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It's DS3s birthday party on Sunday (Yes, I have left this VERY late!) and he'd like a cake based on the Minions from Despicable Me.

Love this one but there's more chance of me flying to the moon than there is of me producing that! However, I think, with a bit of help/advice I might be able to produce something like this one (Middle cake, tenth line down. Click the photo to enlarge).

I've looked online for plain iced cakes and Asda do round, white iced cakes in three different sizes. So, I thought I'd buy the largest and the smallest and decorate both with coloured iced dots and and make some Minions to pop round the edges.

So my questions are...

1. What icing do I need? Do I make it or can I buy it? If I can buy it is it made in different colours or do I have to colour it myself? If so, how?

2. How do I stick the dots on?

3. What do you think the Minions are made of? DP suggests it might be marzipan but our school is nut free and as marzipan is made of almonds I can't use that. Is there an alternative to marzipan and is so do you have any tips as to how I could make them? Would it be easier to make 2d Minions out of the same icing I'd use fir the dots and stick them on the cake rather than try to copy the ones in the link?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

You need ready to roll icing from the supermarket.

I would personally buy the version that is already rolled out flat as it contains something called gum tragacanth which is a thickener and will make it easier to work with if you are an absolute novice. You can make the dots and minions from this.

You will need paste colours to dye the icing as liquid colours will make it horribly sticky. Hobbycraft do a range of paste colours, or you might have a local cake decorating supplies shop that sell them.

To colour the icing, break a chunk off, knead it a bit with your fingertips then add a very small amount of paste using a cocktail stick and knead it in until the colour is smooth and not streaky. If it's too pale, add a little more at a time.

To stick the dots on you just need to paint the back of each one with a tiny amount of water then put them where you want them on the cake. Do the same for adding details to the minions.

Good luck!

Oh, thank you. You do make it sound easy!

We do have a HobbyCraft nearby so I'll pop in tomorrow, get the bits I need and start practising!

Our local cake decorating shop sells ready coloured icing which will be less faff than colourig your own but is dearer.

You can also buy ready coloured icing

Ready coloured icing, think of it as fimo/play dough, and away you go

How did it go?