Cobra Cake

This cake I made for my mom's 40th reunion with her high school group of friends called the cobras. It had to go on a seven hour trip so mom made sure she took these fantastic pictures beforehand :P. To make the cake I made three round cakes in 3 in. pans, so I wouldn't have to make two layers. I only had to carve a little to make sure the coils were round, but it was enough to slice pretty deep through my thumb. It's the worst cut I've ever had, so of course it made a good story the next day with my kindergarteners about making a Cobra cake that turned to life and bit me!
I covered the cakes with fondant that I had pressed with a cobblestone impression mat. Before covering, I also carved out a thin circle out of the top of each cake so each coil could sit snugly inside the other. I painted the fondant black, and then did yellow/green luster dust stripes. The head and tail were made out of rice treats. I used wired in the head and then covered it with gum paste. I also had a tall dowel inside the head that later poked down through all three layers of cake. The sign was made out of gum paste which ended up breaking later. I think I should of tried pastillage. The tongue was also made out of gum paste. The tongue and sign were affixed with royal icing.
This is a happy cobra :).