Edible sculpture using rice krispie treats

      Today I want to share an amazing cake that my son David made for his girlfriend's father. They are always joking about the groundhogs that infest their yard. If you don't have groundhogs where you live, let me just say they can be annoying little creatures. They dig holes in your yard to create nests, and have been known to invade gardens and steal the produce. David thought it would be funny to create something where the groundhog was emerging from the cake just as they can often be seen doing when they pop up from a hole in the ground.
     The first thing he did was bake a sugar free cake from a cake mix (Lisa's dad Joe is supposed to watch his sugar intake). He then covered the cake with fondant that he bought in the Wilton baking section of a local craft store. That way Joe could easily remove the layer of fondant that covered his piece of cake and still get to enjoy a guilt free piece of his birthday treat. Plus fondant made a nice base for the "sculpture" to sit on. 

The next thing he did was utilize a large batch of Rice KrispieTreats (recipe at the end of the post) to use as a modeling compound. This makes the sculpture an edible portion of the cake as well. As I've said before, David is an art major in college so he was in his element so to speak, when creating the next part. You could make a cake sculpture as simple or as complex as you choose. Here are some photos of his work in progress.

Once the groundhog was molded, he took layers of fondant to cover the sculpture using white for the body and small pieces of black for the eyes and nose. A new paint brush was utilized to paint the white head and body brown with some Wilton coloring. The powder coloring was mixed with  lemon extract to create the food safe "paint".

   Unfortunately I did not get a clear photo of the front of the sculpture once on the cake, but here is the rear view. Brown sugar was added around the base of the sculpture to make it look like the groundhog just dug is way out of the cake. He added pieces of white fondant onto the groundhog to look like there were pieces of cake on it's back after busily digging his way up. David also made a sculpture of a squirrel (another animal that runs around our yards) with the extra Rice Krispie Treats and fondant he had left over. His plan was to put it on the birthday boy's piece of cake as an additional surprise once the cutting of the cake was done.The surprise cake and edible sculptures were a huge success, but the pressure is now on to create another magical cake for the next birthday!
Rice Krispie Treat Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 package (10 oz., about 40) Marshmallows
• OR
• 4 cups Miniature Marshmallows
• 6 cups Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® cereal

Directions:

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:
In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.