Dave's Western Birthday Cake

This was a whole new challenge for me!! I got an email from a friend of a friend telling me that he was throwing a huge Western-themed 40th birthday party and needed a cool cake to go along with the theme. He was open to suggestions and didn't have anything specific online, so I started doing some research. Usually when I need to come up with a cake idea, I google it and come up with a whole bunch of cakes that I can draw from as inspiration. This was not the case when I googled "western cakes." Most were tiered cakes with bandana prints or big belt buckles on the side. I wasn't impressed. That is, until I saw this...


Perfect, right?! I loved it. But Dave needed a cake that would be big enough to feed 150 people, and this one saloon wouldn't quite cut it. So I decided to expand on the idea of the saloon and make a whole Western town. I think it turned out cute!! I made the buildings out of rice crispies and all of the decorations/walls/etc. out of fondant and gumpaste. I used gel food coloring as paint to make the buildings really stand out. The sand is graham cracker crumbs.

Here's a view of the saloon and general store. I named them after Dave and all things related to him and his birthday.

Here is the "40 Bottles Saloon." I love the curtains ;)

Dave's General Store.

Emerson Stables was my favorite part. I love horses! Making horse bodies out of anything edible is basically impossible (unless they're lying down, but who's ever seen a horse lying down in the middle of a bustling Western town?), so I opted to have their heads poking out of their stables. Coincidentally, this is also how I used to draw horses as a kid, because I can't draw! I'd draw their heads peaking out from the edge of the paper. Full circle moment.

Close up on Mr. Ed.

The town was celebrating Dave's birthday too ;)

And what Western Town would be complete without some Cacti??

Dave was excited to see the cake when he picked it up, and says that it was a big hit at the party!