Sunday Sweets: A Very Burton Birthday
August 25, 2013 Today I've got a super special Sweets for you guys, and I. Am. PUMPED. See, today is Tim Burton's birthday (woo woo!), and in his honor 100 of the best bakers from around the world decided to get together and knit miniature afghans.
Just kidding.
They made CAKES, of course! One hundred glorious, creepy, Tim-Burton-esque cakes and edible figures, all inspired by Burton's works, from Beetlejuice to Corpse Bride to FrankenWeenie.
The bakers are debuting all of their beauties today on the newly launched site CakenWeenie, but they let me have a peek ahead of time so I could pick a few of my favorites. It wasn't easy, believe me, but here are my personal top 13:
;)
(By Natalie Sideserf of Sideserf Cake Studio)
Gotta start with Beetlejuice, am I right? If only so I can stop you from developing a big head by giving you the cold shoulder.
:D
(No, the whole post won't be bad puns. Promise.)
This Edward Scissorhands tableau is definitely a cut above the rest:
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(By Cakes by Angela Morrison)
And those edible topiaries are shear genius!
(Ok, so I lied about the pun thing. WHAT.)
Oooh, What's This?
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(By Marzipan moon & Sugar dust stars)
You could almost convince me this was a model actually used in The Nightmare Before Christmas - that detail is INSANE! (Kind of like Doctor Finkelstein's dental work. [shudder])
When it comes to creepy cute - with an emphasis on creepy - Quackers here really hits the mark:
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(By Southin Style Cakes)
Look at the little paint buckets!
(And no, I don't think his name is officially Quackers. But it should be.)
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(By Lily's Piece of Cake)
Am I featuring too many from Nightmare? Does anyone care?
Ok, ok, let's move on to Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
While Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter may have stolen the show, I've always been partial to the non-human characters, like the March Hare:
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(By Richard's Cakes)
I'm also a sucker for tiny cakes on cakes. They're so magically meta. :)
Ooh! And how about the caterpillar?
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(By Tea Party Cakes)
The cake itself may SEEM simple, but would you look at how perfect the leaves are?
And after your perfect pile of leaves, how about a slice of blueberry pie:
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(By Andrea's SweetCakes)
Cake pie with a topper of inflated Violet Beauregarde - I LIKE IT.
And here's the little fella that inspired Cakenweenie's name: Frankenweenie himself!
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That dangly little nose gets me every time. I'm also in awe of that shading - he looks like he jumped right off the screen!
Would you believe I've never seen James and the Giant Peach? With characters like this, though, I'm thinking I should fix that:
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(By Nikki's Cakes)
Now that is one stylish spider fashionista. The boots! The beret! Even her web glitters oh-so-tastefully.
Most of these are sculpted figures and characters, of course, but this next Sweet would be awesome for a Burton-inspired gothic wedding:
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(By Antonio's Kitchen)
Now that's morbid elegance - no bones about it.
You might be tempted to think this Skeleton Boy is just a small figure, but he's actually a full-sized cake!
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(By Little Cherry Cake Company)
Forget eating; I want to display him on my desk for ever and always.
And finally, let's end with the birthday boy himself. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and ghouls, allow me to present... Mr. Tim Burton:
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(By Karen Portaleo of Highland Bakery)
He always was a head of his time.
Normally I maintain that photorealistic heads and/or body parts are creepy, but for Mr. Burton, that's only appropriate. :) Besides, would you look at that sand worm tie? I totally want one! And his glasses - check out those tinted sugar glass lenses! Karen, you continue to knock my socks clean off.
Head on over to CakenWeenie to see the rest, because believe it or not, they're ALL amazing. I tried to feature mostly full cakes here, but the sculpted figures have to be seen to be believed.
A huge thanks to Tracey of Little Cherry Cake Company for letting me share today's goodies, and to all the bakers involved with CakenWeenie!
Curious which bakers in your area have been featured here on Sweets? Then check out our Sunday Sweets Directory!
Reader Comments (34)
Absolutely amazing!
OMG those are some of the most creepily beautiful cakes I've ever seen. :D I love the Edward scissorhands cake, and the cake that could be a wedding cake is beautiful. Frankenweenie is cute :)))
ANYTHING Roald Dahl- or Lewis Carroll- inspired is just peachy and wonderous, in my book!! These are wonderful! =^~.~^=
It always bugs me when I tell people that Burton has been my hands-down favourite director since the late 80s, and they respond with "Hot Topic, teenage emo wannabes, stupid one-note gimmick, Johnny Depp every time, Disney sellout, always sucks forever, derp derp mouthfoam derp"... Well I'm sorry, but it's not exactly my fault that you're completely joyless and wouldn't recognise two hours of pure fun if it slapped you in the face, now is it?
... But anyway. Yes, these are definitely my kind of Sunday Sweets. XD
I'm not a huge fan of the macabre, so "Alice in Wonderland" is the only Burton film I can remember seeing, but these cakes are truly amazing.
The man's work is truly amazing and outstanding, and these cakes follow suit. Un-be-live-able....
Cake Wrecks: yes
Sunday Sweets: ummmmmmmm, yes
Tim Burton: no
I still treasure his remake of Corvette Summer (Pee Wee's Big Adventure) as a reminder that he could direct once.
carry on.
No Pee Wee's Big Adventure? :(
Woo hoo! We rocked it ladies guys and gals, and here we are on Sunday Sweets! Thanks for featuring us Jen!!!
-Jamie H. Burtonesque Baker-Veruca Salt
That duck with the bullet holes and sharp teeth is QWEEPY!
I absolutely love the ONE perfect raspberry on the Caterpillar cake! And Mr Burton's Medusa hairstyle is beautifully appropriate.
You should totally see James and the Gian Peach. My Mom and I watched it in the theatre while we were bug bombing the house. We felt vaguely guilty when we got home.
So cool. I love those cakes.
Also, thank you for letting me know I have the same birthday as Tim Burton!
I'm with you on the animal characters. The March Hare's "spoon" line was my favorite in the whole film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ1dMHsU6pk
Beautiful, fantastic, creepy ,amazing cakes for the artist who inspires almost everything I create and design. Happy Birthday Tim and thanks Cake Wrecks for featuring these cakes. XOXO
@Lee: (" I absolutely love the ONE perfect raspberry on the Caterpillar cake!" )
Maybe he's thinking,"I'm-a gonna hookah you up with-a my one-a perfect strawberry..."
=^~.~^=
Wow, these are amazing! I'm heading over to look at the rest as soon as I'm done typing this comment. ;)
Also, only sort of related, when I saw this photo/tweet, I definitely thought of Jen's love of puns: https://twitter.com/drewmo/status/368758442233581568
Now THIS is a birthday party! Thanks for sharing the cakes and the links with us!
Absolutely stunning work! If you go to the cakenweenie site, there is a Pee Wee's Big Adventure cake.
Isn't "bad puns" an oxymoron? =^>.<^=
Those cakes are AMAZING! I've always been a HUGE Tim Burton fan, but didn't care for his version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, nor did I care for James and the Giant Peach. I remember finding it boring when I was younger, and then rewatched it more recently thinking I'd see it differently, but was quite disappointed.
I've never watched James and the Giant Peach, it was one of my favorite books as a kid, and I've always worried they might ruin it. Beetlejuice on the other hand, I love. "You've been to Saturn? Hey, I've been to Saturn. Sandworms, huh? Hate 'em."
Thank you so much for sharing these! Can't have too much Nightmare for me.
Happy 'day to Tim Burton, and now I'm off to look at the rest!
I love all your cakes. But I must point out that Tim Burton had nothing to do with "James and the Giant Peach". People also confuse "Coraline" thinking its from Burton as well. These two films were directed by Henry Selick. Tim Burton was not involved in anyway in those two films.
That blueberry pie cake is very detailed. i loved the latticework on the pie.
Oh...my...Burton.
}:))
James and the Giant Peach wasn't one of my favorite movies. Especially with James singing 'My name is James'(really?) But, Jack Skellington's head was borrowed for a cameo in the movie...Just on a different body. All the cakes are awesome here. Especially Tim Burton's head!
@ M. Well, I wasn't aware there was another M. here (I mean with the neat stop after the M) but I could have written just what you did about Burton's films. There are a few directors I especially love (Burton, Allen, Bergman) and if I met someone who then mentions how much they dislike my favourites, somehow I tend to not have that much intellectual respect for their opinions from that moment on. Not proud of it, but that's how it is...
Signed M. (less-is-more-M.)
@ CalacaBoy Not to be picky but Tim Burton did produce James and the Giant Peach, so he certainly has to do with it.
Loved these! Such a big Burton fan (for the most part). May not always love the movies, but love the creativity and style! Thanks!
Thank you so much for including Miss. Spider and posting about our project! It is truly an honor not just to have been part of the Cakenweenie project but also to be shared here!
Drops jaw.
Wow...
The Burton cake is beyond fab. I hate human form cakes, but this one looks like it's subject in a non super realistic sort of way. Like a painting.
There are some fierce decorators out there.
*heads off to cakeweenie*
I cannot believe you've never seen James and the Giant Peach!
I want all of them.
These cakes show what's great about Burton movies: the visuals. Because the writing is decent at best, and hideous at worst. Nightmare isn't too deep of a story, and James and the Giant Peach is even less subtle, but the animation and art are great. Alice was a travesty with great designs, and Charlie was spot-on to the book...minus the dreadful interpretation of Wonka.
But with these cakes, it's easy to remember and enjoy what made his style so successful.