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Vernon baker earns stripes with Tiger King cake

Krazy Kakes creation an homage to hot-ticket COVID-19 Netflix doc
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Krazy Kakes owner Chantelle Nuttley created a cake based on Netflix’s top mini-doc series for self-isolators: Tiger King. She published photos on April 22, 2020. (Krazy Kakes)

If you haven’t seen it yourself, you know at least five people who have.

Tiger King was released on Netflix on March 20, just in time for self-isolation, and since then Netflix said the docu-series has been watched by more than 64 million Netflix households.

Obsessed with the sometimes hard-to-watch mini-doc starring Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin and a whole bunch of tigers, the Tiger King fandom is very, very real.

And now, one Vernon baker captured the strange beauty of a show in a delicious, gluten-free cake.

“Everyone had just finished Tiger King,” said Krazy Kakes owner Chantelle Nuttley, and then she got the call.

A customer called Nuttley up to request the “outrageous” birthday cake for her teenage son.

Nuttley, a fan of the show herself, said when she got the request, she was excited.

“I thought it was a show I could put on in the background,” she said with a laugh. “It’s a bit of a train wreck.”

“It’s mind-blowing to know there are that many large cats in the United States,” Nuttley noted.

After a few Google searches and reference shots were found, Nuttley put her skills to work to whip up the tiger-print cake that features both Joe Exotic and the infamous Carole Baskin, with the famed words: “That b—— Carole Baskin” on top.

Cake making started as a hobby nearly a decade ago, Nuttley said, and she grew up loving crafts and clay — a technique that has transferred over to working with fondant.

“Making cakes is a different creative way to let it all out,” she said.

Nuttley’s day job, marketing manager of Vernon’s Nature’s Fare, has also helped her cater to customers who request gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan options.

Although she primarily creates kids’ cakes — she said she could create unicorn cakes in her sleep at this point — she has made cakes for a wide variety of clientele.

This summer, Nuttley was eyeing wedding season, but the COVID-19 pandemic quickly pumped the breaks on her expansion plan.

Now, Nuttley said she is about to take maternity leave and with more time at home, she hopes to fill more unique cake orders.

“It’s important people know they can still have a birthday despite COVID-19,” she said. “They just have to keep it in their homes.”

Krazy Kakes is online on Facebook and Instagram or at krazykakesbc.wixsite.com.

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@caitleerach
Caitlin.clow@vernonmorningstar.com

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