HEARTLESS

I've been debating about making this design into cake for over a year and finally did it. It took me at least 25 hours spread out over a few weeks. I started with making the characters out of fondant and gum paste. Due to lack of proper materials (I had the mix gum paste instead of pre-made and it was too soft), my first dorothy had gained about 100 pounds since her trip to Oz, so a second dorothy was made in better proportions. They all have dowels to support their structure and stick them into the cake and board. After the characters, I made the small details- guns, car details, organ cooler etc out of fondant.

Once all of the details I could do ahead of time were done, I baked a red velvet cake for the car and 3 yellow cakes for the ambulance. The cakes were box mixes and the buttercream was made from scratch. I made slightly elevated cake boards for the vehicles to rest on with cardboard and styrofoam. The car was fun to carve and decorate in fondant. I used a gelatin sheet for the car windshield and drew the witch on the side with edible marker. Luckily the characters all fit with a few arm adjustments to the lion and scarecrow and a down-sizing of Toto. The car went in the fridge while I went to work. When I had a few more days off, I did the ambulance. The ambulance proved to be a bit more frustrating and in retrospect, I wish it were taller and skinnier but oh well. After the ambulance was decorated, I put all the characters on the orange board that I made. I usually don’t mind cutting into the cakes but this time I was a bit hesitant.