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You are here: Recipes > Ernie the Emerald Green Dinosaur Arch Cake

Ernie the Emerald Green Dinosaur Arch Cake

Emerald Green is our Colour of the Year for 2022! To celebrate, our Applications Executive Francezka Bell has created Ernie the Emerald Green Dinosaur using the latest arch cake trend to bring Ernie to life. This step by step tutorial also features our runners up for COTY 22 in the form of Ernie’s scary spikes!

Template available to download here: Ernie Template.

Find a selection of Top Tips at the end of this recipe to make creating Ernie less of a tall order ?.

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Skill Level

Intermediate

Baking ingredients

  • 2 10" round vanilla cake layers

Decorating ingredients

  • 1.5 kg Emerald Green 'Just Roll With It' Fondant Icing (6 x 250g packets)
  • 250 g Jet Black 'Just Roll With It' Fondant Icing
  • 250 g Tiger Orange 'Just Roll With It' Fondant Icing
  • 250 g Peach Blush 'Just Roll With It' Fondant Icing
  • 250 g Pink 'Just Roll With It' Fondant Icing
  • 250 g White 'Just Roll With It' Fondant Icing
  • 400 g Renshaw Royal Icing (1 Pot)
  • 800 g Renshaw Creamy Vanilla Flavour Icing (2 Pots)
  • Rainbow Dust Edible Glue
  • Rainbow Dust Tylo Powder

Instructions

You will need the following equipment:

Step 1

12” round cake board, Scissors, Grip seal bags, Carving knife, Palette knife, Scraper Knife, Rolling pin, Icing sugar, Smoothers, Flexi smoothers, Ernie template (available to download), Glue brush, Dresden tool, Small piping bag, 5 sided diamond cutter (FMM Patchwork / Quilt 4 piece cutter set), Ribbon.

Getting Started:

Step 2

Add 1tsp of Tylo Powder to 250g of Emerald Green, Jet Black, Tiger Orange, Peach Blush and Pink 'Just Roll With It' Fondant Icing and knead until combined. Lightly sprinkle the work surface with icing sugar and pin out the Emerald Green Icing into a long rectangle shape approx. 2-3mm thick. Place the remaining colours into grip seal bags for later.

Step 3

Cut out the dinosaur head using the template and a sharp knife and leave on a cake board or a flat surface dusted with icing sugar for at least 48 hours to set completely, turning halfway through.

Step 4

Cut the spikes from the dinosaur head template using the scissors. Pin out the remaining colours of Icing to 1-2mm thick. Using the templates, cut out the spikes for the head and the tail with the knife in alternating colours.

Step 5

Then cut out the spikes for the dinosaur’s body using the diamond cutter, one spike per colour. Leave for 24 hours to set, turning halfway through.

Step 6

Level the 2 cake layers, fill with a thin layer of Vanilla Icing and stack. Trim the crumb from the edges, then cut a small portion (approx. 2”) of cake from one end, creating a flat surface for the cake to stand on. The amount cut away will determine how arched the cake will be.

Step 7

Spread a thin layer of Vanilla Icing towards the back of the cake board and secure the cake on top, sitting it upright. Coat the cake in Icing, taking off any excess with a scraper until evenly covered in a thin layer.

Step 8

Knead 750g of Emerald Green Icing on a clean, dry surface until smooth and pliable. Pin out until 3-4mm thick and drape over the cake to cover. Smooth over the top and front and back of the cake with the palm of your hand and pinch the Icing together where the excess meets at the sides to form a crease, trim the excess Icing off with the scissors. Cut away the Icing from the base then smooth out any creases with the flexi smoothers.

Step 9

While the Icing is still fresh, create three indentations across the body using the set diamond Icing spikes. Deepen the indentations slightly with a Dresden tool.`

Step 10

For the tail, knead 350g Emerald Green Icing and round into a smooth ball. Roll into a long, tapered cone shape. Flatten the cone against the bottom left-hand side of the cake, attaching with a little Edible Glue, and bring the tip of the tail towards the front right-hand side of the board, adding a little movement. While the Icing is still fresh, create indentations down the length of the tail using the set Icing spikes in descending size order. Deepen the indentations slightly with a Dresden tool.

Step 11

Mix the remaining Emerald Green Icing with differing amounts of White to create 4 or 5 different shades of green. Decorate the board by attaching different colours of the Icing around the dinosaur with Edible Glue. Create mounds and dips and texture with the Dresden tool. Decorate with small blossom flowers, butterflies etc.

Step 12

Create small pieces of grass by rolling out some of the green Icing to 1mm thick. Cut into small rectangles then cut triangle shapes into the length of the rectangle to create a jagged edge. Attach the grass in various places around the dinosaur’s body.

Step 13

Take a small piece of Black Icing and round into an oval shape for the eye and attach onto the head. Then take a slightly smaller piece of Pink and make another oval, attach lengthways to the dinosaur’s cheek.

Step 14

Mix the Royal Icing in the tub and place a small amount into a piping bag, snip off the end to leave a small opening. Attach the coloured spikes to the head using the Royal Icing.

Step 15

Pipe a small amount of Royal Icing into the indentations on the dinosaur and insert the three diamond body spikes and tail spikes. Attach the fourth diamond spike to the front of the dinosaur’s body.

Step 16

Pipe small dots of Royal Icing onto the bottom portion of the dinosaur’s neck and attach to the back right hand side of the body to complete Ernie.

Top Tips:

Step 17

Place the arched cake onto the board before coating with Vanilla Icing so it is easily transferable.

Step 18

If your Icing/buttercream/frosting is a little soft, chill the cake for at least half an hour before covering with Ready to Roll Icing to ensure it holds together.

Step 19

Use deeper layers of a dense cake such as madeira, and a thick Icing or buttercream. Not only will the cake be easier to cut but it will also ensure the cake holds together and gives a neater finish.

Step 20

Try adding 1tsp Tylo Powder to the Emerald Green Icing when covering the cake to make it easier to manipulate.

Step 21

Avoid transporting the cake once the head has been attached.