5

I knew as soon as I saw this design that I wanted to turn it into a cake. The birds were so cute, and I knew it would translate well into a four-layer cake. The whole thing took about two and a half days to make and put together.
I started off making lots of butter cake, which would be sturdy enough that I wouldn't need supports. After all the cakes were made and cooled, I iced them each with a thin layer of lemon buttercream icing and then covered them with the green fondant.
This was my second time working with fondant, and my first trying to get really vibrant colors out of it. I was suprised at how much coloring it took to get the colors as dark as I wanted them. The green for the background took the longest, since there was so much. The other colors were easier since they were in smaller amounts. The black was the messiest, because of the amount of coloring I had to add to make it so dark.
I cut and shaped the fondant freehand to make the birds, and glued everything together using a little water. The smallest parts (the eyes, X's, and legs) were the trickiest to get on, they kept wanting to stick to me instead of the birds! I had to use a toothpick or two to place them and push them where I wanted. I put the cakes together before I put the panels on the sides, and made a rope of green fondant to put at the botten of each layer.
My Mom and Dad helped me sample it, and we all agreed that it was excellent! I gave the layers away to various friends, family members, and co-workers, which I'm sure made me very popular!