Treasure Chest Cake

After a short hiatus to take handle some things in my personal life - I'm back in caking action :)

I made this treasure chest cake for my friend George's daughter's 5th birthday party, and it was SO much fun to make.  It's pretty much the first 3-D, non-standard shaped cake I've made, and definitely challenged me a bit to think outside of the box.

The lid was made out of rice krispie treats; the box portion was yellow cake filled with chocolate buttercream.  I covered the whole thing with dark chocolate fondant, and created the pearl strands, coins, and chest embellishments out of fondant and gumpaste.  And of course - what's a treasure chest without a little beach element - the cake was surrounded by graham cracker crumb "sand".  I'm absolutely thrilled with the result!

Happy 5th birthday Zoe!!