8- or 9-inch round cake (homemade or store bought)
2 unfrosted cupcakes
vanilla frosting
orange gel food coloring
frosting spatula
mason jar lid, small bowl, or circle cookie cutter
brown fondant paper sheet
pizza or fondant cutter
large kitchen knife
cake server
chocolate or black licorice
2 chocolate candy melts
1 piece of pink Starburst candy
2 Oreo cookies
white icing writer
Instructions
Prepare the cakes for decorating: Spoon the vanilla frosting into a bowl and add a few drops of orange gel food coloring until the desired hue is reached. Crumb coat the two unfrosted cupcakes and round cake with a layer of frosting and allow them to sit in the refrigerator for about an hour. Frost the cake with the orange frosting and smooth as desired.
Make Daniel's ears: Using the outer circle of a mason jar lid (a circle cookie cutter or small bowl will work just as well), cut out and remove two arc-shaped pieces from each side at the top of your circular cake and place the two cupcakes in the spaces. These will be Daniel's ears.
Make Daniel's eyes: Break apart two Oreo cookies and with a knife, slowly slice the white centers out. Add a chocolate candy melt to the bottom of each Oreo filling circle. With your mason jar outer circle, make an indentation in each place on the cake top where the bottom corner of an eye will be, and with your cake server, slowly add the two eyes to the front of your Daniel face.
Make Daniel's stripes: Using the kitchen knife as your guide, cut six tiger stripes in varying sizes out of the fondant paper with your pizza or fondant cutter. Next, use the cake server as a guide and create another tiger stripe for the top middle of Daniel's head. Place all the stripes around the cake, trimming them with scissors as needed to fit onto the face.
Make Daniel's eyebrows, nose line and mouth: Cut two small pieces of licorice and add them over the eyes to make eyebrows. Cut a small nose line and mouth out of licorice and add them to the face as well.
Make Daniel's nose: Melt the piece of pink Starburst candy in the microwave for a few seconds until it is pliable and easy to shape. Shape it into a triangle, trim it with a knife to give it a clean edge, and add it to the top of the cake to make the nose.
Make Daniel's whiskers: With the white icing writer, draw whiskers onto Daniel's face.
Finally, using the cake spatula, add the remaining orange frosting around the cupcakes and smooth.
Misty is the founder of the event inspiration blog and printable shop, Juneberry Lane. She resides in L.A. with her husband, Mike, their children Sully & Cecily, and their dog, Moses.
