The other day when I was perusing the news on Destructoid, I came across a posting from Colette that dealt with the awesome Spore creatures that a user here was manufacturing. At the bottom of the post Colette mentioned that the user was also attempting to tackle the Cactuar, the best RPG enemy in existence. At that point I knew my fate was sealed. I was going to immortalize the Cactuar in cake form.

But allow me to step back for a bit, and provide a little history on what I do with baking. I first started making sugary treats related to games when I created a segment called “RPG Cooking” at my old stomping grounds. My first task was creating the infamous 1up mushroom. It sounds like I stepped outside the RPG genre, but don’t forget that they were available in Super Mario RPG as well! With the inspiration from a source to boot, I was destined for a good time.



The next task was a bit more unforgettable. I recreated both the Starman, Jr. and a horde of Foppys out of cookie dough. It was rough going, but I felt good at the end of the task. I believe I fulfilled my duty in honoring Earthbound.



Then, I ran out of ideas for a particularly long stretch. Incorporating everything RPG related seems like a board category, but no great ideas were coming. That is, until yesterday. Now typically when I do these I provide some fairly comprehensive directions and pictures detailing my adventure. You won’t really all of that this time.

The goal was to create a cake in the likeness of a Cactuar. The first step in that process is creating a mold. If you lack the tools like I do, then aluminum foil is the best bet in making something that can successfully hold cake mix. The problems I had were many, and I don’t think they need to be detailed here. The most important thing to know is that you need to use a good base that has some real depth, like Styrofoam. Wrap the several sheets of aluminum foil around the Styrofoam and do your best to keep the aluminum foil in the rough cake pan shape you just made. Then, just take cake mix, pour it in, and pray that there were no gaps in your mold.

The rest of the procedure is simply dying the topping of your choice different colors. In this case, it was bright green, a darker green, and black. I suck at icing cakes, and the drawback from using food coloring is that it eats up the softer icings.

Anyway, without further adieu, I bring you Cactuar cake: