Loch Ness Leaving Cake

One of my colleagues is leaving for a new post in Scotland. I made her a chocolate cake with a loch ness monster on top as a nod to her new home.

It was really simple, I should have used fondant icing to make the monster, as he wouldn't have cracked if I had. However, I used icing sugar with water and a little vegetable oil to make a moulding paste. I coloured it with a dark green gel food colouring. You can use a liquid colour, but you won't get the vivid colour without sacrificing the correct consistency. If you want to make one, I will give you one tip- to keep his nicely rounded shape set him up to dry out a bit draped over some curved objects- the barrell from a (clean!) garlic crusher, a piping tip...whatever works!

I have decided that cheaping out and not buying fondant worked in my favour, the cracking is my interpretation of scales!