Sasquatch Sighting! Or just a Bigfoot Cake.

NOTE: Sara’s blog has moved to a new location: http://saraelizabethcakes.com. Feel free to browse around my tutorials here, then come check out my new site!

Okay. Disgusting. Who would want to cut into a slice of this? Hairy, dirty, Bigfoot toes . . .   Yum.  But, I LOVE this cake!  I was so thrilled with the final result. There's nothing better than having a cake turn out better than you had anticipated, which this one did.  

One of my favorite thing about cake decorating, is that customers always surprise and challenge me with their requests, particularly when it comes to 3D cakes. It's never the same. And for someone like me who tends to get bored easily, this is a delightful thing!

This particular cake was a surprise commissioned by a devoted wife for her Sasquatch-loving husband. If this isn't supporting your spouses hobbies and passions, I don't know what is.

 Let's get to the tutorial:

The base of this cake is a denser chocolate cake, baked in a 10" square pan and frozen. I drew the foot shape onto paper, then used it as a template to cut out the outline. I used a piece of cake scrap carved from the side of the cake, and added it to the heel of the foot for extra length. Freezing the cake makes it easier to carve, particularly those small toes, little by little--which is the tricky part. I went oh-so-slow, making sure to put as much detail as the cake would allow. After a layer of buttercream and fondant, it's easy to lose the details.

After carving the cake, it had defrosted, so I gently sliced it in half, length-wise, filling it with a layer of home-made, real chocolate buttercream (melted chocolate added to my buttercream recipe--delicious!). Using the same recipe, I carefully frosted the rest of the cake. First with a light crumb-coat, chilling the cake to help it set up firm, then with another layer. I needed every bit covered, so I used my small pallet knife that comes in the Wilton Fondant Tool Kit. it was perfect for getting in all the nooks b/w and around the toes. Each time, careful to preserve as much as the shape as possible. 

After it had chilled again, I used a Viva paper towel (no pattern) on the cake, gently using my fingers over the paper towel to smooth out as much of the ridges and marks as possible, so as to have a smooth base for the fondant.

Here you can see the before and after. Not a huge difference, but when it comes to fondant, the smoother your base is, the better the end result.

Here you can see the detail I tried to maintain. Indentions for the toenails and crevices between and around the toes.

 Next comes the fun part. Using Marshmallow Fondant, I used the Wilton Ivory food coloring gel, with a touch of Red, to achieve a flesh-colored tone. Measuring the foot, I rolled out an appropriate size, and covered the foot, using my fondant tools to gently create the shapes and indentions. Trim off the extra, and it's done! I tried to conserve fondant and achieve a dark base for the hair by leaving part of the frosting bare. I wouldn't do that again; it worked well, but left the back of the foot shorter than the front by a bit, almost creating a slipper-like shape. Not a big deal, but since I'm a perfectionist . . .

Toenails: Simply get out your Wilton white gumpaste, add the smallest touch of ivory, and cut out the shape using an X-acto knife or a small Fiskers finger rotary cutter (one of my favorite tools!). I measured the shapes against the toes, trimmed them to fit curved them a bit and left them on the counter to dry for a few minutes. I've decided mine are a little too manicured for a monster, but they'll do.  I used a Brown Wilton Edible Color Dust  to give them a woodland-monster touch, attaching them, I used my Wilton Piping Gel. Easy Peasy.

In what was possibly the best touch, I used the Wilton Brown Dust and a paint brush to go around the bottom of the foot, under the toenails, and in between the toes to give it some life.

Finally, use your chocolate buttercream and a "Grass" piping tip to pipe on the "fur". Or does the Sasquatch have hair?

Finished! One authentic dirty big foot. This finished cake was about 9" wide and 13" long. Hopefully it looks like it came from Bigfoot. I've gotten more comments that says it looks like a Hobbit's foot. I think eating a Hobbit's foot is even worse. Either way, it's the most delicious foot I've ever seen. A whole new meaning to "Foot Fetish!"