Help! Dd wants to make a cake model of a Byzantine church ...

[basildonbond]

Any ideas for decorations/general tips? I've managed to talk her down from a full-scale model of the Hagia Sophia but it's still very ambitious

It's for Y7 RE homework (sigh) - doesn't have to be cake btw, just a 3D model

I'm uselessly sorry about this but bhahahahahah.

And a subtle bump.

Would gingerbread work better? Can roll out, cut out shapes an add detail before baking

Thank you chaos I bloody hate homework like this - SD is always so wildly overambitious and I just know that it'll be me desperately trying to salvage something at 11pm the night before it's due in

Thanks too Brie - dd did mention gingerbread but I worry how it would survive the journey to school on the bus ...

Gah - dd not SD

How about using rice Krispie treats? You make them by melting marshmallows and a little bit of fat (butter or trex) and mixing that into rice krispies. You can make it really firm and it's easy to carve shapes out of. You then just cover it as if it were cake. It's what is used for most elaborate 'cake' models these days. She could do a cake base and make a dome (in pyrex bowl?) out of these.

I was going to suggest looking at gingerbread house recipes. Bake flat hard biscuit, cut shapes and glue with icing.

I hope my DDs are less ambitious, but I have a horrible feeling I'll be doing similar one day.

Diclaimer- I had to Google byzantine churches.

Your DD could use a square cake tin for the centre piece. Then baked bean tins or similar for the side bits - cut the round cakes in half down the middle and stick them to the sides of the square one for the right kind of shape?

Then for the decoration, walnut whips might be the right shape for minarets.

Thanks all .. Good tip about Rice Krispie treats - will definitely try those for domes

I hope you can manage to make it - very ambitious!
Maybe this would help?
www.essential-humanities.net/western-art/architecture/medieval/#byzantine-empire

www.pinterest.com/pin/189995678004467070/
taken from:
www.pinterest.com/jnmadani/byzantine-empire-for-kids/

Hagia Sophia but simplified

Well, she made it! Not sure how authentic it is but it's done

Fantastic!

Oh that's fabulous. Well done

Wow that's fab. She would get on well with my DS who wants a St Basils Cathedral cake for his birthday (not very likely)

That is fabulous, well done basildon's DD.