How to Make a 3D Sculpted Dog Cake: Step-by-Step Guide

Sculpted Dog Cake Tutorial , 3D Dog Cake Tutorial , Dog Cake Tutorial

As dog lovers, we absolutely love when our couples want to include their pups in their wedding day! Over the years, we have trialed many different ways to create these 3D sculpted dog cakes! In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through every step of bringing a pup to life in cake form, from shaping and carving the layers to adding realistic fur textures and expressive details!

We use a PVC pipe structure system for our standing or sitting animal structures. Foam board sandwiched on top and bottom of the pipe makes for a super sturdy base to build the cake upon!  We make a lot of dogs, of all breeds! Sometimes the client wants it to be life-sized and others want just a small version of their (larger) dogs.

If you are interested in the nitty gritty details of how we create the PVC pipe structure system, send us an email at sweetstirringscakes@gmail.com!

I always start by getting as many pictures as possible from the client of their pup from all angels in the position of how they will be in cake form. We need to see how they position their legs when they sit on their butt, see how their back skin rolls up, how their ears hang, etc.

We always use cake on the "back" on the dog and make the head out of Rice Krispie treats. I think it would be super weird to cut into the face of the dog at the wedding, lol! 

I typically use round cake tiers and cut them in half and at an angle. You can see in the picture that I stacked the cakes up without filling first just to get an idea of how much cake I was going to need. I fill 4 layers of cake at a time (so 3 layers of filling) and then place a few wooden dowels and cake cardboard (cut to shape) as structure before I add the next set of cakes. I keep doing this until I have the back completely lined with cake. 

I use Rice Krispie treats and melted chocolate to build up the chest and to make it rounded. I also use the same method for their head and face.  If needed, I carve the cake area to match the shape of the dog. Then, I use Swiss buttercream to ice the entire cake, including the Rice Krispie areas.

Once it is chilled, I use modeling chocolate to get a base layer before I use fondant. The modeling chocolate just helps me smooth out areas, make the base for their feet, arms, haunches, etc. Once I have the entire dog covered and smoothed, I use fondant as the final base.

Sometimes I mix fondant with modeling chocolate if I think I'm going to have a lot of seams to smooth out. If the dog is wearing a collar/bow tie, then a neck seam is fine. Or, if the dog has a lot of rolls in their skin, I make sure my seams are going to be hidden by the roll. I typically do the front legs as separate fondant pieces and smooth out the seams.

This whole method really depends on the breed and the size of the dog. If they have a lot of hair, then the seams don't matter as much. Once the fondant is in place and smoothed where needed, I use modeling tools to mark hair, dimples, wrinkles, rolls, etc. This is the fun part and where the pup starts to come alive! 

The ears and tail are then attached. The French Bulldog in this picture had ears that stood up so I used wire and foil tape to make a structure to hold the fondant ears. If the ears flop down, I typically don't need any structure. 

Next, you get to paint the dog and their eyes! This dog was black, so he didn't much need paint, just a few areas that had white/gray patches. Painting the eyes is super important! This is what gives the dog a personality. I always just match the facial expression from the pictures the client gives me. Some pups are serious, some are silly with tongues hanging out, some are dopey...this is really fun to interpret in cake. The mouth lines, eye brow lines, ears, etc. are a great way to help express this! 

Now all the little details can be added! Collars, name tags, bows, bandanas, toenails, etc. Some have a favorite toy, ball or bone we add on the base. There are lots of fun ways to personalize this even further, i.e. a sports logo on the dogs favorite ball or on their collar.