Dinosaur Cake

I've said it before and I'll say it again — I'm not a fan of fussy cake decorations using gumpaste, fondant and crusting buttercream.

They all are sickly sweet and frankly taste terrible. Crusting buttercream isn't even made with butter. It's made with shortening and bakeries like it because it's cheap to make and forms a protective crust that makes cakes iced with it easier to box and transport.

For me, taste is what matters most and nothing is better than a subtly sweet Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  So that's what I used to make this Dinosaur Cake for my Goddaughter GraceLin's 5th birthday celebration.

My secret for adding a perfectly shaped dinosaur to the top of the cake is to use a cookie cutter as my guide to make a template. Then all you have to do is trace the template with a toothpick or skewer and add icing and decorations. It really is easy.

Here's how:

Use a dinosaur cookie cutter as a guide to draw a template. I made the template out of cardboard from a cereal box.

Cut the template out.

Position the template on the cake. I had to give the tail a clip to make it fit better.

Use a skewer or toothpick to outline the template.

Now this dinosaur is ready for some color.

Outline the dinosaur with green buttercream.

Fill the outline with more green buttercream and use a small knife to spread and smooth it out.

Looking good.

I used the pink candy hearts to make spikes down the dinosaur's back.

Just stick them in upside down.

Break some of the white hearts in half for toes.

That was easy.

Use a candy sprinkle for the eye.

GraceLin is going to love it!

Swedish Pearl Sugar makes perfect dinosaur teeth.

The candy decorations add nice pops of color to the design.

I added a bit of hot pink sanding sugar down the dinosaur's back and I used a skewer to write "Happy Birthday" so that I can be sure all the letters fit before going over them with icing.

This cake is ready!