If you’re celebrating an animal lover’s birthday any time soon, these little fondant pooches are the perfect thing to top their birthday cake with.
Follow this easy step-by-step picture recipe to get perfect results without having to be an icing expert. You could change the colour of your dog if you’re making it to look like a loved pet.
Ingredients
To make 1 dog cake topper:
- 60g white modelling paste
- 20g chocolate fondant
- 5g black fondant
- 1g pink fondant
- 2g green fondant
- Silver edible paint
Step 1
Start by sorting out the fondant and sectioning what you will need. For a 2.5” dog use about 35g of white for the body, 5g for each leg, 15g for the head, 3g of white and 1g of black for the nose and 2.5g for each ear. Make sure you keep what you are not using at the time in an airtight container or in cling film.
Step 2
For the body: Mould a pear shape and pull the top of the pear to one side.
Step 3
For the front legs: Start with a ball shape and roll one side into a long sausage shape. Use a cocktail stick to mark the ankle by pressing the stick straight across the top of the foot, making sure you don’t go all the way through the fondant. To mark the toes, press the cocktail stick into the ball of the foot twice.
Step 4
Stick the front legs to the body with a brush of water.
Step 5
Repeat the same for the back legs but roll the sausage slightly longer, bending it at the knee.
Step 6
Stick them onto the body with a brush of water, pointing the feet out to the side.
Step 7
For the head: Roll 13g of brown fondant into a small pear shape. Using 1.5g of the white modelling paste, roll a thin band for the middle of the head, a tiny ball for the mouth. To make the snout, roll the rest of the white paste into an oval shape, push this flat with the tip of your finger and push a cocktail stick upwards into the centre. Roll a ball of black fondant for the nose.
Step 8
With a water brush, first stick the white band to the centre of the head, then stick the black nose onto the white snout and then stick this onto the head, pushing and moulding firmly in place. Push the black sugar pearls into the head for the eyes.
Make a tongue by rolling a tiny ball of pink fondant and using a cocktail stick mark down the centre. Stick into the mouth. Use the cocktail stick to add texture on the face.
Roll small sausages of brown fondant for the ears and flatten with your finger. Stick to the top of the head with a brush of water.
Step 9
Roll small balls of pink fondant, flatten with the tip of your finger and stick them on for the pads on the dog's back feet.
Insert a small strand of spaghetti into the centre of the body to attach the head. Add a collar by pushing a flattened ball of green fondant onto the spaghetti.
Step 10
Place the head onto the strand of spaghetti and stick down with a brush of water.
For the tail: Mix some off cuts of white paste, black and brown fondant and roll into a sausage, tapering it to a point at one end. Stick onto the body with a brush of water.
For the spots: Roll the leftover strips of brown fondant very thinly and stick them onto the body with a brush of water - don't worry if the edges are wonky, it adds to the effect.
Place the finished topper onto a cake.