Back in the 90s I played so many point-and-click adventure games on the computer. My favorites were The Legend of Kyrandia Series, Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb, Sam and Max Hit the Road, The Dig, and Day of the Tentacle. In the heyday of LucasArts games, they produced a series of games that kept me glued to our family computer for hours! The internet was in its infancy and my best friend Melissa and I would help each other figure out the hard parts. Oh how I long for those days again!!!
I had to pay homage to Day of the Tentacle, the sequel to Maniac Mansion (which can actually be played in its entirety within DOTT!) This past year a remastered version including the exact same game with updated graphics, sounds, and trophies was released on PlayStation network (so you should totally download it and play, and, no I am not sponsored by them 🙂 )
I had the idea to make the titular characters out of something sweet. So, I present to you: Day of the Tentacle Cake Pops!
To make the cake pops you will need…
- A boxed cake mix in any flavor baked according to the instructions on the back. (I needed 1 c. water, 3 eggs, ½ c. veg. oil)
- 9×13 baking dish
- A Large Mixing Bowl
- Candy Melts (purple and light green)
- Fondant (yellow, green, black)
- Buttercream frosting (1 can store-bought, or home-made)
- Some vegetable shortening or coconut oil
- Some cutting boards
- Wax Paper or Parchment paper
- Some Lollipop sticks
- A Styrofoam Block
- A small rolling pin or fondant roller
- Some piping tips or small round cookie cutters of different sizes.
- An ice cream/cookie scoop (1 ½ inch)
HOW TO MELT CANDY MELTS
Put the melts into a microwave safe bowl (plastic is better as glass may tend to overheat the candy) and microwave on 50% power for 1 minutes, give it a good stir, back in for 30 seconds at 50% power, stir, 20 seconds, stir, and do this until it’s all melted. Be careful not to overheat.
- STEP BY STEP
- Make the cake according to the instructions, or bake your own favorite recipe!
- Once the cake is baked and cooled, cut it into pieces and finely crumble it into the large mixing bowl.
- Add spoonfuls of frosting to the cake crumbs and mix it until it comes together as a dough. You’ll probably need about ¾ of a store-bought can, but just add a bit at time. It’s always easier to add more frosting but you don’t want to add too much, or your dough will be too soft and much harder to work with. If you add to little, the dough will be to dry and might crack on you. Feel free to mix by hand. I find that’s the easiest way!
- Scoop out balls of the dough using the ice cream scoop. With a 1½ inch scoop combine two balls together for one cake pop.
- Gently roll the cake pops between your hands into cone shapes to form the tentacle bodies. Make them fairly long and narrow at the top because remember you’re going to dip them in candy melts that’s going to give them a little more bulk. Flatten the bottom slightly with the heel of your hand so the tentacle can stand up.
- If the cake pops are really soft you can pop them into the fridge or freezer to firm up a bit. Then make make Purple tentacle’s arms by taking jelly-bean sized pieces of dough and attaching them to the sides of half of your cake pops with a little melted purple candy melt. Use a little more candy melt to act as a seal around the arms so they stay put when dipping later. You could also you small almonds or other small candies here.
- Dip one end of a lollipop stick into some melted candy melt and insert it into the bottom of each cake pop going up at least half way. If you are making bigger cake pops you may want to use two sticks for safety. Put them in the FREEZER until they are frozen. I chilled them in the fridge and they started breaking off when I went to dip them.
- Once they cake pops are completely solid, melt or re-melt the rest of your candy melts. It’s helpful to have them in tall narrow containers for ease of dipping. TIP: Don’t over heat candy melts! Scorching will cause them to get too thick. If using a double boiler, avoid getting any water in them.
- If your candy melts are too thick to dip then take some melted vegetable shortening or coconut oil and mix it in. This will make it easier to get a thin, even coat.
- Dip half of your cake pops in the green candy melts and the ones with the arms in purple. Stick them in a Styrofoam block to set.
- Make the tentacles’ suction cups by rolling out some green and yellow fondant and cutting circles and using the large end of piping tips or small circle cutters. You’ll need three for each cake pop – two larger ones for the belly and mouth and a small one for the eye. Use a smaller circle cutter to cut out the middle of each.
- Then, cut very thin circles to act as a backing for each suction cup, and apply using a bit of water. You can shape the mouth however you like then use a bit more water to stick these to your cake pops.
- It’s easier to put on their “feet” if you take the tentacles off their sticks at this point, but you can always keep them on if you want. Roll out a long snake of fondant, measuring the size you need and cut off the excess with a knife. Then again, use just a bit of water to stick them to the base of my each cake pop.
- To make Purple Tentacle’s sinister eyebrow, take a little black fondant and roll it in the shape of a little V and use a little water to stick it right over his eye.
And there you go! Day of the Tentacle Cake Pops!
I found these papercraft Tentacles online. Here’s the link:
http://www.taringa.net/comunidades/adventure/57786/Papercraft-Tentaculo-DOTT.html
I had to use Photoshop to make Green Tentacle. If you want the pattern, shoot me an email!
