Book Food: Macbeth and Oedipus Rex

     Next up for Book Food is this strawberry jello poke cake, representing Macbeth by Shakespeare and Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.

       Both Macbeth and Oedipus had characters who tried to control their own fate, though they inevitably failed.  Both books were also really bloody, a bit too much for my liking.  

(spoiler alert) Did Macbeth's head really have to be ripped off?  

        The red strawberry gelatin oozing down through the cake looks like blood and symbolizes the turmoil that Oedipus and Macbeth faced in order to gain their thrones.  The reflective "mirror" on top of the cake conveyed that one's actions "reflect" one's destiny, and so one controls their own fate.  

          Basically, this cake is just vanilla cake, strawberry butter cream, and Jello.  I used my vanilla layer cake recipe and my strawberry buttercream recipe for this.  

           First, you bake the cake and poke holes in it with a fork at 1/2" intervals.  

      Then you mix 1 package strawberry Jello with 2 cups hot water.  Stir for 2 minutes until the Jello is dissolved.

 

     Pour the jello over the cake.  Then refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours.

        Frost the cake with strawberry buttercream and refrigerate for another 2 hours.

        Then mix 1/2 pack of jello with 1 cup of hot water, stir until dissolved, and pour it over the frosting.  Refrigerate until the jello stiffens.  

           The top jello part unfortunately didn't work out for me.  Still, the cake tasted pretty good and it represented the books well.  

            Enjoy!