Birthday Stegosaurus

The annual birthday cakes continue, this year with a three-dimensional stegosaurus. The earth underneath is marzipan, using whole instead of the traditional blanched almonds to give it texture. I spread it thin over the back of an industrial baking pan, tinted it with green food coloring, then dressed it with marzipan boulders and thai basil foliage.

The cake itself is made from a triple batch of devil's food cake, cooked in bread pans, shaped, then glued together with milk chocolate frosting and skewers. As in past years, the cake was a problem. This time the flavor was good, but the moist texture was unstable. One of the hindquarters kept collapsing.

The scales across the back come from a sea shell chocolate mold. I cut away the shell sides to get the classic stegosaurus wedged scales. Carved away sides became tail spikes. Finally, the eyes are from a candy necklace.

Total prep time: about five hours. Total time for crazed preschoolers to demolish it: less than five minutes.

Past cakes:
→ Year two: Pickup truck
→ Year three: Bob the Builder (and his reaction)
→ Year four: Spiderman