Hunger Games cake

Do-DO-do-Do.

That my friends, is the sound of the hugely popular Hunger Games theme song. Or at least that's how I type what I hear in my head.

Knowing how popular the books and movie are, I decided to take today to show you this cake, and describe how I made it. Just in case you have a fan out there who wants one for their special day.

First, I do this as a business. So I do have skill (sometimes!) and tools. But many people could pull this off. Beware! It's gonna take some time if you plan to make it. I would set aside about 6 hours from start to finish. Yes, 6 hrs. I know on all the cake movies they just make stuff happen, but that's after editing out hours and hours of artistic prep work. Ever look at a cake and wonder how they did it? TIME! They took lots of time :) That's why they both A)Look so good and B) cost so much money!

So, now let me begin by saying I didn't take one photo of the process. I wasn't planning to post it- but I loved the way it turned out- so I have to share.

You'll need:
A 2 layer cake, filled, iced, and covered with black fondant or icing.
Gumpaste
2 sizes of circular objects to fit your cake (to trace)
A print out of the Hunger Games pin sized to fit the top of your cake
A small sharp, sharp knife or exact-o knife
Chopstick or something to detail your gumpaste Mockingjay
Gold luster dust
Grain Alcohol
Paint brushes
Red, orange, yellow food coloring
A spaghetti noodle

I begin with a nice 2 layer cake. I overfill my cake pans (using a box mix? Use 2 to fill 2 8" pans- one mix isn't enough. You'll have leftovers, but make cupcakes! Or cake balls!)

When cakes are cold, fill and ice them. Make sure you ice them cold. Like fridge cold- it'll help with the crumbs.

At this point, I roll out and cover my cakes in fondant. You always have the option of just icing them well. Make it as smooth as you can either way!

For the logo on top, you'll need gumpaste. I make mine, but you can buy Wilton brand at most Walmart's. Micheal's, Hobby Lobby. Use as directed! 

Roll out and cut a circle shape- as big as your cake. For mine, I used the cake pan that I baked it in. I use a sharp exact-o to cut. Then find a smaller circle and cut the middle out. Carefully place it on your cake.

Find a hunger games logo on Google. Size it to your cake. Print. This will be your "bird pin" template- so cut out the bird. Roll out some more gumpaste to fit you bird, lay your paper template on top and carefully cut it out. Quickly make all the feathers and details before it dries. Use a chopstick or anything like it if you don't own gumpaste tools to "draw" the details on.

Use the same template to cut the pieces for the arrow. Use a piece of angel hair pasta as your arrow, ad use icing to "glue" the arrow together.  

Now, pain the whole thing gold. I carefully painted the outer circle while it was already on my cake. But the bird/arrow needs to be done before adding it. I use a mixture of petal dust and grain alcohol to paint. After it's done and paint is dry, carefully place it on the cake.

I used a shimmery rouge color to add some dimension to the "pin" in spots.

Now for the flames. You'll roll and cut these also out of gumpaste. I did a few "flames" at a time, then added them to my cake. After all the flames are cut and applied to the sides, paint them! I used liquid food coloring. You could use wilton gel colors and just make them thinner with grain alcohol, or you could buy that simple 4 pack of food coloring sold in the baking isle.

Using a small and med. brush, paint red on all the flames edges. After they're all done, go back and paint orange on the inside of the red, followed by yellow. Blend the edges a bit and voil'a! They really look like they're on fire!

I used a food coloring pen to write on the outer ring of the pin, but proceed with however you'd like to finish it.