Use our kit to decorate your cake!

You will need:

Ingredients to bake your favorite cake

Frosting sufficient to frost it

2 -9" cake pans

1- 9" pie pan

Cardboard disk (9") and aluminum foil to cover it

10 straws

Food color and colored petal dust/luster dust (used for coloring frosting, fondant & gum paste flowers)

small paint brushes (to apply colors)and/or small sponge makeup applicators

a paper punch

Variation: use two or 3 cupcakes secured with 3 skewers or dowels to substitute for the central post.
This will be more stable and therefore easier to construct.

Directions:

First unwrap your candies to color with food color or color dust.If you are using dusts, you may want to lightly dampen the area to be colored before applying powder. If you are using color paste or liquid you will probably want to dilute your colors and apply with an almost dry brush to achieve a pastel effect. If you make a mistake or the colors drip or run you can quickly "wash" the color off or blot off with a damp cloth. Allow your colors to set and dry thoroughly.

Using your favorite recipe bake two round layer 9" cake and one thin cake baked in a pie pan (plus 3 cup cakes if you are using that option).
Cool and frost your cake, reserving some un-tinted frosting.

Pipe frosting to the back of your animals to attach straws (varying the height of your "poles") and allow to set well.

Cut the sticks in the 4 poles and the center post to the height of the bottom layer(s) of your cake (or cut the skewers/dowels for your cupcake center support).

Mark the cardboard disk with 2 rings one 1" and the other 2" from the outside edge . Punch 5 holes in each ring offsetting one row from the other.Punch holes ONLY for the straws! Hold the disk over your cake and mark each hole.

Position the center post in the center of your cake (or position the cupcakes and anchor with dowels/skewers cut to the same height as the posts). Position the posts evenly about an inch and a half in from the edge.

Position your animals around the cake top, varying their heights.

Place the canopy layer of your cake on the cardboard disk, then balance the disk on top of the posts, inserting the straws as you go.

Adjust the height of your straws and secure with more frosting as needed.

Option:If you are making your cake with the cup cake center you can use the pillar on top of the canopy and attach thin ribbons for a maypole effect.

Variation: Cut a slit in the cardboard disk from the center to the edge. Pull the edges 1 inch in to overlap (forming a slight cone) and staple. cover with foil. Cut a 1" wedge out of your canopy cake (made in pie pan) and position over cardboard disk/cone.

Option: Place completed cake on a lazy susan!