Turkey Cake

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone! To celebrate, I made a turkey shaped cake. Actually, I had been asked to make a turkey cake last year, but didn't quite get around to it, so this year I had to! I saw this idea in my Cake Boss decorating book. I also had half of a chocolate cake in the freezer, which is the perfect shape for this cake. It is simple half of an eight inch round cake turned on its side. As you can see, it is not very stable on its own, so I did have to use a measuring cup on either side to support it. Other than that, the cake turned out pretty well. To decorate it, just whip up some icing, buttercream works well, in as many different turkey suitable colors as you wish. I used red, yellow, white, and brown, but black and orange could be used as well. Pipe the different colors alternately in squiggles using a flower petal tip all across the body of the turkey. Make sure you pipe a head and facial features with open round tips at the front on the turkey too. I also added a tail, although there was no tail featured in the book. I just broke some graham crackers into triangles and stuck them into the back of the turkey, then covered them with icing as well. As a finishing touch, drag a toothpick or wooden skewer in straight vertical lines across the turkey's entire body, alternating directions each time, for a feathered effect in the icing. This turkey is much sweeter than the typical ones you will see on tables this weekend. I thought the idea was quite cute. If I make this another time, there are some changes I would make. I would use more colors if possible, and make the colors more uniform and evenly spaced. I also think it would look better if I made the turkey's head brown, which I went with because that's what was pictured in the book. I would love to add some wings to this turkey too, although that may be a bit tricky, but I'm always up for a challenge.