Anyone ever make a chicken-shaped cake for a birthday? UPDATE PIC

[lceh]

My little girl's turning 7 in a couple of weeks and she really wants a hen cake. We have a tradition in our family of homemade shaped birthday cakes -- so far I've done a ladybug, bumblebee, butterfly, caterpillar, bunny, fire truck, two tractors, a puppy, a lion, and a pipe organ (that was the hardest!). I am definitely an amateur

, but the kids are little enough that a general approximation is good enough. Anyway, I've looked on line and the only chicken-shaped cakes I've seen came from a mold. I'm thinking there must be a way to bake the cake in a Pyrex bowl for the body (I've done that before), and I'll use cupcakes with yellow-tinted coconut for chicks, but does anyone have any ideas on how to shape the head and tail? Anyone have photos of a similar cake?

 

[chickabator]

try this website http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/birthday-cake-ideas-for-children.html#c3

 

[lceh]

Thanks, I checked that site out earlier. I'm not eager to try the fondant thing, just b/c I've never done it and it sounds intimidating! Any ideas of ways to sculpt a head and tail out of cake?

 

[Georgiagirl]

Well, I would make it for you if I were closer to you.
Take a look at this one. This is a great site.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1160422

 

[lceh]

Wow, that's adorable! But way involved for me, alas -- I'm lucky if I can get the thing frosted at all with little ones underfoot. I'll have to think about the half-ball idea -- maybe a half-cupcake atop a Pyrex bowl cake...?

 

[lceh]

Well, here it is:

Clearly I'm not a professional (or even a good amateur) cake decorator, but my little girl liked it so I was happy. I did a real rush job on the frosting -- it would've been easier if it had been white frosting on a white cake, but she requested peppermint on chocolate, so you can see a lot of crumbs. First she told me how much she loved the cake, and then asked, "Why do the chicks have combs?" Good girl! Then I had to explain the concept of artistic license....

Anyway, thanks to you all for your help!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Oh, that looks FANTASTIC!!! And much better than the one in the 4th post, I can see lots more love & creativity on display with your cake! Your cake has the look of an authentic broody hen, so what if all her chicks are cockerels, they look terrific that way.

I'm guessing the body was baked in a bowl, the head a big cupcake, but what was the tail formed from? And how did you get it to stand up, are there wooden dowels in there?

Sometimes I'll bake a cake in a heart-shaped cake pan, frost it yellow, and decorate it upside-down to look like a baby chick. I'll take orange frosting and form a diamond-shaped beak below the pointed top and pipe toes near the 2 rounded shapes on the bottom. Then I'll press chocolate chips point-side-down on each side of the beak for beady birdy eyes.

Sorry, no photos to share. But now I made myself hungry for cake...

 

[mom2chicksandpups]

You did a great job!

I can tell it probably took some time and a lot of love and patience! You will have to keep a picture of it for your daughter to look at when she is older. I think it looks great!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Your cake looked great!!! Don't sell yourself short your making mom memories that will last a life time.
p.s. you should make that your avatar!

 

[ranchhand]

What a great cake, that's wonderful!

To avoid the crumb problem? Swipe on a quick layer of frosting, then refrigerate for a couple hours. That's called the "crumb coat". Then finish the frosting on the chilled cake, the crumbs won't surface!

I used to work in a bakery. And they couldn't have done any better than your adorable cake!