Kung Fu Panda Cake

Everybody loves kung fu fighting! A girl that I work with has a daughter that turned two today. Her daughter, Sammi, is completely obsessed with Kung Fu Panda. The theme for her second birthday cake was a no brainer. I searched online for some ideas of a simple double layer 8" round cake design. My co-worker went through the designs I found and settled on this cute version with the movie title spin.

Now I do not pride myself to be any type of sculptor. I actually claim to be a rather terrible artist who just happens to know how to manipulate cake. So this cake design made me excited but extremely nervous. A lot of times with these well known cartoon characters the intention is good but the outcome is less than desirable. It's not just enough to make a cute panda on a cake, there is the pressure to make it look like the beloved character that the child is expecting to be gracing their birthday cake. And believe me, they know the difference!

First I baked up a layer of yellow cake and a layer of chocolate cake. Then I mixed up some buttercream frosting and dirty iced the layers. Usually I make my own fondant but I decided to do the purchased fondant for this particular cake. Two reasons why:

1. Bought fondant comes in true black and true red, nearly impossible colors to make at home.

2. Store-bought fondant is firmer than homemade, making it easier to cut out and construct the panda.

So I covered the cake in the true red fondant and then began constructing Po the panda. First I found a drawing of Po in one of his kung fu poses. Then I sized and printed it to fit on top of the cake (leaving room for the writing of course). Then I took tracing paper and traced each part of the panda. I used these as templates to cut out the different pieces of the panda. Then I put him together like a jigsaw puzzle, adding some 3-D elements to give him more dimension. The belt was made by putting thin chunky strips of fondant in alternating colors, rolling it flat and cutting out the belt. The patch was put on top of his pants and "stitched" on with buttercream icing.

Last but not least I cut out the message and piped a matching yellow border around the bottom of the cake. And there you have it - Kung Fu Panda cake! I love how it turned out. I especially liked Po's face. I think it was a pretty close likeness. At least everyone at work was able to tell who it was when I delivered it today.

It was a good start in learning how to sculpt characters. I will definitely need a lot more practice before going fully 3-D though! I hope that the little birthday girl likes it and has a great second birthday. Happy Birthday Sammi!

Now it's time to start concentrating on my own little girl's big day! She's turning three this year and I'll give you three hints to the theme of her party... sharks.... dolphins... and octopuses!