Yes SneakyLilHobbit this is my cake!!!
Some dinosaur cakes look cute and cuddly, but some cakes have dinos like this. Big, scary, with sharp claws and stomping feet. And look at those teeth! They are the stuff of nightmares. Do you somehow get the feeling that glowing, yellow eyes are watching you????
This caking adventure began like most of my recent cakes: with a 3D printer. I used the printer to make the T-Rex fondant cutter shown below.
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I have a Creality Ender 3 v2 3D printer and I love it. Can I say that again - I LOVE IT. If you want to read an intro into 3D printers for cookie cutters you can read my post HERE.
So the cake began with the large T-Rex that was going to be the focal point of the cake. I made the cutter about 6-1/2" tall because I was making a two tiered cake, and I wanted the T-Rex to be really BIG. To make the T-Rex I mixed some green tinted fondant with Tylose powder and rolled it out about 1/8"-1/4" thick. Note: The Tylose (also called Gum-Tex and CMC) makes the fondant harden like gum paste.
This is the line drawing I used to make my cutter. I use the app Cookie Cad to generate the STL files that then gets sent to the 3D printer. Again, you can get more info about the 3D printing process HERE. Sorry, I don't sell cookie cutters. I just make them for myself.
After rolling out the fondant, I used a small impression mat to give the fondant the look of reptilian skin. I purchased this set of texture mats in the clay section of Michael's or maybe it was Hobby Lobby. It doesn't look like this set is being sold anymore. This Goosebumps mat might give a similar texture, but not 100% sure.
I used the pebble texture mat to get the reptile skin texture.
Next I used the cutter to cut out the full T-Rex form. I dusted the cutter with corn starch to keep the fondant from sticking, and I used a soft paint brush to gently nudge out any sections that stuck.
Then I used the same cutter to cut out additional body parts that I layered on top of the main body. I cut the left legs, the arm that is in the foreground, and the head. For the second head, I also cut out the eye socket, the mouth, and the nostril area before placing the new head on top of the main piece. For the large left leg, I placed it on top of the main body and then smeared the hip area with the main body till the line separating the two disappeared. I used the impression mat to touch up any areas where the texture was rubbed away. I also used a craft knife to cut the line on the belly and chest.
I decided that I wanted the head to stick out even more, so I cut a third head and put it behind the main body piece. This kind of pushed the head forward. You can see all the layering here. For the head area there are three "heads" sandwiched together. I also put some extra fondant behind the thin right arm to keep it from breaking off the main body.
Next I did more work on the head. Inside the cavity I cut for the mouth I added a red piece of fondant for the tongue, some black behind the tongue, and some orange fondant for those flappy parts on the side of the mouth. (Don't know what they are called.) In the eye cavity I placed a yellow ball of fondant to form the eye ball. And note that I pinned the T-Rex to side of a 9" foam cake dummy so it would dry with a curve to match the cake. I put a piece of parchment paper under the fondant to keep it from sticking to the cake dummy.
Then came the time consuming part: rolling all the teeth and sticking them in place. I also rolled tiny balls of green fondant and stuck them above the teeth. I added some black fondant around the eye socket and inside the nose cavity. I finished off the face with some thin rolls of fondant around the eye and cheek. The final step was to add color to the T-Rex. I drew the triangles along his spine with a black edible marker, and dusted the T-Rex with edible petal dust in shades of brown, yellow, orange, and dark green. Dark green was used to create the shadows, and the yellow for highlights. Orange and brown for the belly and inside the spine markings.
In the photo below I tilted the T-Rex so you could see how adding the extra body parts added dimension to the dinosaur. It is not completely flat like a 2D cookie, but it is not fully rounded like a 3D figure. I like to call it 2-1/2 D. It is flat with a a few highs and lows.
And here he is - first thing to go on the cake. But I do wish I had made him a little bit taller. When I make things ahead of time they are either too big or too small. And the fondant border around the base of the upper tier was made using a FMM Straight Frill cutter - they come in all shapes and sizes.
Along with the T-Rex I also made some coconut trees. I did all three ahead of time which gave them time to dry and stiffen. I don't think coconut trees were around in the Jurassic Period, but I don't think anyone will care. LOL. I had planned on putting the name "DUKE" on the cake drum, but it wouldn't fit. (I should have used a larger drum.) "DUKE" didn't look good on the flat area between the tiers, so I put it on the top tier. The letters/name made everything else look a little crowded, but at this point I didn't have any other option. I also thought the sides of the top tier looked a little sparse. I tried putting some silhouettes of birds, but it didn't look good. In the end I just put more clouds. PS: I made the DUKE letters, the flying dinosaurs, and number 5 topper using fondant cutters I made with the 3D Printer.
So here is the finished cake. I have to say it is one of my favorites.
I just love the toothy grin of that T-Rex.
