A two-tiered sculptural birthday cake, based on a fantasy trilogy my daughter loves. Featuring a large red pyramid being encircled by the snake Apophis. Plus lots of Egyptian imagery in the hand-painted panels.
My kiddo is a huge fan of all Rick Riordan books which cover all sorts of mythologies from various cultures. I’ve also make a Percy Greek Sea God cake and an Apollo cake.
Below, I detail my steps and provided links to the tools and supplies I used to make this DIY Pyramid themed cake. I am not a professional baker and this was for personal use only.
Special Supplies
Greek column silicone molds, Pyramid mold
Fondant: Gold, Ivory (instead of pure white), Red
Modeling chocolate – Red and Ivory
Red candy Melts
Edible food paint, food pens, food paint brushes
Red Pyramid Cake – Base Tier
The lower cake was 3 thick layers to get the height for the panels. The overall design include painted fondant panels for each side and fondant columns.
1st: Draw the Scenes
I sketched four scenes based on key parts of the story my daughter described. I do review various ideas from the Internet, but I did not directly print images (food ink printers exist, but I don’t have one). Every piece I sketched out myself and then painted onto fondant.
2nd: Create a Parchment Tracing & Outline
Next I traced the outlines onto parchment paper. Once done, overlaid it onto a 1/8″ thick 3″ x 5″ rectangle of fondant. Using a fondant stick tool with a pointed end (looks like stylus) I traced the lines over the parchment pressing into the fondant. I pressed firmly but carefully to not puncture the paper.
Using a very fine brush, I painted the outlines in a light color food paint. I referenced my original drawings to make sure I got the shapes right.
3rd: Paint character shapes, then fill in details
There were a lot of characters all intertwined, so I carefully worked up each character, positions. I focused on color groups from light to dark. It is easier to paint over a light color if needed.
Once the characters were roughly taking shape, I went back over with finer details.
4th: Paint backdrops
These images weren’t heavy with background, so I just added bits to it last. I used Ivory fondant for a softer look. Then added bits of brown around edges to age it.
5th: Let panels dry
Once panels were done and dried, I stored them in an airtight container, flat so they wouldn’t crack.
6th: Build and Cover Cake
I usually make the cakes well ahead and keep them frozen prior to decorating. This was a 3-layer cake with decent amount of frosting between layers to build up the height.
I did a standard even crumb coat and then a basic ivory fondant overlay. I covered up most of this fondant, so I wasn’t super focused on making everything neat as a pin.
7th: Glue Panels
Once the cake was covered in fondant, I made sure everything was still firm. This was in August, so I regularly put it back in the fridge.
I “glued” the panels on with just a bit of water. But you can also use an edible adhesive or royal icing if they are being troublesome.
9th: Add Edging & Columns
The upper tier sits right on top of the bottom tier, so there isn’t room to really pipe edging out of frosting. So I cut strips of the gold fondant to edge the top and bottom of the panels.
Then I used a Greek column mold to create gold fondant columns (Egyptians also used columns though a bit different). I attached while the fondant was still soft so the columns are flexible. Then I bent them around corners to cover gap around the edges of the panels. You could use modeling chocolate as well or a blend so it’s not too soft. They do warp a bit and the gold fondant was very soft.
10th: Add Cake Supports
To hold up the next large and heavy layer, I put in 4″ lollipop sticks throughout the bottom tier. Otherwise it would collapse on itself from the weight.
Red Pyramid Cake – Top Tier
1st: Make Pyramid Candy Topper
Instead of doing the whole cake as a pyramid, I opted to get a pyramid mold and use red candy melts to do the capstone of the pyramid. There is also part of the story where they are trying to keep a capstone from getting in place, so having it look a separate was purposeful.
Having a molded pyramid shape helped me greatly in achieving the proportions for the rest of the cake.
2nd: Build Cake Pyramid
The top cake was several layers of spice cake with maple buttercream frosting cut into the shape of a pyramid. I planned on using molded candy melts for the very top, so I worked on building the pyramid from below that point.
This is done through careful measurement and slowly cutting away each sit. Using the molded candy pyramid at the top, I could use a ruler make sure my angles were lining up.
3rd: Cover the cake
Because of the shape, I did four red fondant panels with overage, so they could drape over each other a bit. Then pinched them together and worked to smooth out the bumps.
4th: Create Bricks
Using a thin plastic ruler, I indented to create horizontals line that connected across each side of the cake. Then I went in with a wedge to make alternative vertical line to get the brick shapes. To create some more depth and definition, I made a blue/black food color wash and painted around the cracks of the bricks.
5th: Make the Snake
A lot of modeling chocolate went into making this snake. I actually ran out of the red, which is why the face ended up being white, but I think that look actually helped bring out more details.
Though I tend to keep things as edible as possible, at least the outside was. I used aluminum foil to build out a base model for the snake body. This helped me size it correctly and gave it some form as I wanted it to sit up. I then coated it in a thick layer of red modeling chocolate so not foil was exposed. I could then wrap it around the base of the cake, using toothpick to keep it in place.
Once in general position, I then started adding modeling chocolate up for the head. I used white modeling chocolate to build up the face area. Then covered with a cobra hood of red.
For the teeth, I use toothpicks covered in white modeling chocolate. This allowed a thicker build toward the mouth and nice points at the tips (without bending). Eyes were bits of yellow fondant with a black food pen for the iris slits.
To create scale textures, I used a small knife and made criss cross hash marks along the body.
6th: Make Ancient Egyptian Symbols
With Apophis head would be upright on the front of the cake, I placed golden symbols on the other 3 sides. These included the Ankh, Eye of Horus, and Symbol of Isis. I drew them on paper first to get the size right. Then made a parchment pattern to help outline the tracing. It took careful cutting with a sharp Exacto knife and some smoothing tools to get these into good shape. I let these set up for a bit to harden before affixing to the cake.
7th: Travel Set Up
If I am going to another place with the cake, I do not fully assembly util there. This lets me box up the two cake tiers seperately and not worry something is going to fall over or off.
8th: Assemble the Tiers
At the final cake destination, I place the bottom tier on the cake tray. Then I directly added the other tier right on top. I made some snake adjustments. Then glued on the golden Egyptian symbols in the center of the other pyramid panels.
Finally I added birthday candles in the only spot they would fit. I honestly didn’t plan that part very well, but we made it work.