This cake was made for my husband's 40th birthday. he loves penquins so I wanted to incorporate them into his cake. The small penquin on the far left (base of the ladder)represents his youth, the penquin on the top of the ladder represents his early adulthood, and the penquins with grey hair I hope are self-explaining!!! Everything is edible except the ladder...I borrowed that from my son's fire truck!!! I placed 40 black candles around the perimeter of the top layer. When they were all lit, the bllaze melted the decorations hanging directly above!!!!