How to make a Super Mario cake or any other standing figure

Posted by Tali5484

Hi guys! This is my first tutorial so excuse me if things might sound a little confusing :) I have always wanted to make this kind of cakes and I decided to make one for the Ventura County Fair 2012 competition. I am attaching some pictures so it would be easier to understand what excatly I was doing. If you have any question, please don't hesitate and ask me. I'm not an expert but I am learning from every cake I make :) Much love, Tali

List of Materials

• PVC
• RKT
• Fondant
• Buttercream
• Cake board

I drew a sketch of Super Mario including all the PVC connectors such as 45º, 90º, cross and a T. I wanted it to be pretty tall. If you can see, sizes were 10'' for the head, 10'' for the torso, and 10'' for the legs. Later I realized that it didn't make so much sense because this is a video game character and usually the head is bigger so I made the legs and hands shorter.

I made the head out of a cake dummy, drew Mario's face on top and carved the shape of his head. The Eyes, nose, lips etc just gave me an idea of how it going to look like.

Here is Mario covered with fondant, I couldn't stop smiling because he looked so funny to me LOL Doesn't it look hilarious??? I made Mario's skelaton using PVC and connectors for his "joints" (you can find it in any hardware store. I also got 2 flanges to have him stand and drilled it to a pre-cut 2'x2' square wood base, and trust me this metal flanges made it SO secure! Something I have learned for my next cake: Drill the flanges UNDER the base, not on top like I did because it was hard to cover it and it makes it look unprofessional.

I covered Mario's body with RKT. IMPORTANT NOTE: I didn't take a picture of the rectangle wood I put under his torso this is VERY IMPORTANT because it will avoid accidants. I drilled into the PVC and placed a rectangle piece of wood between his torso and hips for support.

I covered Mario's feet with buttercream and than brown fondant, made a hole in the styrofoam head and connected it to the PVC.

I covered his legs with blue pants.BTW, here I learned from one of my mistakes. The fondant was too thin and that is why it's easy to see bumps of the RKT. When you roll the fondant the make sure your fondant is thick enough. If it is not, you can always add one more layer of fondant.

I made the top part of the mushroom out of a giant half cake pop. What I did was just placing it in a bowl with the shape I was looking for, and turned it up-side-down on a round cake board. Than I covered with fondant and air-brushed it.The bottom part of the mushroom is a styrofoam covered with skin tone fondant.

Mario and I. I was so excited - first competition and first edible figure.It felt great! Results will be ready only tomorrow. I can't wait! :)