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Anyone ever make a chicken-shaped cake for a birthday? UPDATE PIC

post #1 of 24
7/21/09 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 

My little girl's turning 7 in a couple of weeks and she really wants a hen cake.  We have a tradition in our family of homemade shaped birthday cakes -- so far I've done a ladybug, bumblebee, butterfly, caterpillar, bunny, fire truck, two tractors, a puppy, a lion, and a pipe organ (that was the hardest!).  I am definitely an amateur tongue, but the kids are little enough that a general approximation is good enough.  Anyway, I've looked on line and the only chicken-shaped cakes I've seen came from a mold.  I'm thinking there must be a way to bake the cake in a Pyrex bowl for the body (I've done that before), and I'll use cupcakes with yellow-tinted coconut for chicks, but does anyone have any ideas on how to shape the head and tail?  Anyone have photos of a similar cake?


Edited by lceh - 8/10/09 at 6:43pm

Homeschooling mom of 2 DDs (10 and 6 mos.), 3 DSs (8, 6, & 4), and wife to a wonderful DH who's a really good sport.  Wheaten/blue wheaten bantam Ameraucanas and silver gray Dorkings (DD's), white Call ducks (DS #1's),  Mille Fleur D'uccles (DS #2's), Speckled Sussex and Runner/Buff cross ducks (mine), and a wonderful English Shepherd to guard the homestead.  NPIP flock.

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Homeschooling mom of 2 DDs (10 and 6 mos.), 3 DSs (8, 6, & 4), and wife to a wonderful DH who's a really good sport.  Wheaten/blue wheaten bantam Ameraucanas and silver gray Dorkings (DD's), white Call ducks (DS #1's),  Mille Fleur D'uccles (DS #2's), Speckled Sussex and Runner/Buff cross ducks (mine), and a wonderful English Shepherd to guard the homestead.  NPIP flock.

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post #2 of 24
7/21/09 at 5:46pm

try this website http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/birthday-cake-ideas-for-children.html#c3

am now totally chickenless
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am now totally chickenless
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post #3 of 24
7/21/09 at 6:12pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks, I checked that site out earlier.  I'm not eager to try the fondant thing, just b/c I've never done it and it sounds intimidating!  Any ideas of ways to sculpt a head and tail out of cake?

Homeschooling mom of 2 DDs (10 and 6 mos.), 3 DSs (8, 6, & 4), and wife to a wonderful DH who's a really good sport.  Wheaten/blue wheaten bantam Ameraucanas and silver gray Dorkings (DD's), white Call ducks (DS #1's),  Mille Fleur D'uccles (DS #2's), Speckled Sussex and Runner/Buff cross ducks (mine), and a wonderful English Shepherd to guard the homestead.  NPIP flock.

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Homeschooling mom of 2 DDs (10 and 6 mos.), 3 DSs (8, 6, & 4), and wife to a wonderful DH who's a really good sport.  Wheaten/blue wheaten bantam Ameraucanas and silver gray Dorkings (DD's), white Call ducks (DS #1's),  Mille Fleur D'uccles (DS #2's), Speckled Sussex and Runner/Buff cross ducks (mine), and a wonderful English Shepherd to guard the homestead.  NPIP flock.

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post #4 of 24
7/21/09 at 6:22pm

Well, I would make it for you if I were closer to you.
Take a look at this one. This is a great site.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1160422

big_smile

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post #5 of 24
7/21/09 at 6:47pm
Thread Starter 

Wow, that's adorable! But way involved for me, alas -- I'm lucky if I can get the thing frosted at all with little ones underfoot.  I'll have to think about the half-ball idea -- maybe a half-cupcake atop a Pyrex bowl cake...?

Homeschooling mom of 2 DDs (10 and 6 mos.), 3 DSs (8, 6, & 4), and wife to a wonderful DH who's a really good sport.  Wheaten/blue wheaten bantam Ameraucanas and silver gray Dorkings (DD's), white Call ducks (DS #1's),  Mille Fleur D'uccles (DS #2's), Speckled Sussex and Runner/Buff cross ducks (mine), and a wonderful English Shepherd to guard the homestead.  NPIP flock.

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Homeschooling mom of 2 DDs (10 and 6 mos.), 3 DSs (8, 6, & 4), and wife to a wonderful DH who's a really good sport.  Wheaten/blue wheaten bantam Ameraucanas and silver gray Dorkings (DD's), white Call ducks (DS #1's),  Mille Fleur D'uccles (DS #2's), Speckled Sussex and Runner/Buff cross ducks (mine), and a wonderful English Shepherd to guard the homestead.  NPIP flock.

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post #6 of 24
8/10/09 at 6:43pm
Thread Starter 

Well, here it is:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/17160_dscn1062.jpg

Clearly I'm not a professional (or even a good amateur) cake decorator, but my little girl liked it so I was happy.  I did a real rush job on the frosting -- it would've been easier if it had been white frosting on a white cake, but she requested peppermint on chocolate, so you can see a lot of crumbs.  First she told me how much she loved the cake, and then asked, "Why do the chicks have combs?"  Good girl!  Then I had to explain the concept of artistic license....

Anyway, thanks to you all for your help!

Homeschooling mom of 2 DDs (10 and 6 mos.), 3 DSs (8, 6, & 4), and wife to a wonderful DH who's a really good sport.  Wheaten/blue wheaten bantam Ameraucanas and silver gray Dorkings (DD's), white Call ducks (DS #1's),  Mille Fleur D'uccles (DS #2's), Speckled Sussex and Runner/Buff cross ducks (mine), and a wonderful English Shepherd to guard the homestead.  NPIP flock.

Reply

Homeschooling mom of 2 DDs (10 and 6 mos.), 3 DSs (8, 6, & 4), and wife to a wonderful DH who's a really good sport.  Wheaten/blue wheaten bantam Ameraucanas and silver gray Dorkings (DD's), white Call ducks (DS #1's),  Mille Fleur D'uccles (DS #2's), Speckled Sussex and Runner/Buff cross ducks (mine), and a wonderful English Shepherd to guard the homestead.  NPIP flock.

Reply
post #7 of 24
8/10/09 at 7:02pm

clap Oh, that looks FANTASTIC!!!  And much better than the one in the 4th post, I can see lots more love & creativity on display with your cake!  Your cake has the look of an authentic broody hen, so what if all her chicks are cockerels, they look terrific that way.

I'm guessing the body was baked in a bowl, the head a big cupcake, but what was the tail formed from?  And how did you get it to stand up, are there wooden dowels in there?

Sometimes I'll bake a cake in a heart-shaped cake pan, frost it yellow, and decorate it upside-down to look like a baby chick.  I'll take orange frosting and form a diamond-shaped beak below the pointed top and pipe toes near the 2 rounded shapes on the bottom.  Then I'll press chocolate chips point-side-down on each side of the beak for beady birdy eyes.

Sorry, no photos to share.  But now I made myself hungry for cake... droolin

It's not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy!
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It's not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy!
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post #8 of 24
8/10/09 at 7:09pm

You did a great job! thumbsup I can tell it probably took some time and a lot of love and patience! You will have to keep a picture of it for your daughter to look at when she is older. I think it looks great!

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post #9 of 24
8/11/09 at 9:01am

Your cake looked great!!! Don't sell yourself short your making mom memories that will last a life time.
p.s. you should make that your avatar!

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can,
At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can. JW
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Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can,
At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can. JW
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post #10 of 24
8/11/09 at 9:21am

What a great cake, that's wonderful!

To avoid the crumb problem? Swipe on a quick layer of frosting, then refrigerate for a couple hours. That's called the "crumb coat". Then finish the frosting on the chilled cake, the crumbs won't surface!

I used to work in a bakery. And they couldn't have done any better than your adorable cake!  thumbsup

Don't get all your exercise leaping to conclusions!

Poultry- they may be your pets, they may be your hobby, they may be your livestock. But remember, if you fall down in the pen, unconscious? They WILL eat you.
Chicken Tender of 20 years
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Don't get all your exercise leaping to conclusions!

Poultry- they may be your pets, they may be your hobby, they may be your livestock. But remember, if you fall down in the pen, unconscious? They WILL eat you.
Chicken Tender of 20 years
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BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Social › Egg, Chicken, & Other Favorite Recipes › Anyone ever make a chicken-shaped cake for a birthday? UPDATE PIC