Hi everyone! Jungle themed cakes never go out of style for little ones. There are so many fun design options to choose from, and we've created a video to highlight some of our favorites!

In this tutorial, you will learn to model several jungle animals, as well as how to create simple accents to bring your design to life! Enjoy the tutorial!

Materials:

In this video, we are working with 8 inch and 6 inch tiers stacked as usual, and covered with fondant. Cakes are stacked as usual with each tier having it's own cake board cut down to size.

Top tier is supported by 4 bubble tea straws cut to height of bottom tier. Find our Tier Stacking Video for additional details on stacking tiers!

Gum Paste (or fondant with tylose kneaded into it.)

Coloring Gels: Lion: Chocolate Brown, Egg Yellow, Lemon Yellow. Giraffe: Egg Yellow Monkey: Chocolate Brown with Copper features. Elephant: Super Black, Sky Blue for water, Red for "3",

Floral Wire: 26 gauge for spray of water, 20 gauge for balloons (doesn't have to be exact)

Cake & leaves, etc.: fondant is tinted Wilton Leaf Green

Americolor Super Red Fondant and "3" cookie cutter or template (for the "3")

Food Coloring Pen- I used black for eyes, brown for giraffe

Piping Tips: I used a Wilton 6 to cut out small circle for eyes (use any small round tip, or form by hand), Wilton 10 for polka dots on "3". (any medium sized round tip is fine)

Extruder (optional) for vines...or roll by hand. We used Makin's Ultimate Clay Extruder (aff.)

Lollipop sticks- used as anchors

Toothpicks or gum paste tools of choice for creating animal's facial features

Confetti Sprinkles (optional) Used on Lion's cake.

Your favorite Pink Petal Dust (I used watermelon) for rosy cheeks- optional.

Jungle Cake! Free Cake Video Tutorial

Learn how to make a cute Jungle Cake in this free cake decorating video tutorial!

Ingredients

In this video, we are working with 8 inch and 6 inch tiers stacked as usual, and covered with fondant. Cakes are stacked as usual with each tier having it's own cake board cut down to size. Top tier is supported by 4 bubble tea straws cut to height of bottom tier. Find our Tier Stacking Video if you'd like to see the full process! ;0)
Gum Paste (or fondant with tylose kneaded into it.)
Coloring Gels: Lion: Chocolate Brown, Egg Yellow, Lemon Yellow. Giraffe: Egg Yellow Monkey: Chocolate Brown with Copper features. Elephant: Super Black, Sky Blue for water, Red for "3",
Floral Wire: 26 gauge for spray of water, 20 gauge for balloons (doesn't have to be exact)
Cake & leaves, etc.: fondant is tinted Wilton Leaf Green
Americolor Super Red Fondant and "3" cookie cutter or template (for the "3")
Food Coloring Pen- I used black for eyes, brown for giraffe
Piping Tips: I used a Wilton 6 to cut out small circle for eyes (use any small round tip, or form by hand), Wilton 10 for polka dots on "3". (any medium sized round tip is fine)
Extruder (optional) for vines...or roll by hand. We used Makin's Ultimate Clay Extruder (aff.)
Lollipop sticks- used as anchors
Toothpicks or gum paste tools of choice for creating animal's facial features
Confetti Sprinkles (optional) Used on Lion's cake.
Your favorite Pink Petal Dust (I used watermelon) for rosy cheeks- optional.

Instructions

Create the gum paste (or fondant with tylose powder) animals, balloons, and number 1-2 days in advance to be on the safe side so that they will have plenty of time to dry.
Bake and cool the 8 inch and 6 inch layers and allow to cool completely before filling and applying thin coat of frosting.
Each tier should be on it's own cake cardboard. Chill in the freezer for 15-20 minutes (or longer in the refrigerator) before covering each tier with fondant (that has been rolled about about ⅛ inch thickness.
Add supports in the bottom tier cut to the height of the cake (I used 4 bubble tea straws for this.) The top tier will be placed on top of these. Place bottom tier on cake base, and top with top tier (add a smear of buttercream as additional "glue").
Roll out green and blue fondant accents, cut out shapes with xacto or sharp knife, and apply to the cake. For vines, extrude green fondant (with tylose kneaded into it), or you can roll by hand.

Notes

Whether you recreate the exact design, or pick and choose from one or two favorite animals, we hope that you enjoy the tutorial!
The cake tiers and accents (aside from the animals) could also be covered buttercream (like our Classic Vanilla Buttercream Recipe). If you go this route, chill the tiers before applying the fondant accents.
This is a Three Part Cake Video Tutorial!