elephant cake topper

I wanted to do something special for Trenton's first birthday cake. We could have ordered from the bakery as we typically do when we want something beyond cake from a box and icing from a can (although I prefer the likes of Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker to the more sugary bakery cakes).

I made cake from scratch and it turned out rather delicious! I used white buttercream frosting (to which I may have added too much powdered sugar because it was awefully sugary) but I did consider topping the cake with fondant. Instead of topping the cake with fondant, I decided to make a fondant figurine. Well, first I wanted to make 3 figures, but after I saw how large the first one turned out, I decided that one was enough.

I made this elephant 5 days before Trenton's birthday because it wasn't going to be eaten and I knew that I would be busy with other party responsbilities later in the week.  The elephant started out a very pretty light blue but over the waiting period, it turned to more of a dull bluish-grey.  But it still turned out pretty cute!

I learned that when using fondant for figures, make as many parts using one piece as possible.  I first made the trunk separate from the face but couldn't figure out how to attach the trunk.  So I scrapped that piece and made the trunk as an a extention of the head by slowly rolling out a log from a large ball (I know . . . I couldn't make that sound any better). 

I also learned that the back of the figure should not be ignored. I didn't spend any time smoothing the elephant's arms and legs into his back before the fondant dried, so if you looked at his back, you would see the attachments. Next time, I will have to take more care with the back to make sure the figure looks like one solid piece.

 

And the only one who mattered seemed to enjoy it...