cute animal cakes – Little Peach Cakery

Lion cake with flower mane

I had a request for a lion cake, ordinarily I would be thinking of simba in my head or a great golden lion with a large mane. However, following the style of cakes that I love to make the most I also could picture a white lion with a mane of flowers.

The customer also liked the white lion idea so I was able to set about creating this adorable lion cake.

He was baked as a single deep 5 inch cake and layered with buttercream. I covered the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and then with fondant icing.

The legs and features are hand modelled from fondant icing and placed onto the cake before the buttercream flowers are piped. All except the ears that is, the ears are added last of all.

The colours of the buttercream were chosen to be colourful but also in keeping with a lion, so I started with the golden yellow and went from there.

Not forgetting to add a tail!

Pig cupcakes

These little piggy cupcakes were made for my kids during the covid 19 lockdown. I had a bag of lovely strawberry milkshake flavour icing sugar to use and a fair bit of fondant icing… However you won’t need a lot to decorate these cute cakes.

You will need:

Cupcakes

Buttercream

Pink food colouring

Brown food colouring

Sugarpaste (fondant)

Black ball sprinkles or black fondant for eyes

Piping bag and star tip

A few sugarcraft tools such as circle or rose cutters, rolling pin, small ball tool.

How to decorate the pig cupcakes

1. Make the ears first to allow them a bit of time to dry. Roll out your pink fondant 3mm thick. Use a circle or petal cutter to cut 2 for each cupcake. Pinch the rounded side together and if needed, shape the top with a little pinch too.

2. Make the snout. Roll equal sized balls for all the snouts required. Gently press to flatten and make 2 small intents.

3. Make tails by rolling a thin sausage and wrapping around a tool handle. Cut to the desired tail length.

4. Using the star tip pipe buttercream over the cupcake.

5. Whilst buttercream still soft push the ears into place. Add the small eyes and snout. The tail can be placed at the top of the cupcake or on the cake board.

6. You could you chocolate buttercream and brown ears/snouts too like I’ve done.

Decorating the cake board (skip if you don’t require this)

1. Start by covering the cake drum in a layer of green fondant.

2. Roll out some brown fondant and cut out some mud patches to put on the board.

3. Work out where you will place the cupcakes and use a little tool or end of brush to make hoof prints in the mud around them. For the muddy prints on the green I painted these with edible brown dust mixed with vodka.

4. Put ribbon around the edge of the board.

5. Use a dab of buttercream to secure the cupcakes in place on the cake board.

Finished! You could add a message to the cake board for birthdays or other occasions.

Horse / Pony Cupcakes

To decorate these gorgeous horse cupcakes you will need:

6 chocolate cupcakes
Chocolate Buttercream
Small amount of vanilla buttercream
Sugarpaste
Brown food colouring
Tylose powder (to firm the sugarpaste – not essential)
Two round cutters or rose cutters
Edible glue
Piping bags
Star piping tip

1. Start by making the horses ears as the longer you let these dry the firmer they will be. If you can leave them overnight that would be ideal.

Using the larger cutter cut 12 dark brown circles. Use the smaller cutter to cut 12 light brown circles. Stick the smaller circle onto the larger and carefully fold length ways. Pinch the top slightly and squeeze together the base of the ear.

Here is a video of how I use 2 rose cutters to easily create the ears. For the horse ears I used brown and light brown sugarpaste with tylo to help firm them.

https://youtu.be/TjYRM0rDvR8

2. Make the horse’s eyes by rolling small equal sized balls of dark sugarpaste.

3. To make the mussle, use a small grape sized ball and slightly flatten to oval. Use a tool or end of a brush to make the nostril dents.

4. Pipe the chocolate buttercream stars all over the cupcake.

5. Pipe the vanilla buttercream where you’d like the horses markings to be.

6. Gently push the ears into the buttercream.

7. Place the mussle on and the eyes.

8. Pipe a fringe in between the ears using the same star tip.

9. You can use a dap of edible white paint or edible glaze to give the eyes a light reflection.

And that’s the cupcakes finished. I hope you found this tutorial helpful and happy baking to you.

You can follow my creations on Facebook and Instagram, just search @littlepeachcakery.

Simple 3D sitting unicorn cake with buttercream flower mane

How to make this cute sitting unicorn cake with a standard round cake tin and very little carving – if any!

This is a 4 layer 6 inch round cake. I cooked 2 6 inch cakes using a vanilla maderia sponge recipe. This cake was dairy free. You need a domed top but this could be a natural dome from the cake rising or you can trim a little off the top edges.

Equipment:

2 x 6 inch cakes

White fondant

Small amount of coloured fondants including pink and black

Rolling pin, cake smoothers, knife, ball tool

Cocktail sticks

Edible gold paint

Edible Pink dust

Edible glue

Piping tips (nifty nozzles for this design) and bags

Buttercream (250g butter, 500g icing sugar)

Method:

Fill the buttercream layers and coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Then cover with white fondant.

The legs are fondant, roll 4 equal sausages of fondant and taper one end. Mark the hoof area’s with a modeling tool or knife. Attach with edible glue.

Make a thick circle for the muzzle and use a ball tool to intent the nostrils. Also mark on a smile and use the ball tool to mark where the eyes will go.

Roll 2 equal small black fondant balls for eyes. For eyelashes use a thin sausage of black fondant.

Use a petal cutter or freehand cut the ear shapes in white and then slightly smaller in pink, attach together. Pinch the bottom of the ear together slightly to give them shape.

The horn is two thin sausages of fondant twisted around a cocktail stick or wooden skewer. Paint the horn and hooves with edible gold.

Pipe the mane. For this unicorn cake I piped buttercream flowers using nifty nozzles but equally you could pipe swirls, drop flowers or stars, any combination. Using several different colours of buttercream together.

The tail is made from coloured fondant using an extruder. This could be achieved by hand rolling the fondant into long sections too.

Add a little pink colour dust to the nose and mouth.

And so there you have a cute sitting unicorn cake that does not require lots of carving or difficult piping but looks adorable.

Cute Hamster Cake Tutorial

This hamster cake possibly one of cutest cakes I’ve ever made!

The first week of January was time off from baking for me however I couldn’t keep myself completely away. So when my little boy suggested I made a hamster cake (including a wheel – no way I was attempting a hamster wheel!) I couldn’t say no.

I like to use both buttercream and fondant icing on my animal cakes so here’s how to make a cute Little Peach Cakery Hamster Cake.

You will need:

Sugarcraft tools – rolling pin, knife, cake smoother, small rose petal or circle cutters.

A 5 inch round cake, approx 5 inch tall and domed top.

10 inch cake board and ribbon

Piping tips – Wilton 6B, star and drop flower

Piping bags

Buttercream (250g butter and 500g icing sugar)

Sugarpaste – white, pink and black

Food colour – rose

Edible glaze (optional)

Method:

1. Bake your cake, let it cool. Cut into 3 or 4 even layers.

2. Fill layers with buttercream and cover cake in thin layer of buttercream.

3. Roll out enough fondant to cover the front of the cake.

4. For the cheeks, make a sausage long enough to reach horizontally across the front of the face area. Make a long dip across the middle of one side only.

5. Roll 2 little sausages of fondant, narrower at one end for the arms. Make 2 small pink balls for hands and mark lines on for fingers. Attach together with edible glue.

6. For the feet, use 2 equal sized balls of white fondant. Make 2 little pink feet and mark toes. Attach together with edible glue.

7. The nose is a small ball of pink fondant. Add a touch of edible glaze if desired.

8. Make the ears with small rose or circle cutters. Cut 2 white circles and 2 pink circles. Attach the pink ontop of the white to make 2 ears. Leave to hardern at room temp.

9. Make 2 equal pea sized balls from black fondant for eyes. Add edible glaze or a touch of white for a more realistic look. Do not attach to cake yet!

10. Colour the buttercream into 3 shades. Divide into 3 piping bags.

11. Start piping the largest tip first. Then go back and fill in the gaps with the smaller tips. Pip up to the cheeks on the face.

12. Add the ears into the buttercream.

13. Add the eyes onto the buttercream on the face.

14. I like to use Sweet Stamps letter’s to finish off the cake board. Painted with edible gold.

You’re finished, admire the cute little cake you have made!

Floral Sloth Cupcakes

Here’s how to make these stunning sloth cupcakes with their buttercream flowers and leaves.

They may look complicated but they are relatively straight forward to make with no need for special equipment, just some piping tips.

You will need a set of baked and cooled cupcakes and buttercream.

Make the fondant faces

Making these first gives the fondant time to harden a little before you transfer them onto the buttercream.

1. Use an oval shape cutter or cut free hand the face shape from 3mm thick white fondant.

2. Cut stripes of dark grey fondant and cut to size for the eye patches.

3. Use a small ball tool or tip of tool handle to make a dent for eyes.

4. Roll equal sized black fondant balls for eyes. Attach with edible glue.

5. Create a nose by using a small amount of black fondant and pressing into an oval shape.

6. Make a smile mark on fondant. I snipped a hollow cake dowel to make a tool for this. (Pic 3)

Buttercream piping

Colour the buttercream into 3 or 4 different colours making sure to include a green for the leaves.

Use a drop flower tip, star tip and leaf tip. If you do not have a leaf tip you can cut a small triangle into the tip of the piping bag.

1. Pipe 3 small swirls with the star tip onto each cupcake.

2. Add the drop flowers.

3. Gently press on the fondant face.

4. Fill any gaps with drop flowers and piped leaves.

There you have it!