First I made a devil's food cake (Husband's idea) in two 9 inch round cake pans. Typically when I make a cake that is heavily decorated, I cheat and use a box mix. The first round was cut in half and "glued" together with red frosting (The Professor's idea!) and placed cut sides down. From the second round, I cut a tail and two wedge shapes that made the head. The extra pieces were glued together to make a neck. The thighs were Ding Dongs that I sliced flat on one side while the feet and snout were Ding Dongs cut in half.
Then I slathered the first layer of frosting on top. (Again, I cheated with canned frosting which I wish I hadn't done as it was so humid here yesterday that the whole thing practically melted before we reached our destination.) This is usually where most people would give up because it looks terrible. There are crumbs mixed in with the frosting, smears on the base and holes everywhere. My trick is to pop it in the freezer, just long enough for the first layer of frosting to firm up. When you put the second layer on, all of those little crumbs will be trapped in the cold frosting and you can usually get a clean top layer. Damp paper towels work wonders to clean off smears and don't be afraid to use any utensils you have to work the frosting into all the nooks and crannies including the ones God gave you (yes, I washed my hands and no, I didn't lick!).
After the second layer went on, I used the tip of a butter knife to give the appearance of scales and a piping bag with white frosting to make teeth and eyes. The pupils and nostrils were Hershey's kisses turned upside down and the spikes were some chocolate covered graham cracker cookies. The wings were supposed to be Fruit Rollups but I forgot them at the store so I used tissue paper instead.
I hope this makes sense. I am terrible at tutorials. You should just come over the next time I make one! We've got back to back birthdays coming up next month and I already have a request for a pirate ship. That should be fun!Take a look at all of the other creative dragons that were devoured yesterday:
Bountiful Blessings
Shower of Roses
Knit Together in Love
Lord, Make Me a Saint
Pinewood Castle
Go East...
Let me know if I missed yours!
You are a genius! The crumbs? It never even occurred to me to stick the whole thing in the freezer...I just fought bravely on. :)
ReplyDeleteI will have to remember that trick!
Your cake is so cute, and your kids are so lucky to have such an awesome mom! Thank you so much for sharing all of your great ideas with us!
It is truly magnificent!
ReplyDeleteTo me, though, the best details are the crossed knives and gold pipe cleaners.
Yes!! You really are a genius!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to put the whole thing in the freezer... My problem would be that it wouldn't fit through the door. I did put the cake in the freezer for awhile before cutting it, at Jamie's suggestion, which did help some.
I love that you used red frosting to glue it all together!! Perfect!
Thank you again for sharing all your wonderful ideas with us!
Okay Matilda, it's all your fabulous fault that my two younger children went bonkers when they saw your cake and wanted to replicate it today. So much for a great day of school, but we had chefs in the kitchen! What fun,fun,fun! I used to make cut-up cakes like this all the time for the older ones, and still do from a neat old out of print cookbook an aunt gave to me many years ago now. Our children argued over what flavor of cake to make, so we have body of chocolate and the rest is a yellow cake. We use a blend of a bit of icing carefully folded into whipped cream because we aren't icing people. The children didn't want wings (how can he be a dragon then? Hilarious!), and made a fun fire with a red fruit roll up instead. I loved every second of our baking fun, hat tip to you for getting us going. I'll blog about it later, got plenty of pics to post...but YOU have blessed us so much with your post,let me tell you. So thank you, thank you! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome cake!! You are really talented.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is awesome! And the butterknife swords are genius!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fabulous tutorial! Love it! I'll have to try my hand at a dragon cake next year.
ReplyDeleteVery clever!
ReplyDeleteHow much frosting did it take to cover the dragon? I am making my own frosting and think I am going to 1 lb of butter plus 4 C of powdered sugar. Is that a good amount or too much/too little?
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I always make more than I need and find ways to use the extras. I would think that would be enough but I'm sorry I can't be more helpful than that!
ReplyDeleteYou are a lifesaver! My soon-to-be 11yo daughter is a huge dragon fan (don't try to tell her that dragons are evil -- gasp!). She has requested a 3d dragon cake for her birthday. I was at a loss and you have given me hope. I can do this! Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteMy trick for the frosting crumbs is to pour a thin layer of gnosh over the whole thing and let it set before icing :) I'll have to try the freezer one too! Hopefully though the two layers of icing won't be overwhelming.
ReplyDelete