Eat Your Heart Out’s gruesome pop-up cake shop opens this October
Forget cute cherry-topped cupcakes and pastel-coloured macaroons; 26-28th October sees the opening of the Eat Your Heart Out pop-up cake shop selling treats such as cold-sore cupcakes, nail fungus cookies and cocktails based on crime scene evidence. Are you hungry yet?
A cake shop? In a pathology museum?
Aptly titled, this year's Eat Your Heart Out pop-up cake shop will take place at St Bart's Pathology Museum in London. But what's with the anatomically correct theme? And what's it doing in a pathology museum, quite possibly the last place you'd fancy nibbling on some cake? We asked organiser Miss Cakehead to put us straight: 'EYHO 2010 was such a massive success we had to find a way to emulate this without diluting the EYHO brand, and at the same time deliver a unique offering. I have been working with the St. Bart Pathology Museum on another project and it occurred to me that this would be an amazing space for a cake shop - the anatomically correct theme followed naturally,' she told us.
EYHO will be educational
As well as being able to buy the treats on offer, visitors can also attend lectures arranged by co-curator Carla Connolly of the museum. 'EYHO has always been a deeper concept than just creating gross cakes and so the educational nature seemed an obvious thing to do', Miss Cakehead explains. As well as anatomy, the event will also raise awareness of disease, with exhibits including infected eyeball, lung cancer and STD-inspired cakes. In a statement, St Bart's said that education was the 'main focus' behind the not-for-profit cake shop, and gave the example of mole cupcakes: 'for those who don't want to look at a photograph or a real potted specimen, an exact replica on top of a cupcake may save lives,' they said.
'Skin' cakes and chocolate skulls
As you'd imagine with the anatomically correct theme, some very life-like creations are on the menu. There are life-sized chocolate skulls, a realistic-looking marshmallow 'hand' and alcoholic jellies served in petri dishes. Cupcake fans can feast on cakes decorated to look like they're topped with red blood cells, curled up intestines, and lips sporting impressive cold-sores. And if a big cake is more up your street, you'll love the 'skin cake' made by Gillian Bell of Dead Bright - a heart-shaped fruit cake with stitched-up marzipan 'skin'.
Fancy a 'stomach contents' cocktail?
After all those cakes and cookies you might be feeling a bit thirsty. But don't expect anything as humdrum as a cup of tea. Mixologist James Dance of Loading in Falmouth has created a range of cocktails, based on evidence from crime scene investigations. They include 'stool sample' (created with cocoa, strawberry syrup and fudge pieces), 'stomach contents' (containing vodka, absinthe and empty pill casings) and 'fat' (with a white chocolate topping). According to James, although the cocktails will look super-realistic (some even served warm for that special touch), they'll be delicious to drink, insisting that the horror is only there 'in people's minds and the connections they make'.
Eat Your Heart Out 2012 will be held at St Bart's Pathology Museum between 26-28th October. For more information on this 18+ cake shop, visit the EYHO website.
What do you think? Could you stomach any of these treats? What do you think of the creations pictured?
