The mother/daughter baking team in Benicia, California, who have made headlines in the past with their ‘Pan Solo’ and ‘The Paindoughlorian’ bread sculptures, have done it again with an even more ambitious ‘The Last of Crust,’ a life-sized bread sculpture inspired by the hit show and video game The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal.
The “clickers” from the show, hand-sculpted and baked by Hannalee and Catherine Pervan at Benicia’s One House Bakery, are covered in more than 1,000 individually-created “mushrooms.” The model took over 400 hours of labor to construct, more than twice as long as the popular ‘Pan Solo.’ The creature's man-eating chompers were hand-sculpted and modeled after Catherine’s own teeth.
“We both just loved the show!” says head baker and co-owner Hannalee Pervan. “I’m not usually into being scared, but the story was so incredibly beautiful while also being terrifying. I cried after every single episode!”
Hannalee, who studied at Le Cordon Bleu and previously worked as a bread maker for French Laundry, had a unique idea for creating the intricate and unusual shapes that make up the “clickers” – zombie-like creatures infected with a mind-controlling fungus.
“I was lying in bed one night, and I thought, ‘What if I wrap a balloon in a really thin layer of dough and then bake it?’ When the popped balloon is removed, it leaves behind these really strange pod-like shapes we were able to use.”
‘The Last of Crust’ is just the latest in a line of One House Bakery’s incredible bread sculptures over the years, created annually for Benicia’s Halloween Scarecrow Contest, where visitors can view similar displays outside the many charming restaurants, art galleries and shopping boutiques lining First Street, Benicia. Visitors can also vote for their favorite from Oct 1-23 (scarecrows will be on display through October 31).
‘The Last of Crust’ will be available for visitors to see and pose beside throughout the Halloween season, until the first or second week of November.
