Go on -- admit it --- you can’t see a shark nowadays without starting to sing “Baby Shark Do do do do … Baby shark do do do do …. “ Well... at least I can’t !! or you can also be like me and pretend its Shark Week all year !!! This is such a cute and easy cake that even in a pinch, you can astound your family and friends with your baking skills – so get ready to dive into the ocean and confront your baking fears – I promise it won’t bite !!!

Cake Decorating Supplies Used:

• 8” Round Cake Pan
• 10” White Drum Board
• Shark Cake Topper
• Buttercream Icing 3 1/2 #
• Americolor Royal Blue
• Piping Tip # 126 Petal
• Reef Fish Pressed Sugars
• Edible Art Paint White
• Edible Art Paint Red
• Fat Daddio 8 oz White Fondant
• Piping Bag – Disposable or Re-Usable ( 12” and up )
• Paint Brush Small

Cupcake Decorating Supplies Used:

• Piping Tip # 1M
• Buttercream Icing 3 1/2 #
• Americolor Royal Blue
• Shark Fin Cupcake Toppers
• Blue Lagoon Sprinkle Mix
• Piping Tip # 867
• Shark Attack Pressed Sugars
• Piping Bag – Disposable or Re-Usable ( 16 or 18”)

How to decorate your cake:

Step 1: Bake 2 of the 8” Round cakes to stack and make 4” high- set aside to cool. Color your buttercream icing with Royal Blue Americolor Food Coloring while reserving 3 TBSP to make the “white caps” on the top of the cake. To make an ombre effect color half of your icing a darker shade or royal blue and the other half a lighter shade of royal blue by adjusting how many drops of the food color you add to the icing.

Step 2: Using the white fondant roll and shape it into a life preserver and place on a plate with a bit of parchment underneath to prevent sticking. Put off to the side and let dry in the open.

Step 3: Stack and fill your cakes. Then using the darker royal blue icing- ice the bottom of the cake up towards the top but stop around halfway. Then taking the lighter royal icing, ice the rest of the cake and the top. Using your spatula smooth together to create an uneven line of the dark and light icing blending together. You can add more depth of color by adding and blending some light on the dark icing and vice versa. Set aside to allow the icing to crust ( approx. 1 hour )

Step 4: Using Edible Art Red – paint your lines on the life preserver that you made earlier. Then set aside to dry. You made need to do a second coat.

Step 5: Add the darker royal blue icing in a piping bag with Tip # 126 and pipe a wave border around the bottom of the cake. Pipe another wave above the first wave border.

Step 6: Place the reef fish pressed sugars around the cake. Place the shark cake topper on the top of the cake along with the life preserver. The using the left over white icing and the spatula “dab” the white icing on the blue icing to create “white caps” around the shark cake topper.

Step 7: Using a small paint brush and Edible Art Paint white apply small dots around and above the fish to give the look of bubbles.

Your cake is finished !! or you can also make matching cupcakes with the directions below.

How to decorate your cupcakes:

Step 1: Color your icing two different shades of royal blue like above.

Step 2: Using Tip # 1M pipe a dark royal blue icing in a swirl on your cupcake. Starting from the outside in – squeeze one and a half times around to create the swirl. You can see a how to video here: Piping Rosettes . Then add some blue lagoon sprinkles and the shark fin cake toppers

Step 3: In your piping bag add both the light and dark icing to create a two tone swirl on your cupcake. You can see here how to add multiple colors to your piping bag easily: http://scoop-n-save.com/blog/how-do-you-get-a-rainbow-of-colours-into-a-piping-bag/. This technique works on two colors or more. Using Tip # 867 pipe a swirl on the top of the cupcake. Then add the shark attack pressed sugars.

You have now completed a fun assortment of cupcakes and a cake in a Shark theme. Enjoy!!!!