I had so much fun making the cupcake toppers that I decided to try out making a large cake topper for my birthday cake.  I try not make a big deal out of my birthday these days. Once you are over 30 its just a reminder that your best years are behind you and those years weren’t that great to begin with… but I digress.

So this year I thought I’d make my own birthday cake instead of waiting for the store bought monstrosity one that my mother in law usually springs on me for Christmas.  I had so much fun making it.  I even remembered a few tips I learned back in high school home ec about frosting.  Always make sure your cake is completely cooled before you try and frost it and put it in the freezer for a bit to keep the crumbs from getting in the icing.  I baked mine the night before, wrapped it in saran wrap and put it in the freezer over night.  It still got some crumbs in the icing though.  The next tip is make sure you have PLENTY of icing.  After making the first pass at the cake put it in the fridge and let it chill sufficiently then make a second pass at the cake with icing.  You can then cover up any crumbs that might have gotten into the icing and smooth it out.  OR just go with rolled fondant.  I was too chicken to try the fondant, maybe next time.

I used the same recipe for butter cream frosting as the two varieties of cupcakes and I used the same candy clay recipe for my toppers as the cupcake toppers.  When tinting the icing always use the gel coloring so that it does not change the consistency of the icing.  I used a 10″ round cake and an 8″ round cake.  I could not have gone any smaller and fit the toppers on it.  The one is about 6″ tall and the other is about 5″ long.

I used white chocolate  butterscotch, peanut butter/chocolate chips as well as dark chocolate, red and yellow (for the lab) candy melts and black rolled fondant.  The toppers are completely edible and actually taste pretty good.

I used a pill bottle to lean the Labrador against while it was drying.  I made a black fondant Labrador too but it looked like something a kindergartner would make out of playdough so I opted not to put it on the cake…. The consistency of fondant is so different from candy clay I think I just need some practice.  But not to shabby for a first try.  After Christmas I am going to try to make some Saint ornaments with sculpting clay.  Stay tuned…

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