boops: The link to Becky's cake was wrong. All fixed now.
Unknown said...

Cool, lots more evidence that everyone, even newbies and amateurs, can make really great stuff with a bit of imagination and effort. It's so much fun to make cakes for friends and family...I hope these inspire many more people to try and have a cakey good time!

Anonymous said...

These are amazing. The Dharma portable dessert cake made me laugh so loud!
P.S. Thanks for reminding me that the series finale is on tonight!

Beth said...

I bet if you mixed a couple of colors of the cotton candy mix you could make a black colored cotton candy while you are making the cotton candy. When I was younger, I worked at a theater that made it and when we switched to a different color (without cleaning the machine out) the first one made would always be a mix of the first and second. Clear as mud?

A Paperback Writer said...

I don't watch TV, so I have no clue what's going on, BUT I think that black-and-white batch of cupcakes just looks great. If that was an amateur baker, then I'm impressed.

MamaBear said...

your baker friends are absolutely correct; anything put on cotton candy AFTER IT'S MADE will melt it. that's what makes eating it so fun!

HOWEVER, obviously none of them are former carnival workers. you add dye to the sugar BEFORE you put it in the cotton candy machine. go to the beach and find somebody who makes their own cotton candy; contract them to make it the color you want. EASY PEASY!

making cotton candy is one of the easiest and FUN things i did that summer! (aside from the boys at the beach, ba-dum-dum-clash!)

carma_bee said...

For some reason I like the last one the best. I think it's because of Jack at the top, and Desmond on the bottom in his car. It just makes me laugh.

Unknown said...

these are sensational! I just told my mom to start working on my next birthday cake. Great tribute to a fantastic show

Melinda said...

Where's the carrot baby on the last one? I don't see it.

Sabrina said...

couldn't you add the die to the cotton candy mix before you make it? They sell it in blue or pink, I would think that maybe you could try adding color before you put it into the machine..?

Pup Fan said...

I love these! The Dharma carrot cake is my favorite, I think (with the cookies a close second).

Fie upon this quiet life! said...

I don't really watch TV either, so my favorite is Aric's lost cake. If he finds it, I'd like a slice. :)

Jules AF said...

Is there a significance to the foot? I don't watch Lost, and this totally confused me.

Unknown said...

Wonderful idea for the carrot cake? Did you do it with an edible ink printer?

Anonymous said...

Now I feel like tonight's watching the finale adventure will be incomplete because I don't have those cookies or cupcakes *tears* Amazing, and now, thanks to the Faraday cake, I feel like I could cry. I can't believe it's ENDing.......

Amelia Poll said...

How cool! It kind of makes me want to try my hand at a LOST cake. Too bad I don't have time to make it for the finale tonight...

Anonymous said...

does it bother anyone else that the foot only has 4 toes, or am i missing something? couldn't get past that!

Anonymous said...

And here I thought you had admitted to all things geeky. Is that an Alton Brown salt cellar in Arics pic? The ultimate in food geek!

Keeley said...

I'm not a tv watcher, so the theme of these cakes was "lost" on me. But they were pretty anyway.

Gabby Malcuit said...

I love LOST, and I love the cakes. It makes me want to make my own LOST themed cakes!

kmb06001 said...

How could you do a Lost post and not include Charm City Cake's Lost cake? It was commissioned by the show itself!

http://z.about.com/d/lost/1/0/y/r/-/-/Ace-of-Cakes-Lost-Cake.jpg

Erica said...

I think the next-to-last one is my fave! I totally love how 'Happy Birthday' is written in the sand rather than piped :D

WV: splost Not joking. How awesome is that??

Anonymous said...

The Dharma packaged carrot cake is brilliant

Anonymous said...

I think the last "cake" is actually a pile of timbits (donut holes). Either way, it is hilarious.

Anne said...

Since I don't watch Lost, your web designer's entry might be my favorite. ;)
Actually, it was good fun to see everyone's creativity. I hope the finale of this series is as satisfying as the sweets you all made!

Veronica said...

I love the cupcakes...super cool!

NYCGirl said...

Yes, the foot is supposed to have four toes. :)

Please do a sequel, Jen! Maybe it'll help us LOST fanatics (raises hand) with withdrawal. ;)

Mirth said...

I will just reiterate what others have already said regarding the cotton candy - put the color into the sugar. I also made (and ate way too much) cotton candy as a teenager and to this day I cannot eat the stuff. So now that you know, can we expect an attempt at the smoke?

Becky said...

My favorite cake was the one with the characters looking down the hole!

Great cakes.

Sad for the finale. :(

mickeyp415 said...

good efforts by many, but those black & white cupcakes -- A-MA-ZING! non-professional... reallY? 'cause they sure look better than several i've seen! way to go!

Christina Wilsdon said...

Great work, cake-makers. I think however for tonight's finale I shall make just a simple Found Cake :)

Anonymous said...

ALL are very impressive! Nice work, everyone! I think I better get started on MY Lost cake for tonight. Might be more of the generic Dharma version, but since it will just be hubby and me, that should work!

Anonymous said...

a lot of these cakes are butt ugly

Anonymous said...

The carrot is right between Kate and Hurley, it's hard to see.

Rachel said...

Genius! Wish I had a Lost cake for the finale tonight. The 'fully hydrogenated baked carrot dessert' was my fav, hands done.

Mel said...

Thank you so much for including my map of the island! The cake was designed by my husband for his own birthday so he's just as thrilled as I am to see it on here. :)

Anonymous said...

So glad I'm not the only one who
1. Doesn't watch tv
2. Couldn't find the carrot jockey.

Aaaaany way, I thought the first station(?) cake was a Pharma pill until I got the gist.

It's kind of like being lost within Lost :-).

Some of us amateurs are pretty good.

Anonymous said...

Seeing how wonderful these "amateur" cakes are makes the horrible "professional" ones even worse...don't you think? :)

these are fantastic

noricum said...

I don't know what the smoke monster looks like, but you could probably make a bunch of cotton candy starting from different coloured sugars, and then "sculpt" the cloud monster from that.

akgreentea said...

Wonderful cakes. They may not be made by pros, but they are better than a lot of the wrecks made by "professionals" that we usually see here. Kudos to those who made the cakes. The Dharma carrot cake was really well made, as were some of the cup-cake mosaics. (A cup cake mosaic isn't a dreaded CCC. It's individually decorated cupcakes that go together for a theme)

Debo said...

I made a Dharma cake too!The logo is made of chocolate. Really Yummy :D

My Dharma cake: http://pigsinblankets.net/archives/472

Sweet Shelby said...

I love Lost- I think their all beautiful in their own right. I really like your Dharma Institute carrot cake...very clever.

Donna M. said...

I've never watched Lost, but I never miss a day of Cake Wrecks :) I love Aric's "lost" cake...ingenious!

SOoooooo....if this is the end of the series, does this mean they will be found? (Thusly a spin off called "FOUND")


wv: forma "Forma lina for soma losta caka"

Rachel Moss said...

These are fabulous! I am extremely behind on Lost (like 15 months behind), but this post reminded me of how much I enjoy the show. Maybe my hubby and I will catch up some day.

Anonymous said...

LOVE those Dharma symbol cupcakes! There's no way I could eat one; it would ruin the whole design. And the Dharma carrot cake is complete genius!

Thanks for this post; I am immersing myself in LOST today and hoping not to cry too hard this evening when it all ends.

And lest I not fit in, let me suggest you could color the cotton candy beore it's made. :)

The Cake Mom said...

Thank you for posting my cookies! This site makes me laugh until I cry, keep it up!

OFD Consulting said...

Oh my goodness- the cake made by A Cake to Remember is MINE.. well technically, my husband's. Too cool!

Anonymous said...

As for the cotton candy after it is made you can not do anything to it. However, before it is made they add dye to give it the colors that gets. Now at Wal-mart you can buy your very own cotton candy machine! So just make it yourself any color you want. We made black for Halloween. LOLz

Mella said...

How cool to see my Hatch Door cake here!

I made a Dharma/numbers one too for the same event! :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mellahoney/4324602549/

jacqui + erik said...

thank you for posting my black & white dharma symbol cupcakes!!! i read this blog everyday, so it's an honor to be a part of the "sunday sweets"!!! :D

serns said...

You can tint cotton candy, but you have to do it before you spin it up (that is, have a machine). I'm pretty sure they're not crazy-expensive though, so it just depends on your level of commitment.

A Cake To Remember LLC said...

I'm so excited that my chocolate-painted character cake was included in this LOST cake retrospective, and relieved that it wasn't posted on another day of the week! Now please excuse me, I have to go prepare for the big evening of trying to figure out what the heck has been going on for the last six years.

Anonymous said...

Everyone else seems to be saying that you could color the cotton candy before making it, but I think that it could look good if you used Petal Dust made by Luster Dust. There is a charcoal color and then you could have shading! It's like edible pastels :)

Anonymous said...

Yay! A sweet thing for the end of LOST *sniff*. Love it. :)

http://lovesteamykeamy.wordpress.com

rustic wood cake stands said...

I love this! So funny. thanks for the posts:)

Megan said...

Nice cakes, although for those of us who don't watch Lost, they don't mean much. Explanations of what they are would help (although if the show's as confusing as I've heard, maybe not?)

Anonymous said...

Try mixing pink and blue cotton candy mixes before making the cotton candy - that would probably get you into the gray pallet.

Nick said...

If you rolled the cotton candy in a dark cocoa powder or other dark colored powder, it would probably pick up a good portion of the powder and it would never get wet.

Unknown said...

i don't understand anything that's going on here (since i've never seen the show), but your web designer's cake made me giggle.

Miss Ware said...

I'm so glad someone got the polar bear in there. I pretty much stopped watching Lost when I realised the explanation for it was not coming any time soon.

Arlene said...

All the cakes are so cute! I have never seen Lost but those look so good it would be a crime to eat them..I do know what Lost is lol I just never watched the show.. ducks and hides.

Bilby P. Dalgyte said...

Lol! "Tell me if you find it" that's a good LOST cake. Brilliant :) I love them.

Shelley Parker Chandler said...

Well, sure. Liquid food colors and gel food colors would cause cotton candy to dissolve, but there is no reason to believe that powdered food colors would do the same. In fact, I would argue that under no circumstances would powdered food colors - or luster dust, sparkle dust, etc. - cause the cotton candy to melt. I have no empirical scientific evidence of this, so I believe I must venture down to The Corn Popper (the local, year-round cotton candy seller) and test my theory. I'll let you know. :)

sassycashew said...

You can colour fairy floss before you make it, by colouring the sugar :) Any reason to get my machine out really!

Jake said...

Awesome cakes, everybody! The Dharma Portable Cake cracked me up as well. They're all very cool though! Makes me wish I'd had a Finale party just so I could serve cake, which is not to say that I'm that creative. :-)

Salann said...

Guess you had to be there...and I obviously wasn't.

Cool cakes, though.

Lyn said...

At first, I thought that cake said Pharma (because I've never seen the show and I do see the news :)).
If you need more of this kind of thing, check this out:
http://www.bobmayer.org/index.php?id=30

Pretty interesting parallels, hmm?

I'm awestruck by anyone who cooks or bakes anything, but these cakes look really great to me. Better than salt maps, actually.

Lyn said...

Oh! I forgot to mention: you can put a lot of things through the spinner. If you want colors, mix some cool-aid powder into the sugar. Or, if you want to torment someone, make the "cotton candy" entirely out of unsweetened cool-aid mix. Funny!

Miranda said...

I see awesome cupcakes, awesome cookies, awesome "cake" cake, plus some other stuff that looks too much like what it's meant to represent and too little like cake for me to be able to eat it. :X Realistic depictions of mud and grass? Nope, gothchiq is squeamish! lol

Confessions of a Closet Hoarder but you can call me Judy said...

Haven't had a chance to watch LOST yet. Had to DVR it, because life got crazy. Speaking of crazy...these cakes are crazy good! How AWESOME are they? Love their collective geekiness!

Unknown said...

Since I have never seen more than about two minutes of LOST at a time, I have NO idea what's going on...the Dharma items creep me out though. They're well done, but they creep me out. (Any fellow anime geeks reminded of NERV? or of Paradigm City?)

I'm almost curious enough to watch back episodes of the show. Almost. The whole 'plane crash' thing scares me to death; I used to work for an airline and watching footage of actual crashes was pretty traumatic. (You should have seen the first time I watched 'Cast Away.' Yikes.)

Aliza said...

Thanks for the "sweet" nod to the end of Lost. As a fan, I *loved* these cakes! Haven't seen yesterday's finale (PVRed it... and trying to decide whether to deny it's ending by not watching it for a while, or to give in and find out how they tied up all the threads).

Amazing how amateurs can be better than so many professionals. And how even the cakes that weren't "professional" quality captured the essence of the show so well you don't notice any flaws until the third of fourth time you stare at the cake (in admiration). The details and passion were amazing!!!

PS That last cake-- I agree with Anonymous @ 12:06 that it's probably Timbits (doughnut holes from Tim Hortons) rather than actual croquembouche. Canadians are usually pretty good at spotting, and descending upon, Timbits :)

WV, "Terro": it's terro-ble that there's no more Lost or 24!

Paulaz said...

I'm certain, had I seen LOST that these confections would have meaning to me. Sadly, they don't. The the cake for Tracy though!

Unknown said...

You can make cotton candy in tons of flavors and I am thinking that grape might make a good cloud of smoke.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for posting LOST cakes on such an important day!!!!!

The Beaudoins said...

Aric and I have the same salt cellar- very Alton Brown-esque.
I, too, have a lost cake.

Kasey said...

THEIR PLANE CRASHED?! You'd said there'd be no spoilers! *grumble*

;)

D.L. White said...

Thanks for posting my VERY amateur cakes. What an honor! I had fun making them and sharing them with my viewing party friends. Love your site and love that you dedicated a Sunday Sweets to LOST! Your blog always makes me laugh. Keep up the good work!

DVD said...

Love the cakes! My sister, who is only watches when i have the episodes on, made a smoke monster cake. She informed us all at our lost watching party that if our questions were answered she would tell us what was in the cake. since we agreed not all the questions were answered, she only said that the cake was not mint.... and left us all guessing much as the producers did. -- pictures to come if i can find one from before we tore into the delicious non mint chocolate goodness.