Grit, Spit, and a Whole Lot of Duct Tape

I may have forgotten to mention that on Monday I started my last class at the Giant Corporate Cooking School and it's on cake decorating.  You know me and cakes:  it's a tenuous relationship.  But it has to be done - especially if I can't get an externship (Thomas Keller Restaurant Group call me - please!).  As of now if I pass this class I could fail the externship portion and still have a C average.  *Sigh*

So the cake decorating class is entirely different from any of the previous classes.  It's much more relaxed.  We have five projects due over the course of the six weeks and each one counts as a practical exam.  Instead of making something everyday and presenting it, we're doing different components for the projects.  And this go round there's sitting!

The first project is a children's celebration cake.  Whatever I'm supposed to be celebrating wasn't specified, I guess it's enough to celebrate being a kid.  And all the awesome tv programming they have.  Originally, I was going to do a Scooby Doo themed cake because who doesn't love Scooby Doo?  (True story:  when I was a kid I honestly thought I would get to travel around the country in a van with my friends and a solve crimes, talking dog optional.  In a way, Scooby Doo ruined my life.)

But then I started thinking about the Penguins of Madagascar.  The cake has to have a figurine made out of modeling chocolate, and I debated whether I wanted to do one figure that has more detail (Scooby) or four with less (Penguins).  In the great Scooby vs. Penguins coin toss, the Penguins won.  And I'm kinda glad because I don't think I have the skills do make a good Scooby.

This was my inspiration:

This is what I have so far:

I'm not going to say anything bad about because they turned out much better than I thought they would.  And consider what I started out with:

Is it just me or is there something vaguely "Elvis Impersonator"-ish about it?  It got better when I started to add the details:

The final cake is due on Wednesday.  Until then remember, "retreating is like running away, only manlier!"