Dinosaur Tutorial!

I get quite a few dinosaur requests. Dinosaurs have always been a pretty firm favourite for a lot of kids. My babies enjoyed them, but not near as much as me when I was a kid. As a child, when it came to dinosaurs I was OBSESSED! I knew the names of every kind, and I read ALL the books on the subject. I wanted so badly to be a palaeontologist…actually, it still kinda is a dream job of mine. I remember well, a summer that my dad decided he wanted to take us on a road trip and we ended up in Drumheller, Alberta, to visit their famous dinosaur museum 🥰 Thanks my dad, it’s a memory I’ll treasure forever….I’ll be sure to take my kids there one day too.

Diplodocus was my all time favourite dinosaur 🦕 probably because they just seemed to have the nicest nature..being herbivores and all. And I totally get the T Rex appeal. I actually think they’re quite sweet too, and Jurassic Park will ALWAYS be on my list of top favourite films, so most dinosaur cakes I make will usually feature a T. Rex. So here’s one I made from Rice Krispie Treats. I’d have loved to do a video tutorial but whenever I make cakes like these I always feel like I’m going to epically fail, so I don’t film, doubt myself the whole way through…and then I LOVE the result. Go figure right? 🤷🏻‍♀️🙄

So here’s a pictorial of my T Rex. I hope you like it!

To start, I made Rice Krispie Treats (RKT) . I usually eye ball this recipe. You want to use more rice cereal than marshmallows, and you want to heat the marshmallows quite a lot, because then it will set really hard, and keep its shape 🥰 I use gloves for this so I can mould the RKT without burning myself. And lots of butter or oil so it doesn’t stick to your hands.

Shape the RKT in to a large oval to form the head. Make a dent half way down to form the snout. I use the side of my palm to do this. Once you’re happy with the shape, set the head aside to set.

Roll out 3 long strips of fondant. They don’t need to be perfect. These will just make up the bone structure of the face.

Using a bit of buttercream, ‘glue’ one of the strips of fondant down the and back of the head.

Add the other two strips to either side of the head just as you did with the middle strip.

Using your fingers, pinch the fondant to make sharp edges to give the bones a bit more structure. This will be covered so I find the more dramatic you are with it the better as you’ll lose a lot of the definition once it’s covered.

Roll out 3 balls of fondant roughly the same sizes. This will be for the cheek bones and the snout.

Using a knife, cut in to the head to create a mouth. Pry the mouth open enough so you can create a cavity to place the tongue and teeth.

Press the 3 balls of fondant you rolled on to either side of the head as well as the snout. Press into the head to soften out the shape.

Roll out enough fondant to cover the head. I used a mixture of green and brown ProGel colours to achieve this green. Don’t roll too thinly or you will be able to see the rice crispies underneath.

Cover the head, and use the underside of your palm to secure the fondant to the head while giving the dinosaur more definition.

Once you’re happy with the shape, make sure to turn the fondant under the head as well as in to the mouth so there is no rice Crispies showing. Using a ball tool, create hollows for the eye sockets. I used another little tool (I forget the name) to create the nostrils.

I used the same tool as I did to make the nostrils to create some lines under the eyes. I rolled a couple of balls of yellow fondant for eyes and placed them in the sockets. I then used some black ProGel mixed with vodka to paint on the cat like pupil. I like to add a tiny ball of white fondant to the eye to create an animated effect.

Using a straw (bubble tea straws work great) and squishing it will make a great scale effect. Start pressing in to the fondant, but try not to overlap.

Once the whole head has been embossed, take the blunt edge of a knife and score the ridge of the middle bone going down the centre of the head.

Paint the nostrils with black paint to add a bit more shadow and depth.

Take a ball of pink fondant and press in to the mouth, making sure to cover any green, and Rice Krispie treats.

Using a smaller ball took, I made indentations for the teeth. I then formed a cone shape with pink fondant for the tongue. I pushed it down with my hand and scored a line down the middle.

I coloured some fondant with cream ProGel to get an off white colour for the teeth. I then rolled small pieces of the fondant into cone shapes that had points on either side. This just makes inserting them into the pre made holes a bit easier.

Before adding the teeth, centre the tongue in the dinosaur’s mouth. I then used a bit of water to fix the teeth in to place.

Once all the teeth are in place, roll out two long thin pieces of green fondant. This will cover the gum line to give it a clean finish as well. I scored the fondant with the back of my knife to add a bit more definition.

Once everything is in place you can use an airbrush if you have one to add some more realism to the dinosaur. You can also use some cocoa powder on a big fluffy brush (which I did here). I then finished it all off with a spray of edible clear glaze to give my Dino a lovely shine!

To make the leaves I just cut out green fondant free hand, then scored veins in to them. On other cakes I’ve used a magnolia leaf cutter, scored the leaves, and then arranges them around the dinosaur’s head. To cover the cake board quickly and effectively, I bllitzed some bourbon biscuits in the food processor. Not too finely as you wants more course bits to make its look more realistic. And that’s that folks. A fairly simple T-Rex Cake!