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  • Welcome to How To Cook That, I'm Ann Reardon and today we are making a dog cake, this one

  • is inspired by Max from the Secret Life of Pets, but you can customize it to make it

  • look more like your own dog if you like.

  • The first thing we need is some yummy strawberry ganache frosting. To make that, hull your

  • strawberries and wash them really well. I like to make the frosting and the cakes they

  • day before I am decorating the cake.

  • Place the strawberries in a blender and puree them, I'll put all the recipe quantities on

  • the howtocookthat.net website for you and I'll link to that below.

  • Pour the puree into a fine sieve and push it through using the back of your spoon, now

  • this will take about 5 minutes so be patient. Keep going until you have just the seeds left

  • and that lovely juice is in the bowl.

  • Now we are going to mix HALF of that strawberry juice with some melted white chocolate. I

  • am making more than you need for this cake so I can use it for another recipe. I'll decrease

  • the quantity online to just the amount that you'll require. Once that is combined place

  • it in the fridge to thicken up.

  • Put the other half of your juice in a pan with some sugar and you want to heat it until

  • the sugar is dissolved so what we are making here is like a really thin jam that we can

  • use on the layers of the cake just to give it a bit more of a strawberry flavour.

  • Bake one and a half times my chocolate cake recipe in two trays. And the recipe video

  • for how to make this cake and the dog template are all on the website for you.

  • Now because this cake is tall and skinny it is going to need support or it will just topple

  • over. I'm using a cake spike down the middle and we'll use two small cake boards about

  • half way and 3/4 of the way up and some cake pop sticks too.

  • Now on day two ... trim the top of your cakes to level them out. And then place your template

  • piece over the top and cut out the circles. Use a spatula to just to ease it off the paper

  • so that you can lift it off. Now continue to cut out more circles from

  • your first tray of cake. Then repeat that with your second tray, cutting

  • out the ones that you have left.

  • Place your cake on some baking paper. Usually we'd stack it straight on the cake board but

  • because the spike is not centered in the cake. If we do it over here we can shift the first

  • layers around until they're just right and then pick it up and put them over on the spike.

  • Add some of your thin fresh strawberry jam followed by some strawberry ganache. And I've

  • warmed this a little just to make it easier to get a thin layer between the layers of

  • cake. Continue to stack up your first 4 layers.

  • And that takes us to where the first cake board needs to be, you can see on the template

  • just there.

  • You can see the cake is not straight and that's how it needs to be, it needs to be a bit further

  • forward at the front.

  • And the cake spike is also not central on the cake so line the cake up with the spike

  • and place it over the top.

  • Check that the cake is sticking out at the back and going in at the front.

  • Once you've got that right. Push a cake pop stick down to the base, and take note of where

  • it comes to. Pull it out again and cut it and another stick to the same height - we

  • need those to support it at the front because the dog is coming forward at the front because

  • of his head.

  • Add the mini cake board on top, and the cake pop sticks are just stopping it going down

  • too far, cover it in ganache then check where your next layer sits and place it on top.

  • Add more jam and continue to stack up three more layers. Now again to support his head

  • we need to add two more cake pop sticks just going down to where the previous cake board

  • is. Then add the next little board on top.

  • Cover that in ganache, add the next layer of cake on that. Then if you look at the template

  • you can see the last layer sits towards the back for the top of his head there, so just

  • pop that into place.

  • That looks like a leaning tower of cake, now if we didn't have the supports in here it

  • would not stand up like this, it would just topple over. Good doggie!

  • Place your template in front of the cake and cut away the pieces of cake that you can see.

  • Once you've cut those out, now it looks dog shaped already.

  • Turn it to the back and put the back template over the top and trim off the sides. Now MAX

  • is quite a skinny dog, if you have a broader breed of dog then you don't need to trim the

  • sides like this.

  • From those two cuts you end up with the right shape but the corners are still a little bit

  • box like. Just take your knife and trim off a tiny slice so that it becomes rounded.

  • Now we want to cover the whole thing in ganache, and again I have warmed it up a little to

  • make it runnier. With a fresh carved cake like this it is quite crumbly which means

  • it is yummy and moist but it also makes it a little hard to cover. So by warming the

  • ganache that just makes it easy.

  • Once it is covered take some acetate or bendy plastic and run it up the sides to smooth

  • out the ganache. Then put it that in the fridge for about and hour for the ganache to set

  • firmly.

  • Now at this point you need to decide if you want to make a dog or a dinosaur. What's your

  • favourite pet? Do you prefer dogs /cakes or would you like a dinosaur? Let me know in

  • the comments below.

  • To make a dog, wrap some white fondant around the front of the cake and then at the back

  • just squeeze it together to make a join. Cut off the bulk of the excess so that the weight

  • doesn't drag it down then continue to smooth it and shape it and once you're happy trim

  • off the rest of the fondant closer to the back. Now we have the join at the back because

  • he has a spot here that will cover it, so we won't see it anyway.

  • Trim the excess from around the base using a knife and just tuck it in underneath. Now

  • take some more fondant and drape it over his head. Squeeze it up and the back to give him

  • a mohawk, now he does look like a dinosaur. Trim that off roughly, then smooth and shape

  • the fondant around his face, Now if you don't want to use fondant you could

  • watch the teddy bear cake video for how to pipe fur on a cake using buttercream and that

  • would work really well for this dog too.

  • Trim it off more neatly and then using a knife cut it at neck at level where the other fondant

  • came to. And we'll cover this with his collar in a little while so don't worry about making

  • it perfectly neat.

  • Roll a ball of white to the size of his hind leg, flatten it using the palm of your hand.

  • Now, using a knife trim it off on an angle so we can join it to the cake. Make a cut

  • at the lower front and then use your fingers to smooth and shape it so that you make a

  • little leg and the cute little foot.

  • Rub a little water on the side of his body to make it stick and add the leg into place.

  • Now at this point I realize there is a problem ... he should be facing the other way on the

  • cake board so that there is room behind him for his tail. So when you make your cake make

  • sure he is facing the other direction.

  • I am going to take the very risky move of moving him which means his central support

  • is no longer going to be connected to the cake board. I'm a little worries, he might

  • fall over and collapse altogether ... OK so he seems to have survived but I might have

  • mishappened him a little bit in the move but hopefully we will survive. Add his other leg

  • and then add some fondant around the base. Speaking of moving our house is currently

  • for sale so after making this cake I have to completely clean the kitchen and get it

  • ready for a home open tomorrow which is probably why I'm not thinking clearly. Use your knife

  • just to trim off the fondant around the board so it looks like the mat that he sits on when

  • he's sitting at the door waiting for his owner to come home.

  • We are moving to Melbourne at the end of this year which is very exciting for us. (Just

  • run your knife along the mat there to give it more of a fabric texture so it looks like

  • a mat). Now before we leave Sydney I thought it would

  • be nice to catch up. So Dave & I will be at Berkelouw Books in Cronulla on Saturday Oct

  • 22. And you can get The Deep Enders book there or if you've already got it, bring it along

  • and we'll sign it for you and I might even make some macarons and bring those too. I'll

  • put all the details of times and everything below.

  • Now to make Max's front legs roll a snake of fondant and make it narrower at the ankle.

  • And then curl around some to make his foot or you could just roll a ball and add it on

  • top. Trim it off at the right height and place

  • it on the front of the cake.

  • Using a knife add indents into the paws for his toes.

  • Cut patches in the sizes shown on your print out and add them into place on the cake, now

  • if you dampen the back of the patch it will just stick right on. Don't make it too wet

  • or you're going to get drips of that different colour going down on your white.

  • Now the biggest patch on Max is around his back so add that piece on and wrap it around

  • like a cape.

  • He has another patch on his shoulder and a big one across one half of his face that makes

  • him super-cute!

  • For his eyes roll two balls of white and squash them to make them the shape of the template.

  • If you rub a tiny bit of cooking oil on your fingers it will stop it from sticking to the

  • fondant. Now roll two balls of brown and flatten them

  • in the same way and shape then just right and then add them to the eye. Repeat that

  • with tiny balls of black. Dogs don't really have eyes that look like this, they have hardly

  • any white visible - but this style makes it look more human like so we can relate to them

  • in the movie.

  • Then add a really tiny ball of white on one side of the pupil to make it look alive.

  • Add those into place quite close to the line of the patch in the centre of his face.

  • And then add an eyebrow, now you can cut those out using the guide on the template. The other

  • eyebrow needs to be a darker brown so that it shows up on his patch. Eyebrows are very

  • important for expression so choose the expression you want the dog to have and position your

  • brows accordingly.

  • Add a little bit of water around the eye and then roll a tiny snake of black, just use

  • your fingers and roll it and get it even and really skinny. And then carefully wrap that

  • around his eye. This give us that typical cartoony look and it also helps the white

  • eye stand out against the dog's fur. You don't need it as much on the other one but we'll

  • add it to even it up.

  • Now to cover the join on his neck, wrap a strip of blue around for his collar.

  • Take a rectangle of black and cut out a littl echunk from each side. Then place that over

  • the bone template and squash it to make it the right shape. Then indent each side to

  • make it like the bone. You can add MAX onto this or the name of your dog if you want or

  • just leave it plain. Brush that with gold luster dust then add

  • it into place on his chest, just below the collar. Add a snake of black running up from

  • the bone and over the collar. Use your knife to poke it around the collar and trim it off

  • to just the right length.

  • Then using some luster dust mixed with lemon juice or a little bit of alcohol just paint

  • the black bit so that it becomes gold and it matches his little bone.

  • Roll another snake and bend it around, sort of squaristh, then trim off one end. Add this

  • around the collar on one side and then paint that gold too. Now these little details make

  • the difference between the cake looking okay and it looking really good.

  • Poke a hole in the centre and add a short bit of fondant. Use your skewer to position

  • it correctly and then paint it gold.

  • Cut a thin strip of blue and wrap it around his collar closer so that's the bit that holds

  • it in place. Trim that off with your knife. Then poke a couple of holes through the collar.

  • For his tail roll together some brown and some white so that they join together, it

  • doesn't really matter what that join looks like. Place it over the template and shape

  • to make the tip of his tail. Trim that to size and then add some indents

  • running down to make it look like scruffy fur.

  • Add his tail into place at the back of the cake, position it how you want it.

  • And now for his ears. Add some tylose powder to some brown fondant. Now the tylose just

  • makes the fondant set quickly because you want his ears to sit up.

  • Roll a reasonably thick layer and cut around the template for his ears. Use your finger

  • to smooth down the edges especially on the bottom side where it joins the head as a spot,

  • really flatten out those ones.

  • Now you can see one splotch comes down lower than the other, so make sure you get them

  • on the right side.

  • Add a little water to the back of his head and add one ear into place. And allow the

  • front of the ear to flop over. I am going to use some paper towel rolled up to support

  • it in position. Add the other ear and position them how you

  • want them to sit. Now because it has the tylose in it, that will set in about 2 hours and

  • you will be able to take that paper towel out.

  • Add a few indents on the edges of his ears and some lines going down so they look like

  • they've got fur on them.

  • And then do the same on his tummy just to give it a light fur texture and you can do

  • that all the way around until you're happy with it.

  • Now for his nose, take some black fondant that has been left on the counter for about

  • 20 minutes and roll it into an oval, flatten that to the size of his nose.

  • Then add the two indents for his nostrils.

  • Now because we left the fondant out to dry out a bit before we rolled it you get this

  • rough crackled texture on top - a bit like a dog's nose looks like.

  • Using a little water add that into place, and now he looks cute. Use your template as

  • a guide for where his mouth should go - and again there are so many expressions of Max

  • in the Secret Life of Pets so just look at different pictures and change it up depending

  • on what you want.

  • Roll a ball of green and put it to one side.

  • Carefully remove those ear supports and your Max cake is ready for a party.

  • Subscribe to How To Cook That for more crazy sweet creations.

  • Click here for the recipe and here for my channel and here for last week's candy video.

  • This cake was requested by tom, maya, adriano, time to doodle time

  • paygee lou 08, Lilly, bryan, lucy, sassy sarah 29

  • Reth, Whizzy, madison, ng-eye-a Faith, amy, rebecca, lagz steezy,

  • Kylie, April, Breena, Taryn, Marty, ALicia, Sarah, WInston

  • lollyT gee, DIY it a b s girls, brianna, mori, tarryn

  • liv, ellie, animal mad, menna yong, ella, AS14 HD

  • Lilly-a, melinda, ryan, jessica, eve, gabriel, kim

  • sweet jessie 207, jaynee, gyn cute cupcake, cute wolf, hannah, florence,

  • thea, katy, marty, helen, abbi, lauren, alahna

  • princess magic, animal lover, niam, brocoli sofa,

  • kael624, kaden and many more!!!

  • Put all your requests in the comments below make it a great week and I'll see you on Friday!

  • (wait for it...)

Welcome to How To Cook That, I'm Ann Reardon and today we are making a dog cake, this one

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