How to Make a Cake That Looks Like Baked Chicken
By Kathryn Stanley
In order to make cakes that are shaped like and resemble other real-life items like baked chicken, you will need to cultivate at least a basic understanding of cake decorating. With enough practice and the right tools, cakes can come to look a lot like other objects. Patience to work through errors and a few hours to devote to the baking and decorating process is a must, but if you give yourself time to experiment, before long you may be fooling everyone when you serve your “baked chicken.”
To Make a Cake That Looks Like Baked Chicken You’ll Need:
- 3 cakes, 9-inch by 13-inch, any flavor
- Carving knife
- Buttercream icing
- Spatula
- Icing food dye
- Fondant
- Dull knife
- Toothpicks
- Edible clear glaze
- Serving platter or glass dish
To Make a Cake That Looks Like Baked Chicken Instructions:
- Bake or purchase three rectangular cakes, 9 inches long by 13 inches wide. If you bake the cakes yourself, be sure to give them time to cool.
- Apply a layer of buttercream icing to the top of one of the cakes. Carefully stack the second cake on that icing layer, then ice it, as well. Repeat with the third. The result should be a neatly iced stack of three cakes.
- Use your carving knife to carve the three dimensional shape of a baked chicken. It will help to have an image of a baked chicken in front of you. Make the top slightly rounded, and carve indents where the legs meet the body. Carve out small nubs near the top of the body that will be the wings.
- Cover your entire cake in buttercream icing.
- Mix icing food dye to make a golden brown color. Add this coloring to store-bought or homemade white fondant, kneading it with your hands to ensure even distribution.
- Roll out your fondant with a rolling pin. You will need to work quickly during this step, as fondant will crack and dry out if it sits for too long. The fondant should be anywhere from 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick.
- Lift the fondant and place it onto the frosted cake. Start at the top and smooth downwards into the ridges of the “baked chicken,” taking care that your fondant does not fold or tear.
- Use a dull knife and toothpicks to create texture on the cake, such as ridges along the legs of the chicken and small bumps across the surface. Again, a photo of an actual baked chicken will help you make a more realistic texture.
- Brush a clear edible glaze over the surface of the cake. This will give the impression that the chicken has just come out of the oven.
- Serve the cake on a serving platter or in a glass dish, just as you would an actual baked chicken.
To Make a Cake That Looks Like Baked Chicken Tips:
- If you need to store fondant for an extended period of time, simply place it in a plastic bag or snap-top container. Any air-tight container will do.
- Don’t get discouraged if your carving attempts are not successful at first. Like most things, creating realistically shaped cakes takes a lot of practice.
To Make a Cake That Looks Like Baked Chicken Warnings:
- Always exercise caution when using knives and tools, and never let children handle knives or participate in cake carving. Although cake is a soft substance, one slip could lead to serious injury.