Dragon Cake Recipe

Kayleigh here. So, this is going to be more of a technique post than a recipe. Why? Well, because we didn't invent the cake, but Jason DID discover his hidden talents as a decorator.

Jason here. This post is going to be a bit different. Usually our comments are kept completely separate. This time however, I just went ahead and added my tips and tricks right along Kayleigh's.

Dragon cake! And actually, it's real easy to do! Don't let those crazy competition shows fool you- you can make pretty darn neat cakes with the items you already have in your cupboard. In this case, a single bundt pan of cake can be cut into a winding, serpentine monster.

Now, down to instructions. First, make an Angel Food Cake in a bundt pan. Pretty much any recipe you find should be safe, since most have a consistent flour-egg white-sugar ratio. Once that's out of the oven, either whip up a batch of vanilla buttercream icing, or set a storebought container out, making sure it is room temperature and easily spreadable- this is a delicate cake!

Now, for the sculpting. Make sure you've got a cookie sheet on hand, or an equally large surface to sculpt and store on. Then, cut the cake in half and place it to where the halves are sideways, forming two humps. At this point, use a smaller or more slender knife to begin smoothing out the humps. You want to use a serrated knife and saw the pieces of the cake off. Otherwise, you will end up just breaking the cake apart in ways you did not intend. Don’t worry to much about making the cake “round”, slicing off a bit of the edges to make it rounder will do. You will be surprised how much the icing and scales cover to make the cake look cylindrical. Make sure to cut the pieces out in fairly long strips, so they can be used more easily later.

Once the humps have been carved and placed to your satisfaction, you can start working with all those shavings! Use a longer, tapered piece for the trailing tail, then moosh and meld the rest into a Draconian head and neck, making sure to add bumps for the eye ridge areas. Tip: it will be easier to attach the soft insides of the cake to each other than the tougher, drier outsides. This will help the head hold itself together in the long run.

With the cake base all set and sculpted, it is now time to apply the icing. Do not be afraid to slather it on fairly thickly- you will actually be using it as a glue for the 'scales' And what are those? Well, you can either buy the nonpareils chocolates from the grocery store, or check a local crafting store for the melting decorators chocolate. The nonpareils give a 'glittery' sort of look and a fun crunch, but the melting chocolate is great if you want a unique flavor or color, since there is a huge variety out there.

Starting from the back and bottom, lay a layer of chocolates across, smooshing them lightly into the frosting to cement it. Put the next layer above, slightly overlapping, and offset so they are covering the larger gap areas (like real scales!). Make sure you push these into the frosting even more, since they do not have as much support. Once an entire section of cake is covered, use your hands to gently smoosh the whole cake inwards, which will further secure the chocolate pieces from falling off. The picture should help with an idea of how to layer the scales.

Once you get to the head, you have quite a few options. You could keep tiling the head with the chocolate pieces or switch things up with regular chocolate chips, nuts, sprinkles, or whatever you have on hand. We also used a tube of red gel to make a couple of slit pupils for the eyes and a gout of ferocious flame right onto the baking sheet. Basically, go crazy here! Make it YOUR dragon!

Now, you have a kick-butt cake, that you can be proud of and how off to all your friends! It is a great project to involve kids in, too, since it brings out their creative side.