"Time of Your Life"

Erin: "Mel, what are we doing here?"
Melaka: "What we do.  Saving the world."

First off, this blog entry is dedicated to my friend and coworker, Melakeh, who is leaving the zoo on Sunday.  :(  As soon as I heard we were doing a going away thing at work, I knew I would make cupcakes for her.  What I didn't know at the time was how crazy I was.  I ended up making her cupcakes of ALL our animals.  Yes, I'm crazy.  But they turned out really great!!

Secondly, as we both have a love for everything Joss Whedon and Buffy, I knew I had to pick a good title/episode for her.  "Time of Your Life" just happens to feature a future slayer named, "Melaka."  How perfect!  Can I say how proud (and clever!) I feel to stay on my Buffy theme and use the Season 8 comic to do it!  (P.S. - Season 9 coming out soon!!!)

Back to the cupcakes--

The department in which we work allows us contact with many varieties of animals.  This will be a very photo-logged entry since I don't expect you all to know all the exotics that we work with, let alone how they should look.  I'll let you all be the judge, though I've already been told they're amazing! 

Hyacinth Macaw

Probably the easiest cupcakes I made.

Ingredients:
Royal Blue cupcake liner
Cupcake - I did chocolate
Royal Blue Icing  - purchased, there is no way I could make that color
Yellow melting wafer - cut with circle cookie cutter, for the skin around the eye
Black Icing - also purchased, for the eye
Oreo - halved and cut into beak shape

Blue and Gold Macaw

One of my favorites.  It's so colorful!

Ingredients:

Yellow cupcake liner
Vanilla Cupcake
Vanilla Icing
Aqua Blue, Light Green, and Yellow Sugar
Black Icing - for black feathers around beak, and for eye
Oreo - halved and cut into beak shape
Yellow Coated Candy (Reece's Pieces or M&M) - for eye
Black frosting writer - to mark black feathers on face near eyes

Spectacled Owl

Ingredients:

Brown cupcake liner

Chocolate Cupcake

Chocolate Icing

White Icing - for feathers around eyes and neck

Banana runt - for beak

Butter Rum Lifesaver - for eyes

Black icing - for eyes

Trials and errors: The Butter Rum lifesavers are disgusting.  They look GREAT, but I would try to find something new for the next time I make them.



African Penguin

Ingredients:

Black cupcake liner

Chocolate cupcake

Chocolate frosting

Oreo - halved with icing side up, for the body, the other half cut for wings

Mini Oreo - halved for head

Black licorice nubs - cut into beak shape

White icing - for white feathers around face

Black icing - for eyes

Black icing writer - for penguin markings (ex. the four spots identify our penguin Jack)


Silky Showgirl Chicken

Ingredients:

White mini cupcake liner

Vanilla mini cupcake

Vanilla frosting

Coconut - roll frosted cupcake in coconut to cover, for feathers

Black licorice nubs - cut into beak shape

Opossum

Ingredients:

White regular and mini cupcake liners - for adult and baby opossums

Vanilla cupcakes - regular and mini

Vanilla frosting w/crushed oreos - for grey and white fur coloration

Hershey's kiss - unwrapped and frosted, for snout

Pink jellybean - for nose, cut in half for baby opossum

Black licorice - cut for ears

Pink and Black icing - for eyes

Black icing writer - to add whiskers and mouth

Anatolian Shepherd

Ingredients:

White cupcake liner

Vanilla cupcake

Cookies & Cream Frosting

Oreo - halved and cut into ear shapes, frosted for furry ears

Hershey's kiss - tip cut for muzzle

Mini m&m - for nose

Brown jellybean - cut in half for eyes

Black icing writing - for eyebrows

Alligator

Ingredients:

Chocolate cupcake

Chocolate frosting

Oreo - sides cut at angle for tapered snout, remember to keep rounded snout for alligator

Green Fruit Loops - for eyes

Black icing - for eyes

Blue and brown candies - shaped for target :)

Serval

Ingredients:

White cupcake liner

Vanilla cupcake

Peanut Butter frosting

White Icing - for mouth

Black Icing - for markings, mouth, and eyes

Black licorice nubs - cut into triangle for nose

Green mini m&ms - for eyes

Caramels - shaped for ears

Trials and errors: Don't use caramel!!  It melts!

Golden Lion Tamarins

Ingredients:

White mini cupcake liners

Mini vanilla cupcakes

Vanilla frosting

Orange and Peanut Butter melting wafers - melted and shaped into tamarin face

Black icing writer - for facial features

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Ingredients:

Black cupcake liner

Chocolate cupcake

Chocolate frosting

Oreos - crushed, roll and cover frosted cupcake, for dirt

Caramel - shaped into cockroach shape

Black icing - for legs, head armor and markings

I hope that she finds something wonderful and new, but we are going to miss her very much!  Here's to having the "Time of Your Life!" 

Be crafty,

Kris