Photographer

For my first entry into this contest, I decided to go with a 3D one. I started by building a base for my cake. Yes, it was inedible, but just consisted of two dowel rods connecting two wooden cake boards together. I covered the bottom board with fondant and decorated the two dowels with fondant, gum paste and royal icing to make them look like the legs of the camera. The cake was a basic boxed cake mix, but since I was going to eat it afterward I figured I would use my favorite (yellow butter cake) and fill with fudge filling. I covered the entire cake with butter cream and white fondant. I then tinted some fondant brown and imprinted it with a plastic plate used to emboss paper to give it texture. I cut panels of this brown fondant and applied them to the cake. In order to give the mottled worn-leather look to the brown panels, I dipped a sponge in black airbrush coloring and sponged it onto the side of the cake. The camera lens was made by cutting out circles with two sizes of drinking glasses. I used a larger glass to cut the outside of the circle, and then used the smaller to cut out the inside. . I made four of these and stacked them together before applying to the cake with a brush and some edible glue (equal parts gum paste and water). The inside of the lens was painted with brown food coloring. The arms were made from gum paste and allowed to dry for a bit before attaching. All of the details were cut and molded from fondant. I attached the arms and details by securing them with pieces of dried spaghetti and edible glue. Royal icing, tinted brown, was used to pipe the outline of the details.