1950's Cakes: The King is Back... in Cake!

A couple months back, a client ordered a 1950's-themed cakes for her grandmother's 70th birthday party: A bust of Elvis and something poodle-themed.  I have never made a "head" before and pondered for many weeks how I would actually do this.  I wanted it to be realistic, sturdy and not use too many inedible supports.  And I did NOT want the head laying flat.

The party was a few weeks back, I'm happy to say that he was sturdy and I only used three dowels to separate the 2 cake tiers.  He may not look exactly like Elvis, but I was pretty happy with my first "head" - although, I don't like the thought of anyone cutting into it....

My client said the cakes were a hit!  Her grandmother didn't have the heart to cut into it and the poodle cake fed everyone.  As of last week, it is still sitting in her basement cold storage.... which I wouldn't want to bump into late at night because I'm sure it would scare me every time :-)

Elvis "In Progress" -  I started with 5 layers of vanilla cake iced with Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Then, I started to carve the cake... yes, he now looks like Chewbacca...

He's starting to come to life with a bit more carving and some more buttercream.

And now sporting a new look - kinda Zorro-ish.... Such a fun cake!