Hi! I have been getting quite a few requests for instruction for the Zebra cake I recently posted, so I thought I would post them here.
I basically designed this cake by looking at my baby boy's Gund giraffe (Tip Top). I really like how cuddly and cute they are when they are sitting. My Sister-in-law wanted a zebra cake this year, so this is what I came up with.
The body of the cake is basically just a dome shape. I used 2 8" and 2 6" cakes and just carved a little away to get the shape I wanted. I did seperate, and dowel about halfway up because I didn't want to serve 8" tall slices! =0)
The head, arms, and legs are all made out of rice krispy treats. I made a homemade batch because I imagine it would have taken about 2 boxes of the kellogs premade ones. It helps to have the cake covered and ready before you start sculpting these so you can get the proportions right. I made the head in 2 peices (a big ball and a smaller flattened ball for the snout) and then I stuck them together with a cookie stick. Spread a bit of Royal Icing to smooth out the RKT's and then attach fondant.
Other than that, I just made it up as I went. The stripes are painted on with black airbrush coloring. The head was covered in white and then I added a black peice and used my ball tool to make the nostrils. It helps to make a big bow too to cover the joint where the head and body meet. I just realized that I forgot to give her a tail! Oops!
I hope that helps a little. Sorry I am not better at explaining how I do things. I am a very visual decorator so instructions are difficult for me, but set a stuffed animal beside me and I can figure it out in cake. =0)
(Oh, and if you noticed that the cake said "Happy Birthday Nikki and Kevin" let me just tell you that my Father-in-law was real excited about his cake this year! haha- he was actually a good sport about it seeing as how I just made this for our family to take to dinner)
OH YEAH! The absolute best part of this cake is not even in the picture! It is inside!!!! It has zebra stripes inside as well! If you goodle zebra cake you will find out that it is a european style black and white cake (similar to marble) where you layer the cake in the pan by using a scoop (ice cream for me) and alternating between white and dark chocolate batter. SO NEAT!
Did you use any support between the head and body? You make it sound so easy and i know it is not that easy for me yet lol I would love to try one someday! But it likely won't look as good as yours.
Your cake is just darling!!! It looks so much more difficult to make, you made it sound effortless. Great Job! 
I'm so glad you posted instructions for your wonderfully fun cake! I want to try to make this some day. I think it's really neat that you made the inside striped as well. What a great cake!
P.S. I love your Cat in the Hat cake, too!
so glad this got bumped! i need to make a horse cake this summer, and this is perfect!
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