Shapeshifting Turtle

After getting to know a friend's tortoise recently I was inspired to make a cake of "Shapeshifting Turtle". I thought that the colors were beautiful, and I wanted to make a cake that involved shaping.

I started with Betty Crocker funfetti mix, so that the turtle was multi-colored inside and out. I baked it in a 9x13 pan, and then cut out segments to form the turtle body, head, and arms. After a little shaping he was ready to be frosted, and then enrobed in a layer of white fondant.

I had debated whether to make colored panels of fondant and glue on with frosting, or paint the white fondant different colors. After some practice trials I decided to go the painting route, and this ending up being the most time-consuming part of the process. Excluding the baking the cake took me about 4.5 hours to make.

I'm not sure how it tastes, as I am still eating the tidbits leftover from the shaping!