Baby pumpkin cakes are a cute addition to a Halloween baby shower, or any fall-themed pumpkin patch baby shower.
This is how I made a 3D jack-o-lantern cake by carving 4 stacked layers.
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Stack the cakes to carve.
First, I used two 9″ layers and two 10″ layers, and they were stacked and dowelled like a regular two-tiered cake.
This is like doing a block carving technique, you just need to make sure that the center board isn’t the exact same width as the cake so that you can cut the shape into the cake without hitting the board.
There was a 7″ board and dowels supporting the two top layers.
The board was 7″ so that I could carve down the sides of the cake without worrying about hitting the board.
Carve the pumpkin shape.
Next, I carved the general shape of the pumpkin.
Then I carved out the center at the top and the ditches on the sides.
Make the grooves on the sides deeper than they should be when the cake is finished, since the fondant will fill some of that in and it won’t be as deep when it’s done.
Ice the cake and add details.
Then comes the crumb coat.
I carved out the eyes and mouth next and filled the holes with a little icing so that the fondant will stick to the inside of the eyes.
Cover with fondant.
Now comes the fondant.
I used a mixture of fondant and modelling chocolate so that it would have a little more stretch for the strange shape.
Having the modelling chocolate in the mix also lets you pinch the edges of the areas that need to be sharper, and helps it keep its shape a little better than fondant on its own.
I used yellow because it would give the pumpkin a depth of color once the orange was applied in the next few steps.
Add color.
Next I painted the whole thing orange.
After that, I took a damp paper towel and patted/blotted the orange off.
This accomplishes a few things.
It takes some of the shine off, it removes any brushstrokes from where I painted the orange on, and it reveals a little more of the yellow underneath it and makes it look more realistic.
While the orange dried a little, I painted in the facial features using black airbrush food coloring.
Add the baby.
After that I brushed some dry colors of darker oranges and browns onto the grooves to give it more depth of color.
Then I added the baby wearing a witch’s hat.
You can substitute a stem here, or if you want to stay with the Halloween theme, a little ghost or a regular (non-baby) witch.
And the finished cake, after the stems and leaves were added.
