This is my my very first floating cake. I made this cake for my nephew’s 9th birthday. He just asked for a tree cake. I created the structure by screwing a wooden dowel in between two wooden boards. I glued a foam core cake board to the bottom board first. I covered the dowel and top board with foil. For the trunk of the tree, I used RKT and moldable chocolate. To get the RKT to stick to dowel, I first covered it with melted marshmallows. A trick I learned from The Artisan Cake Company. After finishing the tree trunk I was struck with the idea of carving the name in the bark. That was my sister’s favorite part of the cake.
I molded each animal individually with homemade marshmallow fondant. My favorite is the fat little monkey on the top of the cake who ate too many bananas. I covered the cake with individual leaves, using two shades of green. I didn’t count have many leaves I used, but I would guess close to a hundred. Two of my boys helped attach the leaves to the cake. They loved being able to help, since I rarely let them help while I decorate. I had so much fun with this cake.