3D Animal Cake Full Photo Tutorial


This 3D animal cake tutorial is designed to show you how to structure a 3-D animal cake, using the honey badger cake as an example. By adapting the different steps to different animals, you’ll be able to make dogs and cat as well as other types of animals.


animal cake

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Hints and tips before starting.

Using a 9×13 two-layer cake will give you about 35-40 servings using only the cake in the body. 

Before you start, get as many photos of the animal that you’re making as possible. You need to get an idea of the proportion of the body to the head, etc.  The instructions for this cake end up with an animal that’s lying on the ground with its head up, so try to get a photo of your animal in the same position.

If you’re making a cake of a person’s pet, ask for photos of any special toys the animal has, its collar, etc. The more personalized details that you can put into an animal cake the more it will look like the animal!  Always ask if the animal has a specific feature that identifies it, like one ear that flops over, or the direction its tongue hangs out of its mouth, that kind of thing. Those details really personalize it.


rolls of fondant on a pug cake

•If you’re doing a cake of an animal that has rolls of skin like a pug, put some rolls of fondant on the surface of the cake before you cover it with fondant or candy clay. This will give you the contours of the skin rolls before you even start decorating.

Click here to see a recipe for candy clay.


pug cake covered in fondant

•To do the shading on dogs that have various colors of fur on their coats, use petal dusts brushed on after the fur has been marked. (For a full pug cake tutorial, click here.)

•You can also do airbrushing on animal cakes to shade the fur. If you do this be careful using candy clay, though, because the oils in it can resist the color. Keep it light and do several coats instead of one heavy coat and it will work better.

•For dogs like pugs that have relatively smooth coats, you should still do a little marking of the fur, but not as much. Just do enough to give the impression of fur.

•To make dog ears and cat ears, cut out a piece of fondant or gumpaste in a triangular shape with the tip either rounded or pointed based on the animal. Attach it to the head with the base of the triangle in a slightly curved position. Dog ears can be propped up on the inside with a solid piece of fondant to support the ear to the point where it folds over.

•Animal ears are usually placed more on the side of the head than the very top. Look at photos of the type of animal that you’re making to see where the ears should be located on the head.

•If you want to make a cake with an animal in different positions, the simplest is having him lying down with the head flat on the board. To do one where he’s sitting on the board with his front legs straight, use a system of supports with pillars that are covered with candy clay as the legs. Then make a platform resting on the pillars that will hold the head the way that it’s done in this tutorial.

•Candy clay works better than fondant for this type of cake because you have a longer working time. Fondant will dry out faster and won’t let you  blend edges together as easily.

•If you don’t want to cook the sugar for the honeycomb, you could use real honey. You can also use a dab of corn syrup or candy glaze n the eyes instead of the sugar, but it won’t look as shiny for as long. You might have to re-dab it on before delivery.

•If you’re doing an animal that has a closed mouth, you might need to taper the neck into the jaw more than you do with an open-mouthed animal. If this is the case you might want to use rice krispie treats coated with melted chocolate to keep it stiff and prevent it from falling apart before covering it with the fondant for the body. Using cake on the underside of the neck can result in the cake falling off.

•If you don’t want to do the head with cake, you can substitute rice krispie treats for that part.  You could also use rice krispie treats for the legs and tail.

•Make sure to get as many reference photos of the animal you’re making as you can. Side view, front view, view from above, close up of the face, etc. The more the better.


Materials list.

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-Two 9×13 cake layers, buttercream to fill and cover.

Candy clay (preferred) or fondant to cover the cake. Probably about 5 pounds.

-Candy clay for the details and any accessories like collars, toys, etc.

Sugar or isomalt to cook for honeycomb (for honey badger cake) and eyeballs.

Silicone mat for the melted sugar.

Large cake drum, about 12×18.

Serrated knife to carve the cake.

Dowels and sharpener, and something to cut the dowels with.

Dowels and sharpener, and something to cut the dowels with.

Corrugated plastic board, one piece about 12×12 will be enough. Cardboard won’t work, it needs to be plastic so that it can be melted. This is the type that the little yard signs are made from. You should be able to get it at craft stores or stores that make signs.

-Packing tape

-Hammer

Powder color to dust the face and the snake

-Sharp paring knife or exacto

Ball tool

-Photos of the animal that you’re going to be making. Make sure to get one in profile, one from the front, one from above if possible, and one in the  position the cake will be in.

Honeycomb impression mat if you’re making the honeybadger and want to have a honeycomb and snake. This isn’t necessary for dog and cat cakes

Hexagonal drill bit if you’re making a honeycomb.



Start carving the cake.

As you carve the cake, keep the cut-off pieces as large as possible (instead of shaving off little bits.) You’ll end up using the extra pieces to make the animal’s head.

stacked layers

Start with two 9×13 sheet cake layers, filled and stacked.


carved cake

Cut off about 1- 1 ½” from one side so that the body size will be narrower. Save the cut-off piece so that you can use it for the head and legs.


rounded cake

Round the back of one end, this will be the animal’s rear end.


carved cake

Cut off the front corners of the cake, this will be the animal’s shoulder area. Save all of your cut-off pieces to use later.


carved cake

Shape the other side and the front, making the front part of the torso.


cut board on the end of the cake

Measure a piece of the plastic board to fit on the top of the cake in the front. Make sure it’s the same shape as the cake.


Prep the cake for decorating.

crumb coat the cake

Crumb coat the cake.


dowels in the cake

Dowel the front of the cake for the neck. Make sure to put two dowels at the front of the cake and one at the back so that it will prevent the  head from tipping frontways or side to side.


board on the cake

Place the plastic board on the dowelled area.


Wedding

Start building the neck and head.

cake built up for the neck

Build up about a 1” layer of cake on top of the board. This will be the neck.


board for the head

Cut another piece of plastic board, about 6” long and 3 ½” wide. Curve it at the front to mimic the shape of the animal’s jawline.  Use this piece as a pattern to cut another one just like it so that you have two.


If your animal is going to have a closed mouth you don’t need to do the next part!

bent board

Using a culinary torch, or the flame from a gas burner or another heat source, heat up  one board in a line about 1 ½-2” from the rounded edge. Bend it to stay slightly angled. This will be the animal’s bottom jaw, so only bend it as much as you want the mouth to be open. Let it cool off in that position and it will keep the shape.


The next two steps are also optional, if the animal’s mouth will be closed you just need a flat piece, not the bent one.

two mouth boards together

Place the second piece of plastic on top of the bent one.


two boards together

This will form the support for the animal’s mouth.


putting the board on the cake

Hold the piece up to the cake to make sure it will be about as long as the board that supports the neck piece. You want it to be long enough that it won’t tip forward and has enough room to be supported.


taped boards

Tape the two plastic pieces together at the back.

If your animal’s mouth will be closed, continue with the next steps, but use a flat piece, not the open mouth one.


measuring a dowel

Hold a sharpened dowel up to see how long it needs to be to go through the neck and into the board to anchor it.


doweled cake

Put some short dowels into the neck, positioning them far enough apart to support a board, but not too close to the edges.


dowel through the boards

Put the sharpened dowel through the piece that will support the head, making sure to position it so that it will go through the cake at least 1” from the front of the cake and between the two dowels that are already in the neck section.


hammer in the dowel

Insert the dowel in and carefully hammer it through the board that supports the neck, then into the base board.


mouth board on the cake

If the dowel sticks up through the board a little that’s fine. You just want to make sure that the mouth board is flat against the dowels on the neck. You should also try to get it to lean back a little, not forward. The back of the board should be SLIGHTLY lower than the front.



Build the head.

cake on the board for the head

Put a chunk of the cut-off body section on top of the head support.


shape the head

Carefully shape the head, using a serrated knife so that it cuts cleanly. Use the photos of the animal that you are making as the guide to the shape. Cut away a little at a time. Don’t worry about whether the back of the neck matches the bottom part at this point.


shape the nose

Shape the front of the nose so that it fits on the board.


shaped nose on the cake

When you get the shape of the head the way that you want it, cut off the piece at the very front where the nose will be. Cut the cake at the point where the nose would end and the fur begins.


shaped head

Start filling in the areas around the board that supports the head, using pieces of the cut-off cake and extra icing for “glue.” Make the transition from the head to the neck smooth.


entire head view

When you have the space around the board filled in, finish shaping the head so that it slopes into the body naturally. Check the photos of the animal that you’re making to make sure the silhouette is correct.


Start shaping the body.

add legs

Using more of the cut-off cake, shape pieces for legs. If you run out of cake you can use rice krispie treats for this.


legs on the cake

Place the legs in the position you want them in, using the photos of your animal to make sure the placement is right. Some breeds of dogs put their legs in very specific positions when they sit down, so make sure you check on this. This can make the cake look more realistic, so it’s something to pay attention to.


check the shape

Look at the cake from different angles to make sure it looks right to you, then get ready to crumb coat it.


crumb coat the body

Crumb coat the entire cake, making sure that the head and neck are smoothly connected to the body. If you need to add any more pieces of cake to fill in gaps, do that now.



Start decorating the cake.

cover the cake in candy clay

Cover the entire cake with sheets of candy clay or fondant. Candy clay will work better for the fur, so if you can’t do the entire thing in it try to at least do a combination of candy clay and fondant.


mouth of the animal cake

Cover the underside of the board that forms the lower jaw with the candy clay.


cover the mouth

Cover the inside of the mouth with the candy clay.


smooth candy clay seams

Using a ball tool or another smoothing tool, smooth out any seams that appear in the candy clay on the body and the head of the animal.


tail on the cake

Add a tail to the animal’s rear end and smooth the seam onto the body.


Make the fur.

sheet of candy clay

At this point you’ll start doing the fur on the animal. For a honey badger you should roll out a piece of white candy clay and put it on the back of the cake. For an animal that’s all one color you can skip this step and go straight to he part about how to do the fur.


white fur on the back

Cut the white section  so that it follows the contour of the white fur on the honey badger.  Use a sharp knife and trim the white section into the shape that follows the honey badger’s fur’s contour.


creating texture on the candy clay

Trim the white section all the way around, cutting around the legs.


white candy clay on the back

Start making the fur…Using the tip of the knife, make tiny cuts in the white candy clay all along the edge of it.


cutting the fur

As you work along the edge,  make the edges of the white candy clay  feathered by making sure that the edges are very  disinct.


cutting the fur

Make small marks all over the white, angling the knife to cut through to the black and make it partially visible through the white covering it.


cutting the fur

Work your way around the white, making marks all over.


making the fur

Make sure the edges are irregular so that the fur looks like it’s combining with the black  fur underneath.


making the fur

Continue making marks all over the cake, marking the lines in different directions to show how the fur grows on the animal.


fur marks on the cake
fur on the head

Mark all of the white fur also. Doing the fur is the most time-consuming part of the decorating. This could take a couple of hours, depending on how fast you go. Don’t go too fast, because the smaller the marks the better the finished result.


Shape the face.

face of the cake

Don’t do the fur on the face before shaping it. Based on the photos of the animal you’re using, press gently into the forehead to make a ridge  between the eyes, and press into it to mark the eye sockets.


shaping the eyes

Press distinct marks where the eyes will be. Be very careful with the placement of the eyes…Use the photos to make sure you’re putting them where they should be for the particular animal you’re making. The placement of the eyes is what can make or break the face on the animal.


marking the eyebrows
fur on the face

Once the contours are placed, start making the fur on the face. The facial fur on animals goes in specific directions, usually starting at the center and going out toward the cheeks.


Make the eyes.

dots on the eyes

Put black candy clay circles where the black part of the eyes will be. For most animals you don’t see much of the whites of their eyes. If the animal you’re making does show the whites, add some white clay first, then put the black over it.


eyelids on the eyes

Add some sections above the black eyes, which overlap them, to shape the eyelids. The angle that the eyelids sit on the eyes can make the animal look mean or cute, so pay attention to how they sit on the eyes.


fur on the eyelids

Blend the eyelids into the face by making fur at the top and sides. Leave the lower part of the eyelid separate and don’t blend that edge in.


adding details to the eyes

Take a thin roll of candy clay and form the lower eyelid by surrounding the eye with a ring of clay.


adding details to the eyes

Take another small piece and form the back of  the eyelid by covering the back part of the eye and angling the piece down , covering the back open section of the eye.


adding details to the eyes

Put a tiny white dot at the top of each eye. This is the reflection of light in the eye that makes eyes look realistic and rounded. Without this dot the eye will look flat.


adding details to the eyes

Finish texturing the fur around the eyes by blending lines into the pieces that you just put on. Don’t flatten them out, you want the eyelids to have some depth to them.


smoothing out eye details

Press a ball tool or the end of a paintbrush into the inner corner of the eyes to give them a little bit of depth.


Make the nose.

add the nose

Take a piece of candy clay and make the nose. Press it up against the face, and have it sit on the board so that it’s supported and won’t  fall off.


add the nose

Blend the clay of the nose into the clay on the board and the face with your fingers or a ball tool. Shape the nose so that it’s approximately the shape the you want it for the animal you’re making,


check the profile shape

Check the profile of the animal to make sure that the nose slopes the right amount. If the nose is too long or too wide it will make the animal look wrong, so remove excess candy clay if it’s making the nose too big.


shaping the nose

Using a ball tool, make indentations in the front of the nose for the nostrils. Again, make sure that you check photos of the animal you’re making to place the nostrils in the right place. Most animals have nostrils that are relatively small with an oval-ish shape to them.


cut the nose

Using a knife, shape the outer edge of the nostrils and cut a curved shape coming from the outer edge to the side and over the top of the nose. Check that the shape of the nostrils and the nose, and make sure that the line you cut from the edge of the nostrils isn’t too far back or forward on the nose. Adjust it if it is.

nose on the cake

Add the ears.

add the ears

Add the ears…For the honey badger the ears are tiny. For dogs and cats you’ll have to make larger ones and attach them farther back on the head. For dog ears it’s often useful to use a larger piece of candy clay as a support to hold the ear in the typical “folded” ear position a lot of dogs have. See the tips section of the tutorial  for hints  on how to make a dog or a cat ear.


add the ears

Attach a small black piece, then a small white piece on top of that for the honey badger ear.  Feather the fur onto them using the knife.


cake taking shape

It’s taking shape now…


check to see changes that need to be made

Now he’s looking good…Take a look at the face and adjust anything that you need to change to improve proportions,  etc.


Do the mouth.

add the tongue

Take a piece of dull pink candy clay and press it into the bottom of the jaw section. Cover the inside of the mouth almost up to the edge of the mouth, leaving some black visible for the bottom lip.


add the tongue

Add a second, smaller piece on top of the first pink one for the tongue.


texture the tongue

Using a rounded stick tool or the end of a paintbrush, press a ditch into the center of the tongue.


add teeth

Take a piece of white candy clay and attach it to the upper lip. Make indentations into it to make the teeth.

You can also do this with individual teeth instead of using a strip of white if you want to do it that way.


add the bottom teeth

Do the same thing on the bottom part of the mouth to make the lower teeth.


the face of the cake

Add some individual teeth to the back part of the mouth.


cake board

Cover the board with candy clay if you want to use that. You can also use crushed graham crackers for sand. Mold and shape the candy clay to make ridges to imitate landscape patterns.


Add claws and accessories.

claws

Add long claws on the back paws.


make a textured snake

To make the honey badger’s snake , roll out a coil of candy clay. Using a honeycomb texture mat, press it gently onto the snake’s body. Press out the neck of the snake to make it look like a cobra.


marks on the belly of the snake

Turn the snake over and score the underbelly with straight marks.


dusting the snake

Dust the snake with slightly darker petal dust to emphasize the texture of the scales.


snake in the honeybadger's mouth

Put the snake in the honey badger’s mouth, balancing it on the legs and pressing it against the body to give the snake support.


snake added to the cake

Give one front paw claws, and press the snake up against the other paw.

Add an eye to the snake if you haven’t already


paw of the cake
paw of the cake

Pick the front paw that’s next to the snake up and rest it on the snake.


holes in the paw

Poke holes in the front of the paw.


adding a claw to the paw

Insert claws into the holes and curve them over the snake.


claws on the snake

Press the top of the holes over the claws to cover any gaps.


claws curved over the snake

Curve the claws over the snake.


Add a honeycomb.

orange candy clay

Take a piece of orangeish gumpaste and  make a random shape. This will be the honeycomb.


pressing the candy clay onto the texture mat

Press the honeycomb texture mat into it.


textured candy clay

Don’t make it too thin, just make sure the texture is nicely imprinted.


drill bit

Using a hexagonal bit from a drill set, imprint the cavities made by the texture mat.


imprinting the candy clay

If you don’t have a drill bit, you can just leave the honeycomb textured from the mat, or press the holes deeper with a round dowel or ball tool. Try to keep the  hexagonal shape.


honeycomb candy clay
honeycomb dusted with brown

Dust the honeycomb with some brown petal dusts. The color doesn’t have to be even, it’s better if it’s irregular. Let the gumpaste set up and dry some.


melted isomalt

When the gumpaste has set and is somewhat dry, cook some sugar syrup to the point where it starts to turn yellow, and let it cool a bit. Put the honeycomb on a silicone heatproof mat and pour the syrup onto it. Let it set up and cool.


honeycomb with sugar on it

Place the honeycomb next to the honey badger on the cake board.


sugar dots on a silicone mat

Make some more cooked sugar, but don’t cook it to the point that it starts turning amber, Just do it to about 300 degrees, then pour some small dots onto a silicone mat and let them cool off. These are going to be the eyes, so try to make them about the size of the eye on your animal.


isomalt in the eye

Place a sugar dot in the eye of your animal. Lift the eyelid and slide it between the black eye and the eyelid.


isomalt in the eye

Shape the lower eyelids around the sugar eyes.


dusted snout

Dust some white or silver petal dust on the snout of the animal. If your animal has different colored fur, use a color that’s a couple of shades off of the fur color.


face of the honeybadger cake
face of the honeybadger cake

Take a good look at the face from different angles. If anything needs to be adjusted at this point do it now. If the profile of the nose is wrong you can alter the shape. If the eyes aren’t in the right position you should change those. With animal cakes the eyes and the nose are the two big identifiers, so if those two things are right the rest of the face will look better.


painting the design on the cobra
side view of the cake

Paint any designs on the snake that you’d like to add. Make some bees and put them on the honeycomb.


finished cake

And here’s your final product…You can add sand or any other accessories that you’d like to add.


If you’re making an animal other than a honeybadger, the basic steps will still be the same.

Start by shaping the main body, then adding the underlying structure and decorating the cake with the details that go with that specific animal.

The most important thing is to have plenty of reference photos, and to check that the shape is progressing correctly as you go along. If you need to adjust the shape or profile, do it as you go so that minor imperfections don’t get exaggerated as you go.

To see an article about stacking a more upright-shaped 3D cake, read this one about the gnome cake.


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