Kicking off March with Warcraft-themed cakes

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I have a love/hate relationship with Warcraft cake submissions. On the one hand, I love seeing the creativity put forth and the stylish efforts of confectionary art. On the other, they make me want to bake things, and while I enjoy baking things, I don't eat sweets often enough to warrant making a full-sized cake! Oh sure, I could ask my Dad to devour it, but even he has his limits as far as cake consumption goes.

... not to mention that cake submissions make me kind of hungry, especially when they look as tasty as the cake pictured above. Sara Bryant posted this cake on Reddit a while back and then decided to submit it to us as well. But that's not all we've got for you today. We've also got a couple of sets of perfectly adorable cake toppers, including one from a name you've heard on the site before. Check out the gallery, and meet us after the break for more goodies!

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The druid cake is awesome, but how did it come together? Sara filled us in on both the idea and the process.

"For Christmas, my husband gave me a KitchenAide mixer, so I've been making all kinds of goodies," Sara explained. "A few days before my birthday, I started doodling little druid pictures (she's my main/raid leader). At the time, I had no idea how I was going to get a picture onto the cake -- I've never really decorated cakes before. I drew a larger picture with the help of my character! She sat ever so patiently while I drew her.

"I then googled and found a really great tutorial on how to do a frozen buttercream transfer. I'd never heard of it before, but I thought that that would be a good idea to try instead of drawing it directly on the cake in case I messed it up. I went to the grocery store and found black frosting in a tube with little applicators you could screw on.

"I taped my drawing onto a large cutting board and taped a layer of wax paper over that," Sara continued. "I traced the drawing in black frosting (which seemed to take forever!) and filled in the smaller spots (teeth, mouth, eye markings). I mixed some of the buttercream frosting I made with some of the black frosting, to fill in the rest of the bear with a greyish-white color with a Ziploc bag that I snipped the corner off of instead of buying some pastry bags. Then I smoothed it over to make sure it would be filled in and put it in the freezer over night. The next morning, I baked the cake, waited for it to cool, and frosted it with some pink strawberry frosting -- I wanted it to be girly! A few hours before two of our friends came over (both in my guild), I took the frozen design and peeled off the wax paper and set it on the cake."

A cool method of cake making to be sure, but how did the guests like it? "My husband and two friends thought it looked awesome!" she said. "I was actually pretty surprised myself at how cute it was. I sent a picture to my mom and brother (who both also play!), and they really loved it as well! It's not perfect, I saw some ridiculously amazing WoW cakes, but I honestly think I did a cute job. I've already gotten a request from one of my friends to make him a WoW birthday cake as well. Practice makes perfect!"

More importantly, how did it taste? "It was delicious!" Sara said. "Who doesn't love chocolate and strawberry! Although I must say, I cut the first piece and I was a bit sad for a few seconds that such an adorable druid was going to get eaten ... Until I tried it, it was so yummy!"

Now I really want strawberry and chocolate cake myself, come to think of it -- thanks for the submission, Sara!

Weddings are tops

In a different realm of creativity altogether is the submission above, a set of cake toppers created by WoW Insider reader Christine for her wedding. Adorably detailed, they were made for a World of Warcraft-inspired wedding! Both Christine and her husband play WoW, and both play worgen; she plays a warrior, and he plays a death knight. The gallery includes an image of the completed cake, worgen and all.

Christine did a lovely job creating the toppers, down to every last detail. The tiny jeweled belt on the dress, the delicate flower in the hair -- every button and buckle is meticulously placed. And what worgen wouldn't be complete without a top hat to complete the ensemble? Thanks for the submission, Christine, and congratulations on your wedding!

Our last submission today comes from a familiar name for World of WarCrafts readers -- Marika Kermode. Marika was one of the runners-up for the 2010 Global Writing Contest with her story The Wicked and the Righteous, involving Mordent Evenshade and his attempts to reconcile with the night elves prior to Cataclysm. We interviewed her early last year about her story and her writing, but it turns out Marika's love for World of Warcraft extends beyond the game and into real life as well.

Marika's wedding topper was created by Feats of Clay, and it features the subtlest tribute to WoW -- a tiny Alliance emblem at the feet of the glowing bride and groom. Marika's husband didn't always play WoW, however. "We didn't meet through WoW, but my husband is British, so we both played a lot to spend time together when I was still living in the States and we were separated by the Atlantic Ocean," she explained. "It was just a subtle nod to something that was important to both of us and made the time apart more bearable."

That's an awfully sweet and quiet tribute, but did the rest of the family notice the nod? And what did they think about the cake? Marika adds, "There was a hilarious moment when my 13-year-old cousin ran up to us at the reception and was like 'Wow, you guys play World of Warcraft? You are my coolest cousin, Mari!'"

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including arts and crafts, fan art, WoW-themed recipes, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by emailing anne@wowinsider.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.