Camera Cake

Here's my simple version of a camera cake.! First I baked a 9x13 in cake and a 9 in round to form the base. When everything cooled, I cut out two rectangles for the camera body, and used a large circle cutter for the two circles to form the lenses. I crumb coated the camera with icing and used a knife to shape the camera and round the edges. Next, I rolled out black fondant thin and carefully smoothed it over the cake. I iced the base cake "saints" gold and piped a black bead border around the edge of the cake. I also piped several fleurdelis and accented the cake with edible sugar pearls.

Here's Melissa riding a kangaroo- someone is taking that wonderful picture .! With a Heath ledger-esque likeness, she safaris through the Australian outback atop a noble pouncing steed.!

Monster Book of Monsters Cake

I wanted to make a "different" type of Harry Potter cake to surprise my friend with for her Birthday his year. I decided to create a Monster Book of Monsters.! :)

My cat Oswald/Lil Z was a big help in the decorating process as you can clearly see.!

 First, I baked a 9x13 cake (chocolate with oreos lining the bottom if you must know.!). After it had sufficiently cooled, I cut the cake in half and stacked the pieces, gluing them together with a bit of icing in the middle. Next, I iced the three "pages" sides of the book. I rolled out three long thin strips of gumpaste (an edible clay-like substance) to serve as the pages. I cut lines for individual pages using a rolling cutter, and then brushed some cocoa powder over the surface of the gumpaste to create a weathered look. After attaching the page edges of the cake, I molded the fangs with additional gumpaste. I piped all over the remaining surface of the cake with icing tinted with brown food gel using a #233 icing tip-one that is used to create a grassy, or in this case, furry effect.

 I also used gumpaste to form the eyeballs (with a toothpick dipped in black food gel to make the pupils), and to make the "bookmark" tongue. I dribbled some red food coloring around the teeth to emulate blood. Those ferocious fangs just seemed like there would be blood dripping from them.!

Lastly, I piped "Hannah's Monster Book of Monsters" on the cover of the "book," and 25 on the spine. I also used brown tinted gumpaste to form a wand (emblazoned with Hannah's initials, HP, along with a lightning bolt) and threw in a cheap pair of Harry Potter-esque circular glasses.! Super cool.! Always.! :)