Lizard Birthday Cake

My daughter, Molly, had her 5th birthday party this past weekend at a super fun place called Leaping Lizards in Olathe, KS. When I asked her what kind of birthday cake she wanted for the party, she decided on a pink lizard cake! I agreed and immediately began searching my cookbooks, magazines and online for a template. Unfortunately, all I came up with was some very professional looking cakes or very silly looking ones. I just didn't find what I was looking for!

Luckily I came across a crocodile cake on familyfun.com and it was the perfect shape I was looking for! Following their directions with just a few tweaks, I was able to put together a pink lizard cake for my little girlie! Here is a link to the cake directions I found:


 Family Fun

First, I started with a round bundt cake pan and just used a boxed cake mix (party confetti, per Molly's request!). I let the cake cool completely before I took it out of the pan and began cutting. You might even want to freeze it first to make it easier. Anyway, I cut the cake into three equal sections. I sliced one of the sections diagonally from one end to the other.

Place the two full pieces next to each other on your platter so they form opposite curves. Cut off the corners of your lizard's head to make it more rounded. This was a change from the original directions I found online. Then place one of your diagonally sliced pieces slanting down to become your lizard's tail, and trim it to the shape you want. Finally, cut the other diagonally sliced piece into smaller chunks that will be come feet and place them along the sides of your lizard. Note: I also had to slice off the bottom of each of my pieces so the lid to my cake container would fit over the cake for transportation, so be sure to allow room if you need it! Don't worry if your cake doesn't fit together like a perfect puzzle - the frosting will cover any imperfections!


Now here is the most important part: FREEZE YOUR CAKE! This way, when you frost it there won't be so many crumbs to get in your way! Meanwhile, make or color your frosting. I made homemade frosting and used food coloring to make it hot pink.

Here is my recipe for frosting:

Blend together 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of shortening. Mix in 3 cups of powdered sugar... maybe a little extra, until fluffy. Finally, stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 tablespoon of milk, and 1 egg white. Add in your food coloring and if it's too thick, just add a little extra milk. Yum!!

Ok, now frost your cake. Use more than you think you need! You can do all of these steps a day or two ahead of time... just freeze or refrigerate the cake until you need it. Then, the day of your party, add on all the fun candy decorations! I used gum drops in alternating colors to make the spikes down my lizard's back. I cut two white gum drops in half to be the whites of it's eyes, then stuck a chocolate chip on each for the pupil. Pink jelly beans made perfect claws on the feet, and I cut a licorice twist to fit for the tongue - I even forked it with kitchen shears! Happy 5th birthday to my special little girl!!