The top layer of this Homemade Kung Fu Panda Cake is chocolate and the bottom yellow cake, both with vanilla buttercream. Bottom layer is covered in fondant. The mountain scenery is painted on, a combination of tinted buttercream and gels diluted with extract. I found a cake online with a similar painted scene and pretty much stole the idea.
The bamboo is Pirouette cookies painted with green gel diluted in extract and dusted lightly with gold luster. Leaves were done in green gumpaste and adhered with royal icing; that was far and away the most time-consuming part of the cake. The starburst mat and twisted rope are just plain tinted fondant.
That’s about it. My son loves Kung Fu Panda, so the hardest thing for him was having to wait until after he blew out the candles to get his hands on the totally cool panda action figure (press a lever on the back and the machete whips around in a circle).
I love your cake! I got some great ideas for my daughter’s cake – like the action figure instead of a cake-topper.