How to give clay like effect on cake

the white stuff you mean--not the little orangey clay colored rectangle?

picture is a little hard to see--

hmm--almost you could just use some roughed up royal icing i think

not exactly sure how to make it happen

but if you played with it...

hey--maybe like use nice crisp fondant to make the object then brushed on some real loose royal icing

to keep the texture-y texture--is it a pastey rough dry --almost a stucco-y texture you're after?

or maybe sponged it on

have to play with that idea & see if it will work

i know i've made royal that after it got to a certain point would look like that if i had used it

roughy scruffy but still flat

is that what you mean???

tree--easy peasy especially if not real full

grind rice krispies in food processor

make rice krispie treats with ground rk-- i use one cup less rk to normal butter & marshmallow + vanilla ;)

just melt marshmallows--low heat--melt slowly in heavy pot--stir occassionally--it'll melt give it time

while warm quickly fashion into tree trunk with a few very short stubby limbs--just the start of limbs--pack it tight

the trunk should be larger on the bottom smaller on top

puncture the 'limbs starts' with a tooth pick so you can add the limbs later with less damage

somewhere in the process you want a dowel in the main trunk so you can later plant the tree in the village

carefully carefully twist the (pointed on both ends) dowel into the still warm rkt trunk --have a foam board ready to set it in  

fashion some rkt 'sticks' to be added later to finish the limbs also puncture with toothpick--probably leave the toothpick in the limbs

make gravity your friend--a 10" limb jutting out parallel with the ground--no

a 4 or 5 inch limb fuller at the toothpick and thinner at the other end pointing upward more--yes

let it set up overnight at room temperature

apply the limbs with the help of the toothpicks into the slots you already made--once and done

using melted chocolate or almond bark, also called candy coating paint the bark on the tree--also apply to limb joins for glue--not too much

the choco also helps support the trunk--so thick is good--maybe apply in two sessions--coat first then 'bark' it up on the second application--

if you're good with the choco you could add some more choco limbs...

cannot be like the old oak tree necessarily super full and tall and wide

but for a tree with a few leaves in a village it'd be perfect

then of course you'd be using foam under the board in your final project to plant the tree into

that's one way to do a tree

gotta keep wives happy everywhere!!! ;)