Striped Cactus Cake

Here's a sweet succulent you'll never have to water! Made using fondant and the Succulents Cut-Out Set, this Striped Cactus Cake makes a great treat for an upcoming birthday or retirement party. This is a fun project for beginners and involves several simple fondant techniques that are easy and quick to learn. Keep in mind that the cake topper will need to dry for a couple days, so plan in advance when making this cake.

Skill LevelIntermediate

Ingredients & Tools
Instructions

Instructions

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Two days in advance, make fondant topper. Tint 3 oz. fondant dark pine green using color combination provided. Combine Teal and Kelly Green icing colors to get dark pine green color shown.
Using 9 in. fondant roller with purple guide rings, roll out dark pine green fondant. Using succulent cut-outs, cut five “I” leaves, four “F” leaves and three “D” leaves.
Assemble topper. In fan shape, on cornstarch-dusted board, lay three “I” leaves in center with two “F” leaves on each side. For next row, use fondant adhesive to attach two “I” leaves in between bottom “I” leaves. Attach two “F” leaves in between bottom “F” leaves. Attach three “D” leaves on top and in between second row leaves. Let topper dry, about 24 hours.
One day in advance, decorate topper. Using decorating brush, dust leaves of topper with Lime Color Dust. Attach lollipop stick to back of topper using excess piece of fondant, fondant adhesive and decorating brush. Let dry, about 24 hours.
Bake cakes. Prepare cake batter following recipe instructions. Bake and cool two cake layers using Bake Even strips. Using cake leveler, trim each layer to 1½ in. high.
Prepare icing. Prepare buttercream icing following recipe instructions. Fill and stack cake layers for 3 in. high cake. Prepare cake for fondant covering. Cover cake with white fondant.
Decorate cake. Using 9 in. fondant roller with purple guide rings, roll out black fondant into strip, measuring 20 in. long x 1 1/8 in. wide.
Using craft knife, cut three strips, each measuring 3/8 in. wide.
Using decorating brush, apply vegetable shortening to back of fondant strips. Attach to bottom of cake in one piece, trimming as necessary. Carefully remove middle strip.
Insert cake topper into top of cake.