Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Bucket Truck Cake

Inspiration: I made this for my labmate PJ's thesis defense party. He studies protein interactions and how small changes to particular residues in a protein (FtsZ) affect the ability of this protein to interact with itself and the function of the protein in general. One of the analogies he used to model this protein's interaction was with a bucket truck - the truck is the core of the protein, the boom is a flexible linker near the end of the protein, and the bucket is the tail of the protein that is important for its interactions with other proteins. To celebrate his accomplishments, I made this cake in the shape of a bucket truck.

Cake pan found at Bed, Bath, and Beyond
To make this cake, I used this cake pan that has adjustable inserts to make certain shapes like letters and numbers. I set the inserts as diagrammed below and followed the instructions on the pan to make the cake - filling the square insert as well for the bucket. I then decorated the cake using store bought icing (I may be crafty but I am not much of a cook - Betty Crocker is my friend :)). I drew the window and tires using black piping and added Reeses Peanut Butter Cups for the tires. Finally, I made the boom out of two pretzel sticks and attached the bucket.

Bucket truck diagram using pan and inserts

Dr. PJ cutting the cake


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