A BEARDED DRAGON CAKE?!MADNESS! I know the question you must be asking is "Does it contain real bits of lizard?" The answer, unfortunately for those with a lizard loving palate, is no. But I'm absolutely positive that it's delicious and the client will love it!
I have gotten a few odd requests for cakes: A wrestling ring cake, a darth vader head cake, a camouflaged army tank cake, and now a bearded dragon cake. I am so happy that people trust me with their head cakes and lizard cakes. It's quite a high honor, you know.
Seriously though--I have to be absolutely innovative and creative. There's no way for me to finish a cake and make it look amazing without first setting the foundation. I have to ask myself how the cake will stand, how it will be organized, and what decorations I'll need to make. Cake flavor and filling are the fun parts but the exciting stuff happens with the decoration or theme.
This cake is a surprise for a little guy. He is receiving a real bearded dragon for his birthday--so to kind of prep him for it, they wanted a cake like it. I thought about making the cake HUGE and making it shaped like a bearded dragon. Then I realized how huge it would have to be to even look good and it's not meant to feed but 10 people. I had to rethink my strategy.
Why not make a cake that resembles a giant rock with a lizard or two chillin' on it? Sounds perfect! Then under and around the rock, put a bit of "sand" (finely crushed shortbread). POIFECT! I was getting giddy just thinking about it. I put my imagination to work and started create-devising a structure and it all fell into place.
About Sculpting Cakes
In the past, I've searched and tested recipes for a good cake that will sculpt well. I want one that isn't crumbly and is firm. I used a chocolate pound cake recipe and thought it was decent but then I went back to my original chocolate cake recipe (YUM!) and it worked out even better. Don't get too caught up with finding the perfect cake recipe. If you think you'll have a problem, freeze the cake for a bit to stiffen it up.
Here we have my basic two layer cake after I cut it into a jagged rocky shape.
I frosted it with my chocolate buttercream recipe.
I didn't worry about smoothing the frosting too much on this one because it was to resemble rocks anyway--didn't want it to be perfectly smooth.
I then covered the entire thing with black fondant. I bought this fondant at Michaels (Joanns? Hobby Lobby?) because I heard tinting your own fondant black might be tricky. It's pretty good stuff.
Fondant Bearded Dragons
Fondant is like play-doh except that it tastes ten times better. It's easy to sculpt with and it's resilient. Here in Colorado the fondant dries out as quickly as the desert engulfs a drop of rain. You have to be quick to work with it but once you have your result, let it dry overnight and it'll harden up. I really like sculpting with fondant. You can tint it with gel food coloring. I paint on it with vanilla extract/food color mix. It gives it a watercolor effect. You'd be better off tinting the entire thing in the beginning instead of painting it later if you want a more consistent result.
I simply shaped the fondant to look like a bearded dragon. I used pictures online for reference. To make the spikes, I cut little spikes into the "skin." For the bigger one, I instead pinched the fondant to give it a more aggressive look. I'm really happy with the result.
Here is my first attempt at making the lizard. Turned out pretty well!
The lizards' heads are propped up on my bag of baking powder until they solidified. I do this to make the head raise up instead of making it all just lay on the ground. It will dry in that position and give it a more realistic and dimensional appeal.
Hello, Mr. Lizard.
LIZARDS!
Final result. I'm pretty stinkin' proud of it!
BUTTERCREAM!
I'm excited to create another cake. I'd like to start messing around with plain jane buttercream decorations. I've perfected my buttercream recipe!
Vanilla Buttercream
1cup butter softened
1cup shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
vanilla extract
Whip butter and shortening for about 10 minutes. You want it to be nice and fluffy.
Add in the powdered sugar bit by bit (don't just dump it all in there--let it incorporate).
Mix in the milk and extract and the final bit of sugar.
Keep whipping.
Whip some more.
Tickle it with a feather and whip it a few more minutes.
VOILA.
Amazing Buttercream.
At this point, If you're an extract type of person, add in some lemon, cinnamon, or orange extract. This would be the point to add some cocoa as well. I usually never have chocolate baking bars on hand so I use cocoa. I would say you'd need darn near a cup of cocoa to make this frosting frothy chocolatey.
Helpful Tip: Equal parts fats and double total amount for sugar need. AKA 1cup butter and 1 cup shortening will need 2 cups sugar. five cups butter and 5 cups shortening will hypothetically need 10 cups sugar (never tried it in that big of batch). I've tried this up to 6 cups of sugar (3c butter, 3 c shortening) and it hasn't given me a problem. Just adjust your milk a bit.
