Elephant

I was so happy to hear about the Threadcakes contest! I have just recently become a fan of Cake Wrecks, and found out about it from the Blog spot.
I started with a yellow cake baked in a 15x11 pan. Then I carved away what was not going to be the elephant. I was happy that my carving took me only one try!
After carving the elephant, I made chocolate ganache with chocolate and soy milk for a vegan version. I chose chocolate frosting because I thought the brown color would contrast nicely with the white frosting. Once I coated the cake, I realized the cake needed another layer of frosting for a smoother look. I created chocolate modeling clay with chocolate and corn syrup. I used a rolling pin to roll out the clay, then coated the elephant. This was my first attempt at frosting a cake with a rolled type frosting! I realized that I still needed to smooth out bumps with a hot knife, and patience!
I started piping with a pastry bag and a writing tip, but realized the writing tip was not small enough. Second try: plastic baggie with a hole from a tooth pick poked through one corner. This method worked much better! It took a little over two hours to pipe all the patterns on the elephant.
I took the cake to a restaurant where I met some friends, and we enjoyed the elephant for dessert! Our servers were able to enjoy the cake, too! I received many compliments on the modeling chocolate clay. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship!