I Am Iron Man. (Not Really, I'm Just Cake.) (Click photo to enlarge.)

This was the first time I tried to carve something from cake.  Bottom cake is white almond sour cream with vanilla bean filling and icing.  Iron man is carved from chocolate cake and covered with fondant.  I was told by my niece, mother of two beautiful boys and Iron Man expert extraordinaire, that my Iron Man kinda sucked.  I already knew that.  Trust me, when we don't "nail" something, if we're worth our salt as artists, we know it before anyone has to tell us.  Beneath this post is the sample photo I found to go by.  I could tell as I was slicing away the sides of his face that he was too long and thin, but I now get the luxury of being able to say later that "I learned the hard way" and that "you can always take more cake off, but you can't ever put it back on once it's carved off" - you know, stuff like that.  The stuff excuses are made of.  Actually, you CAN put it back on, but it's a lot of trouble and a lot of crumbcoating so I just couldn't be bothered.  Anyways, lucky for me, this cake was for the son of a girl who's super easy going and laid back.  Phew.  She wasn't nearly the critic, or if she was, she put on an Academy Award winning show for me.  Happy birthday to her little son, Gavin, who, at the ripe old age of 5, wasn't nearly as tough a critic either, and who (like most 5 year olds) apparently loved his cake, even if Iron Man did kinda suck.