So, I hear you like mudkips?
This is probably the hardest cake I’ve ever made up to this point. I made mistakes and can see where I could have done better, but I learned a lot from it. I also know better now that I need to come up with a good cake recipe that’s closer to pound cake for sculpted cakes.
The photos aren’t great, but I may have more coming. I had to assemble the fins on-site, so I didn’t take photos at home first. Then I forgot my camera. Luckily, my husband could take photos with his cell phone.
This cake is vanilla, with a strawberry filling I made using organic preserves, fresh strawberries and confectioner’s sugar. Apparently, mudkips taste like strawberry-vanilla. I’m told this is standard knowledge.
The fins are fondant, but I didn’t let them dry and harden for a long enough time, so I ended up using those white sticks as part of the design so they would have the support they needed. Maybe I should have used gum paste, since that hardens considerably better. Live and learn!
This last photo was taken by the person it was made for. It looks so dramatic! 
rose | 10-Jul-08 at 9:25 pm | Permalink
this mudkip cake is absolutely amazing! if you wouldn’t mind i’d really love to know how you shaped it & what you used to make the fins. my boyfriend LOVES mudkip. his birthday is in janurary & i know that if i made him a cake even similar to yours he’d absolutely adore it.
i’m only sixteen so i don’t have much experience and would appreciate it tremendously if you could let me in on a few tip on how to do this.
my email is xbeyondxdriven@aol.com
please get back to me
Lori | 12-Jul-08 at 11:39 pm | Permalink
(I emailed this, but thought the info might be useful to others, so I’m posting it)
Hello!
The Mudkip cake was a challenge - it took several sheet cakes stacked on one another, chilled, and then carefully carved. The cake recipe can’t just be a normal cake mix: it needs to be denser, more like pound cake, in order to stand up to the weight and carving. The filling can’t be anything too slippery or the layers might slide.
I covered it in fondant, but it would be much easier and less expensive to use colored frosting. Fondant takes some practice and can be more stressful than it’s worth (since its not particularly tasty). When I made the fins, I used fondant, but learned too late that fondant doesn’t stiffen enough for it. I had to use sticks (those white lines) to make them stand up, but it was a hassle. Next time I would use something like plastic sheeting or cardboard, or if it had to be edible, I’d use Gumpaste. It’s moldable, you just knead in some food dye, roll it out like dough and cut it to the shape, and you would make it a week earlier so it has time to dry flat and stiff. Because of the size, it may still be tricky, so have cardboard or something as a backup.
Another idea is to do something like Ceciles’ Custom Cakes: http://flickr.com/photos/ceciles-custom-cakes/2382281881/
It’s a sheet cakes with the outline carved into the image and frosted. It’s still really cute and it’s easier, and you don’t have as much cake waste (carved cakes waste quite a bit). Then you can use whatever cake recipe or box mix you like. You can have fun with the mudkip’s pose and have more freedom… and probably way less stress, lol. I love making cakes but I probably cry about mistakes or having to rework my plans (after several tries late into the night) almost every month. My husband can attest to this - I am his crazy cake lady.
You boyfriend will probably be thrilled you made the effort, so don’t worry about perfection. It’s only the first cake.
Good luck! Send me a photo if you do it, I’d love to see what you accomplish!
Jon | 12-Aug-08 at 11:43 am | Permalink
How do i make this cake? I need, NEED, to know. Thank you for very much.