Fiona Poole Hummer the Giraffe
This year I was honoured to be a part of the PANDSI Cake Off as one of the bakers. The Cake Off is a fund raiser for the organisation, with donated cakes being auctioned off to the public. This year the theme of the PANDSI Cake Off was Canberra.
Canberra is my home town and has so many wonderful icons, there was lots to choose from. With over 70 cakes in the Cake Off the bakers covered a lot of Canberra!
I chose to do Hummer. Hummer is a gorgeous giraffe who lives at the National Zoo & Aquarium. When my kids were little, we used to visit the zoo often (thanks for the annual memberships Mum & Dad). My youngest’s favourite was Hummer. No trip to the zoo was complete without visiting Hummer, rain, hail, or shine! So, when I think of Canberra, I include Hummer.
If you follow me on Facebook you will have seen numerous progression shots as I constructed the 92cm tall cake. Hummer has quite a bit of structure inside to enable him to stand and to support his long neck.
92 cm (36″) tall!!
The cake itself is chocolate mud and vanilla layered with chocolate ganache. It was then covered in white chocolate ganache and a mixture of fondant and modelling chocolate. Hummer’s head is solid modelling chocolate. His eyelashes are the only part that is not edible; a pair of false lashes was the only way to do Hummer’s lashes justice.
I used a stencil loosely to airbrush the recognisable giraffe pattern on to the fondant. I think there was about 7 coats of airbrush paint on him by the time I’d finished.
In his mouth was the floral emblem of the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra is the capital), the Royal Bluebell.
Getting Hummer to the event at the Hyatt Canberra was a nerve wracking journey. Only 20 minutes away on smooth roads, it felt like hours and every little bump was exaggerated.
I will let you all know how the PANDSI Cake Off went tomorrow when I have the final details. The cakes being dropped off at the same time as mine looked incredible!
Fiona Poole 
Awesome! Your cakes just keep getting more and more amazing!
Thanks Jo, he was a lot of fun!