I know what we're going to do today...

Make a Perry the Platypus cake! Easy right!?

Actually. It is.

I almost fell over when my son declared he wanted a Perry the Platypus birthday cake. I'm sure you're all familiar with him (especially if you have a 6 year old) but in case you're not, here he is in all of his glory:

Yeah. No small task. I searched Pinterest, baking blogs, Disney blogs, and anywhere else I could think of and I found the GREATEST Perry tutorial ever. So easy, I could do.

Here is the link to the blog I worked from: http://dabbled.org/2010/06/perry-the-platypus-cake-tutorial-the-prep-work.html

This site was a life saver. I've never worked with fondant before really so it was good. There were a TON of great tips too - not just for this cake. Really, if you want to fondant - check her out!!!

I made a few changes from her post because I didn't have time to make fondant and I couldn't find the tootsie rolls she mentions. I also took her advice and made more of a grassy like base, instead of her cute jelly bean one.

Wilton Mashmallow Fondant is great. I know, I know - through my blog surfing I saw a lot of people who swear by making their own. And good for them, I'm sure they're cranking out an awesome recipe that is super yummy - but I am simply a far too busy mommy who wanted to wow her kid at his party.

I saw this stuff at Michael's for about $8 a box, $7.50 at JoAnn's (where I got mine) and then a few days after the party, I saw it at my Meijer grocery store for $6! You can guess where I will go next time.

This fondant was reall easy to wok with, color, and spread onto the cake. For a beginner, it was a lifesaver and really forgiving. So if you are trying this, or anything else, just remember "Wilton Fondant will save my novice butt and make me a superstar!"

Moving on, I baked the cakes like the blog said, the used rice krispie treats to create the shapes for his eyes, legs, beak (is that what it called?), and his tail. Different than the blog but it felt a little more stable and, being a clumsy newbie to this, my best bet.

I did a dry run to make sure the sizes were ok:

And I thought it looked good. I dirty iced it from there, wrapped the body in blue and the legs/beak/tail in an orange-yellow tone.

I decided the eyes would be better made of just fondant, so I rolled up some white for that. I reserved some fondant and colored it black for hair and pupils, and VOILA!

Perry the Platypus!

And he was definitely the star of the show at the party with some fun candles!

So don't be scared! Do some homework, think it out, and amaze them!