Happy Sunday! This weekend brought two birthdays and two very different cakes! Today I'm going to share Kali's 8th Birthday cake! Little Miss picked an "Under the Sea" theme this year. Not really Ariel, not really Nemo...but with that same flavor. I couldn't wait to make the cake!

 First things first...all of the little critters that go on the side of the cake have to be made a little bit ahead of time. I wanted them to still be soft yet firm so I made most of them the day before I worked on the actual cake. When making a "cartoon" cake you don't have to be all so careful about the real natural details about the animal but rather just enough detail that people will know "oh yeah, that's a jellyfish" . All of the little guys on this cake are hand moulded from fondant.

 I started out with two layers in a hexagon shape of vanilla cake filled with apricot filling. Then I covered the entire cake in vanilla buttercream. I made two fondant panels to go on the sides of the cake and leave the top open for the "water" buttercream. I then added a trim strip of fondant for the "sand". I piped on buttercream over the strip and used a paintbrush to swirl the frosting around the cake. Then I used graham cracker crumbs pressed into the buttercream for the seabed.

 After I finished prepping the sides of the cake I piped on the "water". To make the water look more realistic I mixed in blue gel color but didn't mix it very well. I wanted white bits along with the blue. I then used the paintbrush again to swirl and make the water choppy looking.

 Then it was time to add the details. I added the seaweed, the island and the fish on the sides as well as the tube coral then the last touches were placing the starfish and crabs. The eyes on all of the critters are just white fondant with a black food dye dot painted in the center.

Finally I made the umbrella for the island. To do this you just cut a circle out of scrapbook paper, then cut a slit into the center and fold the paper around to create the cone. I put a ball of fondant into the inside center of the cone and pushed a skewer thru it so the tip stuck out of the top. I then secured it into place with a red ball of fondant for the final color touch. Super easy to do.

I was thrilled to, once again, be part of Kali's special day! Happy Birthday Kali!!

Next week I'll share with you my husbands birthday cake since his birthday was also this weekend!

Cat