Dinosaur cake

Make the body of the dinosaur cake:

• Make the cake in a round mould.

• Cut it diagonally in 2. 

• Cover the non-rounded side of the 2 pieces with a good spoonful of spread.

  

  • Put the 2 pieces together.

  

  • Turn the cake over and round off the sides.

  

  • Fine off the edges of the cake.

  

  • Cover the whole of the cake with spread (about 5 tablespoons on the curved sides)

  

  • Prepare 1.5kg of cake fondant and color it with a mixture of dark brown and forest green.

  • Remove 200g of this fondant to make the dorsal spines (28) and the 4 spikes making up the club on the tail.

  NB: The spines are not all the same size. They get smaller and smaller as you go along the back of the dinosaur.

  • Use the blade of a knife to make grooves in each side of the spines.
  • Let one side dry before making grooves on the other side.

  

  

  • Go back to your bowl of fondant.

  • Remove 700g of fondant and spread it in a rectangle measuring 45 x 40cm.

  • Thoroughly smooth the rectangle onto the cake and cut it so that you have too much (but hang on to the leftover fondant!)

• Put the cake on a plate and leave space at the front for the dinosaur head and at the back for the tail.

• Take 340g of sugar paste to make the tail of the dinosaur.

• Use part of the paste to make an oval 3.5cm thick, 6.5cm wide and 10cm long.

Make the tail of the dinosaur:

• Model the oval in such a way to make a tail 24.5cm long and about 9cm wide at its widest point.

• Stick it to the back of the dinosaur with egg white and give it a round shape.

• Place a 150g ball of paste on the tail near the back and make it into a shape like the one shown in the picture below:

Make the head of the dinosaur cake:

• Take 120g of sugar paste.

• Fashion a ball and a neck from the paste and leave it on a small ramekin.

• Stretch out the head into a triangle shape.

• Mark the space between the eyes on the head using the back of the handle of a small knife.

• Make the eye sockets with your fingers, cut the mouth using a knife blade and make the nostrils with a toothpick.

• Wait until the head hardens a bit before continuing.

• Put 3 toothpicks in the front end of the body of the dinosaur.

• Cut the neck using a bevel.

Assemble together the pieces of the dinosaur cake

• Place the head on the toothpicks and use egg white to stick the head to the body.

• Make each leg of the dinosaur out of 105g of paste and stick them to the body using egg white.

• Stick the scales on the back of the dinosaur with egg white and leave to dry properly.

• Mark the body of the dinosaur by making grooves with a knifeblade.

• Leave it to dry at least overnight and longer if needs be.

Decorate the dinosaur cake

• Paint:
  • the scales with a mixture of red and orange food coloring,
  • the eyes with black food coloring,
  • the body with a mix of yellow and orange food coloring with a hint of green thrown in,
  • the bottom of the dorsal scales and towards the base with a mix of yellow and a drop of green,
  • the claws yellow.

• Leave it to dry for several hours.