I made this for my Mom’s 80th birthday as she loves owls and I wanted to do something more realistic. It is all chocolate cake and a lot of fondant/modeling chocolate.
Barn Owl
I found a great example and guide from Gloverly Cupcakes. I used a slightly different set of supplies, but its a great tutorial to check out.
I started stacking squares of sheet cake with frosting. Then cools to set and carefull started carving out a form. I made cake “clay” out of scraps of cake and frosting to build up around the neck and face area. Especially the eyes to get those inset.
I covered the piece with a blend of modeling chocolate and fondant (both dark brown). And also used the covering to further enhance the shaping of the face.
Feathers
I used a rose leaf cutter and leaf imprint mold. Again using a mix of modeling chocolate and fondant, but more of a 60/40 ratio to get firmer feathers. Made beigh feathers for chest and face front. And brown feathers with painted on white pin feathers with brown stripes. Paint was oil based food color white and brown so it would adhere to the modeling chocolate (water based coloring or food paint will not).
Face Details
Eyes and beak were made from modeling chocolate formed in the shapes needed. I used an edible brown petal dust with a brush to darken in eye areas and a bit around the neck. The ring around face is also dark modeling chocolate and small fondant tool to make the texturing.
Tree Stump
The core is a stack of round cake with chocolate frosting. A good basic crumb coast. Then an even costing of buttercream frosting.
Next I did a 50/50 mix of fondant and modeling chocolate. This provides a little more flexibility for the fondant and building up of edges and nubby parts.
A tree texture mold made worked quick work of getting a bark effect. But I did paint in dark brown into the cracks for contrast and other colors to give the bark more variation. For paint I mix food coloring with a non-flavored alcohol like vodka. It dries fairly quickly and doesn’t warp the fondant.
Leaves
Leaves are fondant/modeling chocolate blend. Using a leaf cutting shape and leave vein mold a little different from the rose one.