A's Cakery: Chinese Noodle Bowl Cake

One of my dearest, best, most fun and wonderful friends absolutely loves Chinese food- as well as anything to do with Asian culture-, so of course I had to make her a Chinese takeout cake.!!!! It turned out soooo awesome.! I was super happy with the results & everyone loved it!

A few days ahead of time, I molded the mushrooms, broccoli & carrots out of gumpaste (an edible clay-like material similar to fondant). I rubbed some cocoa powder on the caps of the mushrooms to make them look more realistic, and added some green sprinkles to the tops of the broccoli to make them pop. To make the chopsticks "float" whilst holding up a healthy portion of noodles, I fashioned a log shape of gumpaste and stuck the chopsticks through the top of the material. I used shaping tools to draw lines for individual noodles. Then I let it dry completely on a flat surface to hold its shape and be strong enough to stand up in the cake.

I baked the (pineapple flavored) cake in a greased glass ovenproof pyrex bowl. I iced the cake with a thin layer of vanilla frosting. Then, I colored some cinnamon flavored fondant using no-taste red food gel. I rolled the fondant out evenly to be big enough to cover the bottom and sides of the "bowl." I cut out about 2 inches of the top cake, leaving a rim to enhance the bowl shape and leave more room for the noodles and vegetables. Then, I used golden colored fondant to cover the top of the cake. The rest of fondant I squeezed through a small handheld fondant press (similar to a garlic press) with a circular attachment at the end to create the noodles. I stuck the previously made noodle cluster up into the middle of the cake, and then draped individual noodles on top and all over the top of the cake. I poured Butterscotch sauce over all the food to create a "soy-sauce" glaze, and then added the vegetables on top with real pineapple chunks and a fortune cookie to finish it up.!