Austin's Knights and Dragons Birthday Cake

In our house, having a birthday is a big thing and my little man just turned 4! We spent many months discussing the pros and cons of all types of birthday themes and, after much deliberation, decided on having a Superhero Party. I had so many ideas and it was going to be so much fun.

However, about two weeks before the actual party, he started telling me how he had decided that now he wanted to have a Knights & Dragons party. This was just not possible. I had purchased, sewed, cut, and planned an awesome party already. There was no turning back.

So, since I am always looking for another reason to make cake, I decided that since Austin's actual birthday was on a Tuesday and his Superhero Birthday Party wasn't going to be until the following Saturday, that his actual birthday day could be his Knights & Dragons birthday...and therefore I could make another cake. (This actually worked out as a great theme because most of the presents that he was getting from his family on his actual birthday were of the knight and dragon kind).

So, I started planning another birthday cake. I searched everywhere for pics of knights and dragons cakes online for inspiration and found so many it made my head spin. The one thing I did find though, was that there was a huge difference between a good looking dragon cake and a just-ok looking dragon cake. I am usually a fan of making something that would be considered "awesome" so took the challenge...and ended up using gumpaste for the first time.

I love gumpaste! It is a lot like fondant. It is food grade, pliable and easy to mold, but a little more resilient and dries rock hard. Fondant will develop a crust but never actually dries completely. I thought gumpaste would be a better option because of the amount of small detail work I would be attempting to put together for this knight and dragon.

Wow! I was so happy with how this turned out. It is by far my most favorite creation. I had no desire to cut into this cake and eventually had to relinquish the knife to my husband who had to do the honors so that my son could actually have a piece of his birthday cake.

Austin loved his cake too! So, Austin and I decided to save the dragon from the top of the cake and now (a month later) the orange dragon still silently sits on top of our coffee maker in the kitchen. This way Austin and I can admire him whenever we want and it also leads to long talks about how special and fun his birthday day was!