How to make a Dragon Cake

Step 3 Building the "skull"

Since fondant does not hold shapes very well, I decided to build a base shape for the head, and just cover it with fondant. For my original cake, I used modeling chocolate, which I modeled into an approximate head shape in advance, and had stuck in the refrigerator, ready to go. (See Ingredients for instructions). For the mini-dragon, I 'cheated' and used pastel tootsie rolls (kneaded together into a ball) to build a stiff 'skull' and it seemed to work almost as well. Note, I used orange, but any light color will do, as it will be covered completely.

Whatever material you use, shape to your approximate head shape. Think of a skull, you'll leave indentations where you want the eyes to be, and bumps up for the nostrils. If it's a little soft, refrigerate to make it easier to work with.

This can be done ahead of time and refrigerated, and I'd recommend that.

Note: I'm not sure this is really necessary (you could probably skip this and use a technique similar to the next steps with cake under the fondant), but I found it to be the easiest way to get a nicely shaped head.