Reef Shark

My son loves sharks! For his milestone 10th birthday, I planned an awesome shark-themed party and just had to make a fin-tastic cake to go with it! My son selected the Grey Reef Shark and I knew I wanted it to be elevated, swimming through a reef.

The shark is a golden butter sponge cake, filled and crumbcoated in vanilla buttercream. The reef was constructed from tons of edibles, including RKTs, chocolate, and fondant. Every critter and plant was lovingly molded and airbrushed. I also made tons of edible sand for the sea floor.

Notes from the Kitchen

I drew outlines onto boards and cut them out. The top board, the shark, will be the cake. Underneath I’m going to create a reef from fondant and chocolate. I hope my design in the end shows a grey reef shark swimming through a reef. I covered all th… — I drew outlines onto boards and cut them out. The top board, the shark, will be the cake. Underneath I’m going to create a reef from fondant and chocolate. I hope my design in the end shows a grey reef shark swimming through a reef. I covered all the wood surfaces with a clear, food-safe contact paper before laying down any fondant or cake.

I covered the base board in fondant and molded the pectoral fins and head from RKTs. I also finished building up the reef rock from RKTs, including a couple little caves for creatures. I will clean up any gaps in the head with modeling chocolate bef… — I covered the base board in fondant and molded the pectoral fins and head from RKTs. I also finished building up the reef rock from RKTs, including a couple little caves for creatures. I will clean up any gaps in the head with modeling chocolate before it is covered in fondant. I don’t plan for any of the base board to show once the reef comes together and it’s covered in my edible sand.

I originally planned to cover the RKTs with fondant and then airbrush. But I realized the texture was almost perfect already and decided to airbrush them directly in a trial. It looked amazing! See the before & after pic? Once I add the corals a… — I originally planned to cover the RKTs with fondant and then airbrush. But I realized the texture was almost perfect already and decided to airbrush them directly in a trial. It looked amazing! See the before & after pic? Once I add the corals and sandy floor, it should look pretty cool.

Here are my project boxes with some things I made out of fondant… some sea grass, anemones, and little creatures. Don’t judge them yet — I still need to paint ’em!

I airbrushed all the creatures and plants and am happy with how most of the pieces turned out. I always try to use multiple colors when airbrushing to give the piece a lot of dimension.

I made edible sand for the shark cake. My trick for sand or dirt is to always use a variety of edibles. Nothing in nature is just one color! And sand is especially varied. This sand has 11 ingredients.

I colored 6 lbs of fondant a beautiful shark grey and then made shark fins. I also made chocolate seashells, a nudibranch, and painted more details on my creatures. Everything has set and is looking good.

I used my 12×18″ Fat Daddios pan to bake the cakes. I just love my Fat Daddios pans! That coupled with my dense golden butter sponge cake (my go-to for cake carving) yields very flat cakes.

The cake rested overnight, covered in plastic wrap, so it could settle before carving.

I cut out a piece of cake the size and shape of my shark cake board and laid it over.

My favorite part!! I carved the cake away into a shark shape.

I filled in gaps in the RKTs with modeling chocolate so the fondant wouldn’t pucker into divots and look misshapen.

I applied a crumbcoat of vanilla buttercream. This serves to seal in the moisture of the cake, add flavor, and helps the fondant covering stay put once applied.

I rolled out an epic piece of fondant to cover the shark in one piece. I worked fast, cleaned up seams, applied gills, etc. to get it all together before the fondant began to set. I was just thrilled! Nothing makes or breaks your efforts like the fo… — I rolled out an epic piece of fondant to cover the shark in one piece. I worked fast, cleaned up seams, applied gills, etc. to get it all together before the fondant began to set. I was just thrilled! Nothing makes or breaks your efforts like the fondant covering. Once it’s in place, I always breathe a huge sigh of relief!

I added the fins I made prior and placed some eyeballs.

I lightly airbrushed him with black and painted his eyes.

I added a ribbon border. I selected one taller than the board in order to hold in the sand.

I then assembled everything! Carefully placing all the creatures and plants I made, adding sand, etc. I couldn’t be happier! It is exactly like I pictured it from the very beginning.