Pandacakes!

Here's an interesting fact for you... did you know that a panda's paw actually has 6 digits? Five fingers and an opposable pseudo-thumb. The "thumb" is an adaptation that has come over hundreds of generations. It is actually just an enlarged wrist bone that they now use to help hold the bamboo while they eat it. Amazing stuff huh? This was the prime example of an adaptation that I recently learned about in my Evolution & Ecology class. Yay for science and baking!

Anyway, I actually did these guys on Wednesday.... Wednesdays are always an interesting day for me. I'm at school in the morning and then go to work at 4, but I did manage to find some time in between to whip this up! I did only make 4 though. Quantity makes a huge difference in time when each cake takes individual work. Just something to remember. This is another idea that I got from the "Hello, Cupcake" book, slightly modified. Actually pretty simple to make, yet very cute!

To make these guys, you will need:

• Chocolate cupcakes (however many you want to make)
• Mini chocolate cupcakes (the same number)
• Oreos, I used probably 15
• Vanilla frosting
• Black decorating gel
• Something for ears. I used dipped Froot Loops. 
• Chocolate chips, preferably the mini kind.

Step 1- While the cupcakes are baking, go ahead and crush up some oreos into a bowl (2 oreos will be used for each panda besides the crushed ones, so make sure and save enough). Typically the crushing would be done in a food processor, giving some texture, but my limited resources and college budget did not allow this, so I just used a wooden spoon. I removed the icing on the oreos with a knife scrape prior to crushing. 

Step 2- Frost the normal-sized cupcakes and dip them in the crushed oreos to coat them. You're going to want to use quite a bit of frosting here to make a mounded shape on top of the cupcake to give the pandas their bellies and some height. Another tip, I have found when frosting to not do everything at the same time.... the drier the frosting gets the harder it is for anything to stick to it, so I suggest doing each individually.

Step 3- Frost the little cupcakes and make the faces. There are a bunch of different ways to do the face... In the ingredient list I suggested mini chocolate chips for the eyes. I used regularly-sized chocolate chips on the guys in my picture above. Also, if you can find something a good shape for the nose use it, or you can just use the black decorating gel there too like I did. Chocolate-covered sunflower seeds are the perfect shape and everything for it, but the gel seems to work just fine. Now for the ears..... I started with just sticking Cocoa Puffs on, but I found that those were a little small. I liked the shape and size of froot loops, so I ended up frosting the top face of some and dipping them in the leftover crushed oreos just for the color. I'm not sure if they still make the cereal Oreo O's, but if they do and if you find it those are perfect for the ears. Or, if you think of something else that works well, let me know! This is one of the parts of baking design that I like... the finding random food products to stick on that almost look like something. Haha.

Step 4- Attach the head to the body. At this point the frosting is probably too dry to stick it right on, especially with the crushed oreo attached. I took a knife to scrape a bit of the oreo off,, through a little dollop of frosting on there, and stuck the head right on. I'm actually surprised about how sturdy this was.

Step 5- Attach the arms and legs. Chopping the whole oreos in half is kinda difficult without good knives, so be cautious of that. The arms are poked into the sides of the frosting mounds, and the legs are really just hanging out outside of the liner. Attach with frosting if they plan on travelling. Also, if you want to make the claws on the arm oreos, use a toothpick dipped in the frosting and draw them on. I was running out of time and didn't know if I wanted to draw the claws anyway, so if you notice above I only drew the claws on one of the pandas.

Step 6- There are possibilities for very cute displays here! I only made little placeholders by cutting large star-shaped figures out of construction paper, folding the ends up, and setting the bears on top of them. However, something like a lucky bamboo plant, or some sort of plant or grass or something around to make a sort of jungle setting I think would be so adorable! I was joking around when picking up a couple supplies to make these saying that I was in need of some jungle plants.

And there you have it folks!

Oh yeah, and thanks to Amber for taking these away from me! I've had problems with knowing what to do with my cakes and was happy that I didn't have to throw these away!