Parties for Little Princes and Little Princesses .........Penguin Prowess

So Darling Son # 1, wanted a Penguin Party.

Firstly I made some penguin biscuits

I started by acquiring a penguin biscuit cutter.

We then baked a basic biscuit recipe and obviously cut them out with the penguin biscuit cutter.  I decorated the biscuits in white and black icing.
I used CSR Soft Icing Mixture which is gluten free and added water to make a thick paste.  I divided the mixture into 3 bowls.  I tinted one bowl orange using Queen's food colouring and one bowl black.
I then decorated the biscuits using the black and white icing for the bodies and the orange for the beaks.

Here they are!!!

Penguin Caption

Next I had to make a Penguin Birthday cake.
This was much harder.

Here is what we ended up with.

Penguin Cake

Penguin Cake

Believe it or not, it is all cake!!!
It ended up being about 50cm high.  I made a whole lot of round cakes.  I used a basic butter cake recipe.  I can't remember exactly but think that it was about 5 round cakes.
I stacked all the cakes on top of each other and used long wooden skewers to hold the cake together.  I put a thin layer of whipped cream and jam between each layer.
I then started to shape the head.  I used a sharp knife and slowly sliced off the edges of the cake until it looked about the right shape.  I then carefully shaped carved out the next area.

I used Pascall Marshmallows and to make a fondant icing.  I always buy the pink and white marshmallows.  In a microwave safe container, I placed a small pile of marshmallows and heated them on high for a minute or so.  When the marshmallows had melted, I added CSR Soft Icing Mixture. Slowly add the icing mixture to the melted marshmallows and mix to form a dough.  When the dough has formed, knead it on a chopping board.  I sprinkled the chopping board with the icing mixture.  Add the black Queen's food colouring a few drops at a time until the desired colour is achieved.
I only melted white marshmallows to use for the penguins tummy.  I used the pink marshmallows and tinted it black and orange for the other parts.

I heated some jam and spread it over the cake, so that the icing would stick to the cake.

Next I rolled out the icing into large sections and draped the icing over the cake.  I placed the white tummy on first then the black section.  I used some more of the icing to shape the arms, beak, and feet.   I used tooth picks to help hold the arms, legs and beak in place.