What sort of cake do you make for a scuba instructor who loves sharks for his 40th birthday? A “scuba diving with sharks” cake, of course! Especially when that birthday happens to fall during “Shark Week”!

This two tiered cake was inspired by several I saw online. The design is largely and shamelessly borrowed from a grooms cake made by Pink Cake Box and a Shark Week cake by Copacabanya.

The cake features a great white shark, a blue shark, a hammerhead shark and a tiger shark as well as two scuba divers. The life rings are in the shape of a number 40. The birthday boy’s tattoos were hand drawn on with food color pens. The family scuba diving business logo is also featured on the cake.

I had loads of fun making this cake! The sharks and divers are a mix of fondant and gum paste. The bottom cake is white with raspberry and Swiss meringue buttercream on alternating layers. The top cake is chocolate with alternating layers of chocolate ganache and Bavarian cream.