How to make The Raw Turkey Cake

Raw Turkey CakeServe raw turkey (cake!) this Thanksgiving

This hyper realistic cake looks like a raw turkey with its plucked ‘skin’ and dripping in ‘juices’ it is going to create quite a reaction at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I originally created this design for my family for Christmas after I had made one too many beautiful wedding cakes and needed a change. He has international fans now and has been copied all over the world – so try it yourself and let me know the reaction you get.

See the Raw Turkey Tutorial VIDEO  here

POINTS BEFORE WE START

  • This tutorial is for those with some previous experience of baking and covering cakes but if you’re a beginner with a give-it-a-go attitude you should have some fun too.
  • These quantities make a cake roughly 32cm (13”) long by 22cm (9”) wide and 22cms (9”) high which fits the average turkey roasting tray.
  • Scale the template up or down to your needs and alter the quantities to suit.
  • When making a carved cake always use a sponge with decently strong, even texture – (see the recipes I use here)
  • A large roasting tin makes a good pan for baking your sheet cakes in.
  • Print out a really good quality photograph of a raw turkey taken from the side and another one taken from the front and back if you want to do a really good job – you can keep using these references alongside my pictures and instructions

YOU WILL NEED

  • Cake board or work board for building your cake on – at least as big as size of your final cake
  • Roasting tin or disposable foil turkey tray – remember this is ‘raw’ so it wouldn’t be seen on a fancy serving plate
  • Rolling pin
  • Sharp paring knife
  • Serrated bread knife for carving
  • Palette knife for applying buttercream/frosting
  • Dresden tool or blunt knife for tooling details
  • A wooden skewer
  • Little piece of baker’s string for tying legs together

Ingredients

Materials required Quantities
Buttercream / Frosting 1.5 kg / 3.3lb (1 butter: 2 icing sugar/powdered sugar)

Dye it red using paste colours (Optional: take a small quantity of the red, add blue dye to give purple for added yuk factor later)

Sponge cake 3 x sheets of cake each 3cm deep and the size of the roasting tin that you are serving your final cake in – Just bake your cakes in the same tin you will serve it in and you’ll be sure it fits.  I have a recipe suggestion here

Brush the cooled sheet cakes with syrup before starting to stack them (but don’t drown them)

Syrup 140g/5oz sugar dissolved in 225ml/1 cup water or flavoured to suit your cake
Marzipan 1.5kg/3.3lb (use white and not golden marzipan)
Rice Krispies treats or white modelling chocolate 60g/2oz

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