marzipan.

April 23, 2007 7:52 AM

marzipan.
posted by Dave Faris (56 comments total)

everything is eatable

The way store-bought cake is eatable or the good kind of eatable?

And what's with all the American currency. I counted 3 usages of US money. Even factoring in how awesome the US is and how all you haters are really just jealous, that seems like a lot.
posted by DU at 7:58 AM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Fantastic cakes! wow. Wish I'd had those images when I did my sugar art post. Is it marzipan or sugar fondant?
posted by nickyskye at 7:59 AM on April 23, 2007

Lotta Pepsi Blue there.
posted by piratebowling at 7:59 AM on April 23, 2007

I've never been so hungry after looking at a biology book before!
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:59 AM on April 23, 2007

Those cakes are excellent. I'm off to eat a bottle of brandy.
posted by Elmore at 8:00 AM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Making out with marzipan is totally awesome.
posted by brownpau at 8:00 AM on April 23, 2007 [5 favorites]

What is that blue machine with the crank about a third of the way down - anyone know?
posted by clavicle at 8:04 AM on April 23, 2007

I like to whatnow?
posted by DU at 8:05 AM on April 23, 2007

I particularly like the one with the fish on a newspaper. I'm pretty sure it's the weirdest cake I've ever seen. Go weird Russians go!
posted by Mister_A at 8:06 AM on April 23, 2007

clavicle, I think it's a check-stamping machine. My father used to have one. You set the switches for the date, the amount, and so forth, slide the check in and pull the lever. I could be wrong, though.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:12 AM on April 23, 2007

Burhanistan might have it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:12 AM on April 23, 2007

I'm gonna say it's probably the check cashing machine. I get the impression most of these cakes were made for less covert customers.
posted by Dave Faris at 8:14 AM on April 23, 2007

er, stamping.
posted by Dave Faris at 8:14 AM on April 23, 2007

In Soviet Russia blah blah blah.

The gold scorpion (skorpion?) is crazy, but I love the Mr. Atlas C-note and the game of solitaire. Solitaire needed to be celebrated in cake form for some reason?
posted by Rock Steady at 8:15 AM on April 23, 2007

That's pretty cool.
posted by OmieWise at 8:19 AM on April 23, 2007

My god, these are amazing. I wonder if Yeltsin ever ate things like these? I certainly would've enjoyed knocking back a little marzipan with ol' Boris. Maybe one in the shape of a yardstick?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:22 AM on April 23, 2007

Mrs. Skinner: I collect pictures of cakes that I clip out of the magazines. It all started in 1941 when "Good Housekeeping" featured a photo of a lovely cake.

Bart: You wouldn't happen to have any real cakes around here, would you?

Mrs. Skinner: Oh, my, no. I don't care for cake. Too sweet.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 8:25 AM on April 23, 2007

Another problem with the "old KGB equipment" theory is that "2006" is stamped on it.
posted by DU at 8:29 AM on April 23, 2007

Put me down for YES! with OmieWise and flapjax at midnite. These are great.
posted by cgc373 at 8:33 AM on April 23, 2007

Cool! I wish I liked actually eating marzipan though. My mom used to make marzipan fruit and I thought it was so fun to help her do that... but then I'd inevitably have to eat some of it so her feelings wouldn't be hurt. I like almonds, but I hated that stuff. Eating it with a smile on my face was not easy.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:41 AM on April 23, 2007

lynnster - agree with you, marzipan is not my favorite food. doesn't seem worth the effort to create something that impressive that's going to get eaten.
posted by 2shay at 8:45 AM on April 23, 2007

Yeah, I imagine you could eat all this stuff, but I can't imagine who would want to. I think the newspaper one is a tour de force.
posted by Dave Faris at 8:46 AM on April 23, 2007

Sure it might be nice. But It make my firefox (OS X 10.4, v2.0) VERY unhappy. Boo!
posted by lalochezia at 8:54 AM on April 23, 2007

I actually like marzipan. You remember those little marzipan fruits we used to get at gramma's house?
posted by Mister_A at 8:57 AM on April 23, 2007

Metafilter: The blue machine with a crank about a third of the way down.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:09 AM on April 23, 2007 [8 favorites]

i'm going to have to concur and say that calling marzipan "eatable" is a bit of a stretch. but to each their own.
posted by wreckingball at 9:12 AM on April 23, 2007

Great post!

That site has given much joy over the past feww months.
posted by caddis at 9:20 AM on April 23, 2007

Marzipan. Sweet.
posted by djgh at 9:28 AM on April 23, 2007

My favorite is the burning bus cake down near the bottom.

Oh, wait. Nevermind...

I like marzipan quite a bit, but it needs to be covered in dark chocolate.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:42 AM on April 23, 2007

Fabulous cakes! I always wanted to be a cake designer. The only thing I ever mastered was incredibly wobbly piping.
posted by LeeJay at 10:00 AM on April 23, 2007

Hey, whoa, o I fail at searching or has this equally impressive cake never been on MeFi before?

Also thanks Faint of Butt et al.
posted by clavicle at 10:02 AM on April 23, 2007

"Lotta Pepsi Blue there."

You mean Mario Blue delivering Pepsi!

I can't decide between the cake with fish on it or the hamburger that is actually a cake.
posted by Eideteker at 10:33 AM on April 23, 2007

So are we really certain they are made with marzipan? Other than a post in the comments section I see no reason to think it's marzipan and not fondant. Fondant is probably the most common ingredient in these kinds of extravagant cakes. (Of course fondant is more common in the US, and this is from Russia. Is it likely that fancy cakes are made with marzian in Europe? Can a nice European confirm this?)
posted by oddman at 11:10 AM on April 23, 2007

What are you talkin about, Emily? Marzipan can't keep her hands offa me!
posted by Kwine at 11:17 AM on April 23, 2007

It might not be marzipan, strictly speaking, Oddman. It's just that marzipan is more fun to say than fondant.
posted by Dave Faris at 11:32 AM on April 23, 2007

Lugubrious.
posted by Dave Faris at 11:49 AM on April 23, 2007

Marzipan! What a delicious post.

Marzipan is so Romantic! ... and Erotic! (nsfw)

The Erotic Bakery individually creates hand sculpted marzipan for all our cake decorating designs.
posted by Surfurrus at 12:00 PM on April 23, 2007

Best. Post. Ever.
Ever.
posted by Dizzy at 12:47 PM on April 23, 2007

Ever.
posted by Dizzy at 12:47 PM on April 23, 2007

Let's not forget MeFi's own disllusioned, who created threadcakes, a site to turn threadless shirts into cake.
posted by !Jim at 1:05 PM on April 23, 2007

Another old post about cakes
posted by puke & cry at 1:09 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: The blue machine with a crank about a third of the way down.

LOL.

My first thought when I saw it was Enigma Machine, which of course it isn't.
posted by neuron at 1:13 PM on April 23, 2007

There's something to be said for being able to eat your encryption machine...
posted by oneirodynia at 2:39 PM on April 23, 2007

But how do they taste? That's the whole point of cake, damn it. Eating it. Not looking at it. I'd rather look at a pretty picture while eating good cake than eat a pretty picture made of crummy cake.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:00 PM on April 23, 2007

hehehehehehehheehheehe these wallpapers linked on the bottom of the marzipan page make me happy. Modified Russian Windows XP wallpapers. Putin and Abramovich standing in the valley.
posted by Lizc at 3:04 PM on April 23, 2007

Wowwww. The false teeth! The eye chart! The tire! The Pizza Hut!

And as a marzipan lover, I might actually enjoy eating these...I just can't imagine sinking a knife into something so painstakingly crafted and then sticking it in my facehole. It seems so wrong.
posted by crinklebat at 3:41 PM on April 23, 2007

Sometimes 'tis better to look good than to taste good.
posted by Dizzy at 4:08 PM on April 23, 2007

That's Russian as hell!
posted by Balisong at 4:20 PM on April 23, 2007

There's also the iphone cake, a variety of tech cakes, and meatcake.
posted by orthovirus at 4:43 PM on April 23, 2007

I am gratified that people across the world are finally, finally realizing the positive role that cake can (and should!) play in our daily lives.
posted by Dizzy at 4:47 PM on April 23, 2007

Pity the link to the handmade cars is broken.
posted by mattoxic at 6:03 PM on April 23, 2007

Tarzipan.
posted by boo_radley at 7:43 PM on April 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Isn't that blue device an early adding machine? Even old accountants have birthdays, I guess.
posted by dg at 8:08 PM on April 23, 2007

May I remind you that you are going to have to eat this cake?
posted by rifflesby at 8:59 AM on April 24, 2007

boo_radley, did you just get your dvd too?
You love it and you NEVER let go.
posted by zusty at 2:04 PM on April 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

Holy cow.
posted by cortex at 8:14 AM on April 25, 2007