The Hunger Games cake

The Hunger Games

Many people have a hunger for good books...and a hunger for good cake goes without saying!  My son is an avid book reader and The Hunger Games series is high on his list of favorites at the moment.  I must admit, I haven't had a chance to read the series yet, and had to rely on my son's input on relevant symbolism that might be interesting to include on the cake.  He was a great help!   I felt huge relief, when one of the party-goers at my son's birthday ran over to the cake and exclaimed excitedly "Look! There are the backpacks at the Cornucopia!"   (I was a bit concerned they looked like double-handled coffee mugs).    For those of you hunger games fans, I hope you recognize my version of weaponry, the cornucopia, "nightlock berries", a loaf of french bread...and...the Mocking Jay!

Eragon Cake

What kind of cake do you make for a sweet boy who is a true bookworm and loves dragons?  Why, an Eragon cake of course!  This is one of my favorite cakes I have made so far.  I know I keep saying this, but I loved making this cake!   I took great pleasure in sculpting Saphira (the dragon) out of cereal treats, covering her in fondant, and giving her dragon scales and spikes and a little personality!  Her wings are painted with a blue sheen food colour, which gave them a bit of a sparkle.
The dragon in the movie and the dragon in the book by Christopher Paolini differ somewhat...so I tried to incorporate features of both.

The book, of course, is the actually cake (2 layer chocolate cake, with raspberry buttercream filling, covered in chocolate ganache and then fondant).   A ribbon (fondant) bookmark with birthday well-wishes written on it marks a pretend place within the "book".