Best Shot at Dead Squirrel Cake

Last week a friend asked me,  "Can you decorate a cake with a dead squirrel?" 
"Well, I can give it my best shot," I replied. 

With every cake there is an opportunity to try a new technique.  Since I'm a bit shaky on my freehand drawing skills, I decided to try the technique that my former Baskin Robins cake decorating roommate taught me.  It's officially called the BCT, Butter Cream Transfer.

So I found a graphic from online of a dead squirrel that I could trace.  You wouldn't believe it, but Googling a dead squirrel results in an abundance of image results.  Here's what I chose:

Then I placed wax paper over the image and traced it's outline with black frosting.  I filled in the outlines with brown frosting to make it look more squirrel-like, froze it in the freezer for 2 1/2 hours and then peeled back the wax paper to apply the image to the cake.  Of course it comes out as the inverse of the original image.

Why a dead squirrel cake you ask?  Well my friend's office was shutting down their outdated version of squirrel email and they wanted to celebrate the arrival of a much better system.  I can hear them shouting now, "Death to the squirrel!"

Recent Event Cakes

As with all things in life, practice makes perfect.  While I've decided to slow down on the cake making endeavors, I'm glad that two friends have asked me to make a few cakes over the last few months for their events.

The first was a end of season bowling party for the team called, The Broken Taco Shells.  With a unique request, I attempted to make a unique flavored cake, Mojito Pound cake, to be in step with their Mexican bowling team name.  I attempted to make a few broken taco shells as well.  That was a first!

And of course I like to thank my friends Rob and Allie for their photography services in exchange for cake.  

The next cake was my first ever attempt at a gluten free cake.  My friend Amanda was celebrating her big 30th birthday!  Her sister eats gluten free so I thought it would be a great reason to try this kind of cake.  I made a vanilla and anise flavored cake.

I was happy when Amanda came over one afternoon and asked if we could make the cake all over again because she was having such strong memories and cravings for the taste of it.

The last cake was for a simple birthday celebration of my friend's father.  The father came to visit when my friend was about to deliver her baby and as it turned out this cake became a birthday cake for the father and their brand new son!

It's very fun to practice for different requests.  With each cake there is something new to learn.  While I'm slowing down on cake making, if you have an event coming up I would be glad to make your cake!