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Updated on April 30, 2020 by · This post may contain affiliate links ·

Princess Mononoke Cake Showpiece

Skill level: Advanced

A showpiece is a sculpture that is made for big events, usually a centerpiece that catches the attention and is an object of discussion and entertainment. A showpiece is generally not made of cake for many reasons. First, it has to be made many days, sometimes weeks in advance to the event. Second, it has to be on display for multiple days. Third, it needs to be portable and therefore, as light as possible.

Showpieces are typically covered in edible materials to show the skill of the cake artist and can be displayed along side other edible desserts and cakes. In this tutorial, I will show you how I make my showpieces using many techniques like structure building, bulking, shipping and more. This is an advanced tutorial and should only be taken on by cake artists who already have sculpting and structure building under their belt.

2:18:34 Minutes of Instruction

What You Will Learn

  • How to plan out a large cake structure
  • Several tips and tricks on how to construct the wolf legs
  • How to keep rice cereal from falling off your structure
  • A simple way to build up the bulk of mega cake structures using foil
  • How to measure from reference photos and check your work
  • The most realistic way I've found to make eyes yet
  • Several other tips and tricks to keep your sanity while working on large-scale pieces

Tutorial Chapters

  1. Calculating structure 3:03
  2. Figuring out scale and structure planning 10:56
  3. Building structure 18:06
  4. Cutting wolf body template 26:02
  5. Building the base 32:12
  6. Wolf structure assembly 33:56
  7. Non-edible bulking 52:54
  8. Gluing the structure 56:27
  9. Tinfoil bulking 57:53
  10. Making rice cereal 1:03:32
  11. Attaching rice cereal 1:07:20
  12. Wrapping rice cereal 1:10:07
  13. Chocolate ground cover 1:20:38
  14. Sculpting the wolf teeth 1:22:53
  15. Muscle detailing 1:26:20
  16. Making eyes 1:28:56
  17. Sculpting the wolf face 1:36:02
  18. Female rider structure 1:43:44
  19. Aluminum foil bulking 1:48:22
  20. Modeling chocolate anatomy 1:50:59
  21. First Layer Clothing 1:56:58
  22. Attaching eyes 1:57:55
  23. Preparing to ship 2:01:11
  24. Adding details at the show 2:02:59

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About Liz Marek

Liz Marek is a professional cake artist, sweet and savory recipe developer, and the founder of Sugar Geek Show, where she teaches cooking, baking and cake decorating through detailed tutorials, food science explanations, and kitchen-tested recipes. She has been creating recipes and teaching baking techniques since 2008, helping bakers of all skill levels gain the confidence to make professional-quality desserts at home.

Liz is known for breaking down complex cooking and baking concepts into simple, approachable methods. Her work focuses on helping people understand not just how a recipe works, but why it works. Through Sugar Geek Show, she shares step-by-step recipes, cake decorating tutorials, and practical baking guides designed to make professional techniques accessible to everyone.

Over the years, Liz has taught thousands of students through online tutorials, classes, and educational content focused on real kitchen results. Her recipes are carefully tested and written to help people succeed the first time they make them.

When she’s not developing recipes or teaching baking techniques, Liz also hosts curated travel experiences for women through her travel brand Soul Sisters.

You can find Liz’s latest recipes, baking tutorials, and food science tips at Sugar Geek Show.