Fishing for cake sales

1. All the fishing tackle should be created ahead of time to allow the fondant decorations time to harden into shape. For the worm cup, trim the top off a jumbo chocolate cupcake. Coat the cupcake with a thin layer of icing, and cover with white fondant. Use a shaping tool to indent the base of the cup.

2. Pipe chocolate icing on top of the cupcake, and cover it with chocolate cookie crumbs to create the dirt in the worm cup.

3. To create the bobbers, use half of a plastic Easter egg to shape the white and red fondant halves. Use water to attach the two halves of fondant, and shape a line tie out of black fondant.

4. For a twister tail lure, shape salmon-colored fondant into a long rope, and flatten the bottom portion. Use a shaping tool to indent lines across the body of the lure, and twist the tail into a spiral.

5. Shape a spoon out of white fondant, and use a dowel to poke a hole in the smaller end.

6. Create a fishing hook by attaching two small fondant hooks to a larger fondant hook. Use a dowel to poke a hole for the eye of the hook.

7. To shape worms, roll white fondant into ropes. Use a shaping tool to mark lines in the ropes. Twist the ropes into loose spirals

8. Cut a half-sheet cake in half and stack it, placing it at an angle on a cake board. Use a knife to cut a small rectangle out of the center of the cake.

9. Base ice the cake with white icing. Use an open coupler to pipe two rows of icing around the top of the cake for the lid to the tackle box, and smooth with a spatula. It can be easier to create the details with icing under the fondant rather than moulding them with the fondant. Place the cake in a cooler to allow the icing to harden a bit.

10. Cover the cake with white fondant and smooth. Roll a rope of white fondant, and place it around the base of the cake; smooth and flatten the rope into a band with your fingers.

11. Airbrush the bottom portion of the cake brown, and airbrush the top with a lighter, gold color. Top the gold color with a coat of white airbrush color. Outline the bottom of the tackle box by airbrushing black around the bottom border of the cake.

12. Shape the tackle box handle out of black fondant, and place it in the cutout on top of the cake.

13. Cut two squares of black fondant, and attach them to the cake with water for the box’s latches. Use a shaping tool to mark lines in the fondant. Use an open coupler to pipe chocolate icing around the cake board; smooth with a spatula to create mud. Place the worm cup next to the tackle box.

14. Airbrush the worms in three stages: first a light brown color, then a reddish color and finally a dark brown. Position the worms around the cake board and hanging from the worm cup. Place the bobbers on the cake board.

15. Airbrush red dots on the fondant spoon and fill in the rest with yellow; airbrush the hook silver. Position the hook and spoon on top of the tackle box. You may need to use water to adhere them to the cake.

16. Place the twister tails on the cake, and use a paintbrush to coat with them with silver luster dust. Dip the paintbrush into vodka before dipping it into the dust to help liquify the luster dust. Use grass tip No. 133 to pipe green tufts of icing around the cake board.

17. Finish the cake by airbrushing water over the entire cake to remove the cornstarch, and make the worm cup lid out of white fondant. Place the lid over the cup.