Sunday Sweets Takes A Liking For Vikings
It's Leif Erickson Day, time to celebrate one of the world's best-known Vikings!
(By Sweet Delisse)
Of course, *I* don't know much about Leif Erickson, so I'm going to get a little help from our old friend, the Internet.
Let's see...
There once was a Viking named Eric the Red. He probably looked something like this:
Eric had a son named Leif, who turned out to be a good sailor.
(By Suijker Fabriek)
It helps when you start them young.
When Leif's father was banished from Iceland, they hopped a boat...
(By Debbie Does Cakes)
...and headed to Greenland.
It was while he was in Greenland that Leif and his family learned how to train dragons.
(By Richard's Cakes)
Um... wait... is that right?
[furious clicking]
OK, forget that last bit. And remember, don't believe everything you read on the Internet, kids.
(Great cake, though, right?)
Anyway... Leif sailed on many voyages.
(By Sugar and Spice)
Eventually, he got restless and sailed off to find a far-off land he'd heard about, 600 arduous miles away.
(By The Evil Plankton on DeviantArt)
(You have to see the back, too. The bubbles are hand-blown sugar!)
Leif is believed to have found the New World 500 years before Columbus.
Leif Erickson Day sailed onto the national calendar in 1964.
(By Titia McLuckie for American Cake Decorating)
Thereby raising public awareness of Viking culture enough to inspire a TV show in 2013:
(By Bitchin' Bakes)
...not to mention its fair share of adorable birthday party themes:
(By Moxi)
So, Happy Leif Erickson Day, everyone!
(By Tarts De Sande)
May the horns on your hat never fall out.
*****
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Reader Comments (28)
Thank you, Sharyn. I can't believe how timely this is. I'm leaving for Denmark in 3 days and one of my first stops will be the Viking Museum. I hope they serve cake!
What's the name of the 2013 Viking inspired TV show?
I want those helmet cupcakes for my NaNoWriMo kickoff party! (National Novel Writing Month--not sure how the Viking helmet became our icon, but it's right there on the front page.)
Last cake made me giggle :D I love seeing actual talent.
Did you know, they have found the remains of a second Viking settlement on Newfoundland in addition to L'anse Aux Meadows?
(That 4th-from -the-end cake is magnificent)
Wow, these are some great cakes and ADORABLE cupcakes!
When will folks get past the idea that Vikings wore horned helmets? They did not! The horned helmet derives from operatic productions and not Norse tradition.
Tiffany, it's Vikings (not sure if you were really asking or being ironic). :)
So cute!
Vikings also harbor an intense love for Spam. Why, the very mention of the word causes them to break into song!
Lovely cup cake cakes! ^ ^
Swoon!
The sugar work on some (esp. the one before the tv show cake) is awe inspiring. But for some reason the little white rings around the oars on the second to last (or penultimate) cake just thrill me. The tiny detail that made the whole thing come together!
The almost last one, the birthday viking theme cake is also from a tv-series. Much older then Vikings: Wicky the Vicking. Originally a cartoon, later even a real movie.
Love vikings!
The 5th-from-the-last cake - the one with the bubbles in the back view - is here:
http://the-evil-plankton.deviantart.com/art/Viking-Cake-Back-View-383273899
So sad.... it has drowning Vikings. :=( It would cheer me up to see someone make a cake about Leif's brother, Thorstein the Unlucky. A name like that is meant for cake wrecks.
There should be a Minnesota Vikings and a Hagar the Horrible cake in there.
On the "How to Train your Dragon" cake....why is there a monkey on it?
Alice, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Having something on your head just made for people to catch with a rope is pretty dumb, and Vikings weren't stupid. Awesome, did you see the movie? I didn't, but maybe there was a monkey in it. (I do think he's pretty cute, though.)
I simply adore the royal icing "fretwork" on the fourth cake from the bottom. Some absolutely astounding talent here. Makes logging through all the Wrecks worthwhile!
Was there a monkey in "How to train your dragon?"
OK, am I the only one who think that the helmets on the first cupcakes are way to much work for "just a cupcake". Perhaps they have someone who is so skilled they can really crank those out. I'd like to meet that someone and intern (for free) with him or her.
@ Jules -- TY so much for the Monty Python ref. It's my favorite sketch behind the Dead Parrot and the Cheese Shop.
@ Jake & Me -- You said what I was thinking, but much more artfully. Somehow it wouldn't have been the same item without the illusion of the oars actually in the water. So cool!
Vikings? Do you live in Minnesota, by any chance?
Titia McLuckie's cake is truly breathtaking.
Why a monkey - because they can and it is cute?
The vikings did not have horns on their helmets!!! This is just a myth! Next time you order a viking themed cake, please educate your baker!
Fourth one from the bottom- amazing!!!!
That cake with the sea monster looks an awful lot like the Dawn Treader, except not quite. :)
I want that Toothless one, but as a statue I can keep. It's too cool to eat!!!
Vikings! One of my fave shows. Lagertha rules!
The second one from the bottom is from a popular TV show which is based on the same titled children's book Vickie the Viking - not sure how popular that is across the pond but it was/is huge in several European countries (since 1974!)