My son is animal mad and wanted a tortoise for his birthday. I’m busy enough looking after my 3 boys and decided that as a real tortoise was out of the question. I would make this cake as an alternative. He loved it !
I baked a basic dairy and egg free sponge (due to allergies) in a pudding bowl. When cool I turned it out and trimmed some height from the base. I then covered with jam before adding a layer of fondant. I had colored this using paste. I then cut out hexagonal shapes and stuck them on top of the fondant to create a tortoise shell pattern. This was brushed with food coloring’s (yellow, green and brown) to create more interest and realism. The legs and head were shaped with ready colored chocolate flavored fondant and marked using a small piping nozzle for scales.
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