Okay, so I have a request for a baby shower cake with a jungle theme. I don't have a lot of time so I'm thinking of using some large animal crackers for the animals in the jungle. What I was curious about was painting them with some royal icing. I mean they should work just like sugar cookies, right? Just wondered if anyone else has ever tried this.
thanks

My "Just for Kids" cookbook at home has a gingerbread "puzzle" Jungle cake. It's basically a slab of gingerbread and cookie cutters (animal shaped) were used to create the scene. Let me know if you're interested, I could scan the pic and give you the recipe.

Sorry I can't help you on the animal crackers.....

If you are short on time I would buy some little plastic jungle animal ....maybe make some trees out of pretzel rods and green fruit roll ups ect.
Just an idea

You can do it with tha animal crackers as well. A freind of mine did it andit turned out well. If you have animal candy molds you could use those too. they would be cute and edible. Check out WBH they have a cute animal in there.

Thanks for the suggestions!

The gingerbread idea is good but (bad mom that I am) I don't even have animal cookie cutters!! Thank you though.

I like the pretzel tree idea. Hadn't thought of that. And the candy molds too.

You guys are great!

I actually made a jungle cake for a 5 year olds birthday party & used cookies decorated with color flow. I didn't have animal cookie cutters so I just bought the pre-made sugar cookie dough sheets and cut around a picture of a zebra, rhino, giraffe, etc. out of a coloring book and made animals that way. The royal icing would also work great it just wouldn't be as shiney as color flow.

The Wilton 2006 yearbook has a cupcake tree on the front with cute little jungle animal faces that you make out of candy melts.

Not sure what to do for the bodies though!

I actually just got done making my palm trees for a party this Saturday from the Wilton cupcake animals. I've already made the animal faces and let me tell you...if you're short on time...don't bother. It took me HOURS to make those little faces and I only did about 18 of them.

Go to www.community.webshots.com and type in jungle cake and there is a really cute baby jungle cake that the animals are figure piped on and it looks pretty easy and very cute!! Good luck!

I made a jungle themed baby shower cake not long ago and I made little animals out of royal icing around the sides of the cake and then just did a frozen transfer for the top.......probably not the same type of jungle theme you're working with (mine was to match the baby's nursery.....and all they gave me was a rug to go by, which is what the top of the cake is exactlly....the sides I just did a little play on the animals and the baby clothes) anyhow..........why not just do some royal icing animals......few ingredients...and they're really cute!!

what a cute cake! Actually mine is for a shower and all I have to go on is a picture of a lamp! There was a green elephant and a yellow lion or something--that's why I thought of icing some animal crackers. I love the royal animals on yours though. Maybe I could try that.

thanks again for all the suggestions!

cute cake KH!