Things are going to get a little scary around here.  Today I am sharing a crocodile cake.

I cannot believe summer is almost over.  Lately, I am noticing how dark it is getting in the morning.  Also, in the normal New York fashion, it is also a little chilly and you know my Island blood cannot handle the cold.  I wish it was summer all year round.  However, I do like the beautiful fall season.  I love all things pumpkin and pies.  But, that’s enough about me. I was asked to make a crocodile cake for a nine-year-old boy who loves reptiles.

I am petrified of reptiles in particular snakes, crocodiles, and alligators.  So, I bravely said yes.  Why? Because how could I possibly disappoint a child on their birthday?  Since this was my first crocodile cake, I did not know what to expect or how long it was going to take me.  I love challenges and this was perfect.  After all, I have made a standing dinosaur cake before.  I got this… My son asked me not to make him too scary and since he is my design assistant I complied a little.  Let’s talk cake.

To Make the Crocodile Cake

The cake did not require any structure at all.   I created templates from photos of the crocodile’s head, the top, and the side.   Like most people, I did not know the difference between an alligator and a crocodile.  However, in my research, I discovered that the main difference is the snout.  Crocodile’s snouts are more pointed and have a “v” shape.   In addition, when the mouth is closed, the crocodile teeth are shown.  If you are interested in knowing more, here is a great link.

I baked two 9×13 chocolate cakes and used the template to cut out the body of the crocodile.  It became more of a puzzle piece to get the shape that I was looking for.  I had to build up the head, and the top because the top is higher than the tail.  Then, I filled the cake with vanilla Italian Meringue buttercream and ganached the outside of the cake.  The summer weather is not very kind to cakes, therefore, I increased the chocolate in the ganache to stop it from melting.  By that, I mean melt as quickly, because heat does melt buttercream and chocolate.

Once the crocodile cake was chilled, I added some fondant to the snout and the eyes, then covered the cake with white fondant.  The tip of the tail and feet were made out of fondant.

Look at all the detail.

Once the cake was covered in fondant, I rolled pieces of fondant sausages and added them to the top of the crocodile cake piece-by-piece.  Once, I added the pieces, I pinched them to get the look of the crocodile skin.  I used this mat for the sides and these really cool sugar shapers to make the lines on its feet.  First, I made the eyes out of gelatin and I was so excited about them, but they were too blurry.  Therefore, I made the eyes out of fondant and colored them yellow and added a black line.

The crocodile cake was then painted with green edible petal dust.  I wanted to mix in some black but got carried away with the green paint.  In addition, I made the teeth out of fondant let them dry, then added some yellow painted to make it look a little aged.

Cake Board

I placed the cake on a full sheet cake board.  As you can see, the cake was hanging a bit off the cake board.  I added the cake to a 1/2 inch foam core board.  Then, added some green ribbon to adorned the outside of the board and ganache.  I wanted the crocodile to look like he was in the mud.  The cake was almost ready, but it needed some edible sand.  The edible sand was made from graham cracker crumbs that stuck perfectly to the ganache.

Finally, it was time for me to show it to the birthday boy.  He absolutely loved it.  More party items…

Another happy child on his birthday.

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