Here we are at the final installment, part 4 of the making of Elmo. Wow, I certainly didn’t intend for it to be anywhere near this long when I started. In Part 1 I talked about planning the cake, making the stand and making the icing. Part 2 covered making and carving the cakes. In Part 3, rice crispies were made and molded into arms, legs, eyes and nose, and blocks and toys were created.
Since last time, the carved cake and rice crispies arms and legs have been in the freezer, firming up the rice crispies. The eyes, nose and blocks have been covered with fondant and overnight you’ll notice they’ve hardened quite a bit since making them, hard enough that you can easily handle them without fear of putting dents in them. If you’ve made them a few days in advance, by the time you get to this stage they’ll be very firm. Finally the cake is almost ready for the final coat of icing, the fur, but first we need to make the smash cake.
Smash Cake
You can really do anything with this cake that you like, decorate it however you want. I based mine on a cute cake I’d seen online, but running out of time, I rushed it. I would have liked to put a bit more time into it. I also had special requirements for this smash cake, as the birthday boy has lots of food allergies. The cake was gluten free, and the butter cream icing was made from special margarine. The fondant was designed so it could be easily pulled off before serving. All these considerations went into the design of the cake, but you can do whatever takes your fancy. It’s quite fun making a mini cake like this.
The reason for making the smash cake first, is that we’ll put it in place as the fur icing is being done. It’s quite a tight fit, and would be too easy to scrape and stuff up the fur if you put it on afterwards.
So grab the mini cake board (which can be prepared by covering with wrapping paper, contact or just foil) put down a generous dollup of icing and put the cakes on, giving them a filling/crumb coat layer, and put them in the freezer for 1/2 hour or more to set the crumb coat. Then go ahead and decorate just like you would with any other cake.
Before decorating it may be worth pushing the cake down on the dowel, or you may want to wait until later. If you do it first then when you put the finished cake in place you won’t disturb the icing too much, but it’ll still be frozen, so you could split it. If you wait till later the dowel will more easily go through the cake, but you’ll need to push down quite hard putting a hole in the icing (which can be covered up by a candle, or more icing, or another decoration). If your cake is sitting flat instead of on an angle like mine, then you can just dig a hole through the center with a knife. I waited and pushed the cake onto the dowel after decorating, then fixed the hole.
Preparing for the Fur
If you’ve made the icing a few days in advance, you’ll be glad to have the space back in your fridge. Take out the icing a couple of hours before you plan to start to give it time to thaw. It will be quite solid, especially if you’ve made if from copha/shortening. While it’s thawing we can prepare the cake.
Arms and Legs
The arms and legs should be set nicely by now. If you need to you can carve or shave the legs and feet if there are any bits sticking out, or too bulky. Test each arm in place and make any adjustments necessary. Thin the shoulders so they merge nicely with the body at the top, and make sure the arms/hands will fit under the smash cake. When any adjustments have been made, press each arm into the body, bending slightly if necessary, until it sticks in place. The arms may also rest on the legs a bit, giving them extra support.
It’s up to you whether you do this or not, but I quickly covered the arms and legs with a layer of my crumb coat icing, just so that if there ended up any small gaps in the fur that the light colored rice crispies wouldn’t shine through.
Elmo’s Mouth
I mentioned in the beginning that you could buy or make fondant for the inside of Elmo’s mouth. You can buy chocolate fondant from most supermarkets, which you can leave as is, or color black. Because it’s already dark brown it won’t need much coloring. I had some chocolate fondant I’d made for the Lion’s mane left over, so I used that, and didn’t bother coloring it black.
Black Fondant or Icing
If you want to make black fondant or icing, it’s usually recommended that you start with chocolate fondant or icing. The natural brown color of the cocoa means it’ll take a lot less coloring to make black than if you start with white icing.
Perhaps an easier alternative if you really need black, is purchasing ready made black fondant or icing from a baking or cake decorating store.
I also wanted to mention an alternative to using fondant for the mouth. You could quite easily use butter cream icing instead of fondant. If you have some black coloring gel, you can make some rich chocolate butter cream icing, and darken it with black coloring. Since the cake will still be frozen at this point, the icing will set very quickly, making it easier to get a nice smooth surface without having wait for it to crust.
Whichever method you choose, make sure you cover the mouth before starting the fur, as the fur will cover the edge of the fondant or icing. If making it out of fondant, you’ll need to roll out a circle big enough to cover the inside of the mouth. Bend it in half and place the bent edge at the back of the mouth. Lift the top half and press into the top of the mouth, and smooth the bottom half over the bottom of the mouth. Cut the fondant along the edges of the mouth, starting with the top edge. Push the fondant into the crease at the back of the mouth, making sure the fondant is nice and tight on the cake.
Piping the Fur
When planning the fur, I was torn between using a star or a grass tip for piping the icing. The star tip would create what looks like clumps of fur that I thought would look quite good. On the other hand, the grass tip would create fine strands that might look more like fur, but perhaps less of a clumped look. I had hoped to experiment a bit, but as I was running short on time I went with the star, thinking that would be the quicker option.
A couple of warnings before we get started. Piping fur is very, very repetitive, and tedious, and time consuming. You’ll likely get tired hands and wrists, possibly cramping a bit by the end. Make sure you leave enough time to do it without staying up all night. You’ll need some music, tv or something equally distracting so you don’t get bored to bits. You’ll also end up with very red hands and fingers from the red coloring, so you may want to use gloves, but as long as you’re doing it the day before the party there’ll be plenty of time to wash it off before the event.
When piping the fur you need to start at the bottom and work up. This way each layer of fur overlays the previous layer/s as it should. Also don’t make the fur strands or clumps too regular. Mix up the lines as you go, start each one a bit higher or lower, and make each one go in a slightly different direction. The more variation you can get in there, the more natural the fur will look. Take your time with each stroke, making sure to finish each one before moving up for the next. If you try and do it too quickly (which I almost guarantee you will a few times towards the end, when you just can’t wait to be finished) it will end up a mess and not look at all like fur. Even doing each stroke carefully, you’ll work up a rhythm and be much faster towards the end than you started.
One more note on the color. I found that as the icing warmed, the color deepened. This meant that icing that I’d piped on, that had run through the warmth of my hands, was a deeper red than icing that I spread on with a spatula. It also meant that the earlier parts of the fur were a bit lighter in color than the later parts. It’s something to watch out for each time you need to fill up the piping bag as well, as the first few strokes will be lighter in color. Perhaps there’s a way to warm the icing consistently to get the color the same all through, I’m not sure. I ended up doing the first few strokes of each new bag on the back, so the front stayed fairly consistent in color.
When the fur has thawed a bit (I left mine in the sun for an hour or so), get out your beaters and whip it up again. When it’s back close to its original consistency you can put some in a piping bag and get ready to start.
Start by piping some icing in the areas that will end up under the smash cake, the lower part of the tummy, the hands and the inside of the legs. I just piped it in roughly and spread it with a knife, as it’ll be mostly covered with the smash cake so doesn’t need the fur texture. Any parts I did this for, I kept the surface quite rough, so what was visible didn’t look too different to the proper fur. When those areas are covered, take your decorated smash cake and push it down onto the dowel and into position.
Now you can start on the fur, being careful to avoid the smash cake when you’re near it. I recommend starting at the front and working your way to the back (just in case you start to run low on icing towards the end as I did), remembering to always work from the bottom up. You can do it in sections created naturally by the forms of the character. The tummy up to the bottom of the mouth can be done separately, the arms and legs can be done separately. Any parts that are tricky to get to with the piping nozzle, like the underside of the legs, can be spread roughly with a spatula or knife.
As you go, keep in mind which way the fur would naturally flow, working up stream so to speak. So work from the bottom of arms to the top, from the feet up the legs to the body, etc. It’s useful to find a few photos of Elmo to see how his actual fur flows. You’ll see it’s usually combed to the sides above his mouth which will affect how you do the icing there.
Final Touches
When you’ve finally finished piping the fur, with your hands still aching, fumble about for the eyes and nose you made earlier. Trying to keep your hands from shaking too much, push the eyes and nose gently, but firmly into position on the top of the head. Check my plan for the proper positioning, as correct placement of the eyes and nose makes a big difference in how much the final cake looks like Elmo.
Finally, position the blocks and toys in front of the smash cake, hiding the supports.
Alternative Techniques
As I mentioned a few times there are always alternative ways to do things, some are easier, others are just, well, different. There’s no right or wrong way to do any of this, you just do whatever suits your particular cake design and other requirements.
Smaller Elmo
You may want to make a smaller Elmo, possibly even sitting on another cake. If your Elmo is smaller than this one, your stand may not need to be quite so sturdy or complex. If the cake he’s sitting on is tall enough, you may not even need to secure the dowels to the board. Pushing the dowels down into the lower cake may provide enough support. Just make sure you use supports under Elmo so he doesn’t fall into the underlying cake.
If you wanted a small Elmo on another cake you could make him entirely out of rice crispies. Indeed someone else has provided instructions for one way of doing this at Cakes Canada
Arms and Legs
I mentioned when talking about the stand, that you could do away with the wire support by placing the legs flat on the board instead of having the knees raised, or if you’re making a smaller Elmo sitting on another cake. You could just mold the rice crispies straight on the board or a bench, and move them into position when you start icing. You don’t even have to use rice crispies for the arms and legs at all.
You could make them out of cake, and skewer the arms in place. You could make them out of fondant if you have enough, or if your Elmo is smaller than mine. If your Elmo is small enough you could even make the insides and outsides of the arms and legs out of butter cream icing. If you really wanted you could even use polystyrene.
Head
Instead of cake, if you didn’t need to serve too many people, or if you choose to have your Elmo sitting on another cake, you could make the head out of rice crispies (or polystyrene). That would mean you wouldn’t need the support disk in the middle to hold the mouth up.
Smash Cake
Instead of including a dowel to hold up the smash cake board, you could hold it up with more cake, or a block of polystyrene, or a block of wood. Since it’s pretty well hidden you could use almost anything. If I were making an Elmo sitting on another cake, I’d probably hold it up with cake, and the icing would stop it slipping.
As you can see there are many different ways to accomplish the same thing, and many different things you can do. My aim with this tutorial has been not just to show you how I made Elmo, but to explain some of the techniques I’ve used when making cakes like this. I hope that this will give you the confidence and knowledge to make all sorts of different 3D cakes, not just Elmo. The only limit is our imagination.
If you’d like to see more of my cakes or tutorials, as well as what I have on my blog, I have posted some photo tutorials on Flickr.
If you’ve been inspired by this tutorial I’d love to hear from you, and would love to see any cakes made as a result. As always, if you have any comments or questions please feel free to leave them below.
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Hello, I love te elmo cake it’s beautiful and amazing. Please email me back I am lookin for some to do my child 1st Birthday Cake and his theme is Elmo. my email address is audi_al_07@yahoo.com Please email me back i would really appreiacte it thank you.
No probs, will do
Wow, your elmo cake is amazing. I hope that you show case more of your works and how to. I am looking forward to seeing what else you post. Again Awesome job!! Your amazing!!
Hi I have a question about this great elmo cake I wanna make this for my daughters 2nd birthday party which I will be having may the 2nd if you could please email me back.
thanks
I have to make a cookie monster cake like this, my first attempt at a 3d cake and I have found this site extremelly helpfull. I didn’t realise you needed a stand, but looking at it now makes sense, I was just going to stick a dowel through the middle. I can only hope mine will turn out as good as yours. I shall give the rice crispies a go as well. First time for everything. Thank you very much.
cheers
megan
I’m glad it was helpful Megan,
If the bottom part of the cake is sturdy and wide enough you don’t need to secure the dowel to the board. How complex a stand you need really depends on a number of factors, how big the cake is, how top heavy, does it need to travel or just move to another room, etc. I tend to err on the side of caution having had a bit of a disaster with the elephant.
Hello, I love te elmo cake it’s beautiful and amazing. Please email me back I am lookin for some to do my child 1st Birthday Cake and his theme is Elmo. my email address is audi_al_07@yahoo.com Please email me back i would really appreiacte it thank you.
Hi there Jonny,
Your cakes absolutely astound me. I have never seen anything like them…professional cake making shops or otherwise! I seriously don’t know of a cake shop that would be able to make this cake to the standard you have. You clearly have a real passion for cake-making and a great eye for detail. Your children are very lucky! I am planning on making an Elmo cake for my daughter’s 2nd birthday, but wouldn’t be game to attempt anything near as awesome as this. However, I’m wondering if you can give me a vague estimate of the quantities you used for the buttercream icing. The cake looks rather large, so I figured if I roughly follow your estimates I won’t run out mid-way! Mine is just going to be a full-body Elmo cake (not a 3D one, although I wish I had the guts to try it!) Thank you for sharing your expertise…
Thanks very much Julie,
I think I made 3 batches of icing for the undercoat, and 3 batches for the fur. I did however run out on the fur (Elmo’s back was a bit bare) so I’d recommend 4 batches for the fur. But it really does depend on each individual cake. Most cakes shouldn’t need that much:
Butter Cream Icing
125g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups (240g) icing sugar mixture
2 tablespoons milk
Beat butter until as white as possible.
Gradually beat in half the icing sugar and milk, then remaining icing sugar.
Choc: Sift 1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder in with first batch of icing sugar
Hi there Jonny,
Thanks so much for your advice re the icing. I just realised I have one other question re timing. I need to have my cake done for a late-morning occasion. Do you have to ice the cake on the day? I’m just thinking that if I have to assemble, do a crumb coat AND do the final icing and nose, eyes, mouth etc on the day, I’m going to be VERY pushed for time! If I do have to do the final icing on the day, can you please advise me as to what point I can have it up to? ie can I assemble it and do the crumb coat, and make the fondant parts the day before? I hope that all makes sense!!! I apologise if you’ve answered a question like this…I have read your entire blog about 4 times over, but there’s so much information I’m in brain-overload!!! Thanks so much Jonny!
I always try to have the cake finished the day before. It’s way to hectic on the day to be icing cakes. The icing acts as a seal for the cake so it doesn’t dry out, so there’s no worries with leaving it out overnight. It should last a few days without drying out too much, so you could finish it a couple of days early, but of course the fresher it is the better.
I’d leave the better part of the whole day before the party to do the final icing…
Hi, I am completely in awe of your cakes. I am a first grade teacher and have been making cakes for family and friends just because I love to do it! Can you give me any advice for “cake carving”? I am looking for good recipes since at this time, I haven’t ventured into anything beyond store-bought! Thank you so much!
hello, i love your cakes! and your web page. i’ve only seen a few cakes. how can i see all of them? also, where do i buy modeliung chocolate? or do i need to make it? thank-you, judy
Thanks Tracey,
In the comments here:
How I Made an Elmo Cake Part 2
I’ve included the cake recipe I use, a basic butter cake with a chocolate version. You can also include any other flavorings or colorings into the butter cake which works fine.
As far as carving, there’s a section on cake carving in Elmo part 2, linked to above. Other than that, my main advice is to freeze the cake before carving, for at least a couple of hours if not overnight. The cake will then be solid enough that you can be a bit rough with it, and it will hold up to carving much better. Oh yeah, and use a serrated knife.
For carving a 2 dimensional shape, freezing might be a bit extreme though…
Thanks Judy,
You can a couple more of my cakes on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnygorden
I imagine you might be able to buy modeling chocolate at cake stores, but it’s fairly easy to make. Now I highly recommend using compound chocolate (cooking chocolate) as it doesn’t have the cocoa butter which needs to be squeezed out if you use normal chocolate. I’ve had most success with white chocolate as it’s a little softer than dark chocolate, and obviously can be colored more easily unless you need dark brown or black.
Modeling Chocolate
Ingredients:
200g chocolate buttons (white or dark Nestles buttons work well)
1/4 cup of corn syrup (glucose)
—————————
Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 1 minute,
stir, and heat again for 1 minute if needed (on medium high).
Stir until there are no lumps of unmelted chocolate.
Stir in corn syrup and fold in until mixture becomes a ball.
Drop into a ziploc bag, remove air, and cool in the fridge for 2 hours.
Take out of the fridge and store in a cool dry place until you need it.
Can be colored after it cools by kneading in small amounts.
If you use normal chocolate with cocoa butter in it:
Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 1 minute,
stir, and heat again for 1 minute if needed (on medium high).
Stir until there are no lumps of unmelted chocolate.
Stir in corn syrup and pour out onto counter or plastic mat.
Squeeze the warm clay over paper towels to “milk” excess oil.
Spread out flat 1/2 inch high, blot with paper towels.
Store this wrapped in parchment paper and in a ziploc.
Can be colored after it cools by kneading in small amounts.
Once it’s set it becomes quite hard. Break small amounts off and knead it in your hands until soft. You can also put it in the microwave for a few seconds to help soften it, but be very careful as too long in the microwave and it’ll get too hot, it’ll separate, and become useless.
I’m looking forward to experimenting to see if adding a little more corn syrup helps it stay softer for longer when working with it…
Hi Jonny,
my daughter is having her 16th birthday soon and saw your elmo cake and showed it to me. We are both fasinated by it and she wants me to make it for her. Since you have been so gracious explaining in detail, i wanted to ask if I can do the cake without the construction of the board – can I just use support boards with support skewers in the cake. I have made cakes before and am ok with them but I have never done a 3-D cake before and I would love to try it although I am scared of failing – but who cares, I will still like to try only I cannot make the stand. Thanks for taking the time to answer,
kind regards
Elizabeta
Hi Elizabeta,
You could still make it without attaching the central dowel to the board, but you’ll need to be very careful as it’ll be a little top heavy and could fall over easily. I’m not certain that the weight of the head will be supported without the central dowel though. Perhaps you could ask your local hardware store to cut the dowel to length and drill the holes for you? They’re usually pretty good about doing things like that.
Failing that, I’d probably recommend making the head out of rice crispies instead of cake, as it’s lighter and will hold together more easily. Create a ball of rice crispies the right size, then when it’s set cut a wedge out for the mouth and secure onto the cake with skewers.
Hehe, every cake I make I’m terrified of failing. That’s what makes it fun
I live in Palatine Illinois, USA. Where can I get modeling chocolate, or how do I make it and then color it???
I have found that if you heat up the frosting while mixing hte food color it gives you the deep color you are looking for, i have done that with a small torch and it works great. (sorry my english not so good)
Hi Jan,
I’m not sure where you can buy it, but you could try your local cake shops. Just a couple of comments up (or click here) you’ll find my recipe for modeling chocolate.
Thanks for the advice Michelle, that makes perfect sense. Amy has also added some useful tips here.
Hi Jonny,
I am so amazed at your cake, that it is the most beautiful realistic elmo I have ever seen. You are extremely talented! I am going to attempt to make this cake for my twin girls 2nd birthday and have been studying your instrucitons, which i am greatful for and extremely detailed. I have one question about the 2 dowels and MDF boards. Can I just use one dowel for the head and body with the 2 MDF boards, or do i need to use the 2 sized dowels for the head and the body. My concern is connecting the two together and thought it would be easier if I just use one dowel. The cake is not going to be as large as yours, maybe 2 feet high.
Thanks so much!
Violet
Hi Violet,
The reason for the two dowels is to provide a platform for the head to sit on. The head is too heavy for the body to hold up, the body would likely collapse.
Another way you could do it would be to replicate the support for the smash cake. Have a single dowel, and cut a piece of PVC pipe to the length of the body. Put the pipe over the dowel, which the head support disk can then sit on. You’ll just need to make the hole in the head support disk big enough for the dowel to go through.
Hi Johnny, I recently had my daughter’s 3rd birthday party, which I made her a 3D Dora cake, I got all the ideas from your elmo, but just decorated it as Dora, she absoloutly loved it, and it turned out amazing…. if you would to see some pics just email your email address to me. Alicai
Hi Jonny,
I am attempting to make a similar elmo cake. So far so good. Of course not perfect like yours but for my first 3d cake I have to brag a bit and say it looks pretty good. I am getting ready to do the fur tomorrow night and thought I should ask what number star tip did you use for the fur? I am going to practice a bit before I actually go on the cake but just wondered what star tip you used. Thanks so much for the great directions. Helped so much!
Colleen
Hi Colleen,
I’m glad it’s working out. I think it was wilton #21. You could also try a grass tip such as wilton #233.
I am from the US – please tell me, what is a “pudding tin”? Thank you. I hope to follow this cake for my nephew’s first birthday 1/30/10 – thank you so much for posting this on the web!!!!!!!!
Hi Kelly,
The pudding tin I was using is a cake tin roughly 6″ across and 3-4″ deep with a slight curve at the base. Since then I’ve found a couple of nice 6″ round cake tins that I use instead.
Hi there, AMAZING!
I’d love to make this cake for my baby’s birthday. I have a couple of questions though.
1. If I make it smaller, do I still need support or it could just be all cake?
2. How long before the party should I get it out of the freezer to allow to thaw.
3. After I decorate it can I just have it out? or should I put it in the fridge?
Thanks!!!
The cake is sooo cute. I wanted to see where I can purchase a cake like this for my nephew’s 1st birthday party in May.
Hi Jonny,
Your cake is a work of art! I’m so impressed!
I am going to be making a Blue’s Clues cake, similar to this one: http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1287142
However, the head on that cake was made using Rice Krispie Treats, and I’d prefer to have the head be made of cake too. I’ve never made a 3D cake or used dowels before. I was trying to follow your instructions for how to assemble the dowels and support discs, but I can’t visualize how it’s all put together. Your diagram for the whole cake is awesome! Any chance you have one for just the dowel support system? You mention putting wire through the disc and the dowel. Are your dowels hollow? Dowel to me means a solid wooden dowel. Are yours PVC or store-bought plastic cake dowels? Can I use PVC instead? I think I’d only need one support disc – where the head meets the body.. but I’m not certain how to construct the supports. I’m not sure what MDF is. Would cake rounds be sufficient, or do I need something sturdier? Can you offer any guidance on how you would go about supporting a cake like the one shown in the link above? I will be transporting it 10 minutes down the road to my sister’s house. Sorry for asking so many questions, but I figured it’s best to ask an expert (YOU)!
Thanks so much!
PS – How do you cut into a cake with dowels and discs? Do you just carve around the dowels?
hey i have been studying your elmo for about a month and have finally found the courage to give it a go lol
its absolutely gorgeous and youre so talented…
ive got most of the tips etc off other peoples questions/answers but i just wanted to leave a comment cos you deserve it. was wondering have you got any other cakes coming up?
cheers
Hey their im just wondering how much it would cost for you to make this cake for my sons 1st birthday? its amazing
great work 
and just wondering were you live, im in the northside of brisbane.
lil_shawty_louise@hotmail.com
I hope you start to blog again. I very much enjoyed reading your past blogs about your cake creations. You are very talented and inspiring.
Hi
I am a novice at cake decorating and you have given me an answer about rice crispy modelling which I ve haerd about but not sure How Too . Sounds fascinating and will mostly likely have a hand trying out . After mixing the rice crispy with the marshmallow what is the time frame to work with this mixture
Hi Jonny,
BTW all your cakes are amazing 
Just wanted to sy a big THANK YOU this website was a great help for me making Elmo for my sons first birthday. I too encountered a problem with red icing as it always became pink but with your help it turned out perfect.I made a lot smaller cake and just used skewers to attach everything. Thanks again I am very pleased with the result
hi .i am having a birthday and i just love your cake.
i wood love to do a 3d cake but ,this is my first.
i never work with rice Krispin and i dont know if,when i do mold it .do i have to put something on the rice Krispin before i used the fondant on top of it?
thanks.
Hi I was wondering if you could email me.. I love your cake and would love to have this for my son’s first birthday on April 7th of this year. Thanks so much
Nicole.fetty@Yahoo.com
I am just thinking how can you do that I whated to make that for my nephews birthday party for a present and pleases can you help me