Spooktacularly orange!

So I decided, about a month ago, to indulge the pagan in me and create a Halloween cake. What brought this about was too many evenings filled with Choccywoccydoodah re-runs. To put it mildly, I LOVE Choccywoccydoodah. Literally love it. When I am bored, I find my mind wandering, Brighton-bound. One of my bugbears with rolled fondant is the fact it tastes, by and large, pretty rotten. Particularly certain brands. There's nothing like peeling back the plasticised foil and the sweet, chemicular odour hitting the back of your throat (is chemicular a word? If it is not a word, it ruddy well should be). I search longingly for fondant that tastes good. The best combination I have found is Satinice for covering - the taste is far superior, and M&B and/or Renshaw for modelling. I hear, though, that the Americans have a product that is hallowed far and wide, Massa Grischuna. Nicholas Lodge is, allegedly, also a fan. This apocryphal covering is available to us in the UK if we are prepared to pay $63 a 6 kilo bucket of the stuff. A bit steep when you consider 10 kilos of standard fondant from the grey UK shores is about £30. But if the flavour is so superior, then just maybe it's worth it. Choccywoccydoodah on the other hand, have taken an entirely different tack and just use chocolate. Mouldable chocolate models adorn their cakes, and they are spectacular. I don't know how many people there are left in the baking blog-o-sphere who wouldn't have happened upon one of their creations, but if you haven't, go and google them and educate yourself in the art of chocolate kitsch.
Dave, head chocolatier, is a genius, of that there is no doubt, but it is the detail and tidiness of Tom, his equally talented wingman, coupled with Christine's (manager) fairy-fication if she feels not enough glitter has been used, that provides fertile ground for the folies a trois required to generate such creativity. And watching them just makes my fingers itch to create likewise.
Thus it was I began ordering copious quantities of orange icing, black glitter, and Celtic cross stamps. I fashioned black roses, black crosses, black ivy leaves. I ordered a pumpkin mould. I had my heart set on creating a Halloween masterpiece. And then Desk-buddy, curiosity getting the better of her, started asking why I was making the cake. Other than my daughter requesting it and pure self-indulgence of my creative urges, I had no justification. But then she said "Well if you want to make it for something, I'm having a Halloween party on the 29th for my birthday." And then I had an audience! My planning took on new fervour, but I also needed to scale down slightly, I realised. In the real world, not every birthday party heralds the arrival of 250 guests. And the resultant cake is here for you to view in all it's technicolor glory. The sponge is a chocolate mud cake courtesy of Paris Cutler, with a touch of orange zest, along with ganache made from Green and Blacks Mayan Gold chocolate, and soaked in a grand marnier syrup for extra moistness. Incidentally, if you hear of a good-tasting fondant, be sure to let me know!