This vegan snowman cake was made by special request
of a 5-year-old birthday boy.
The bottom sphere is Rebecca August’s excellent Chocolate Midnight Cake, and the chest and head are Rebecca’s vanilla cake, baked in mixing bowls to make hemispheres.  It’s iced in vanilla Vegan Italian Meringue Buttercream and covered in sweetened, flaked coconut.

The snowman’s hat, scarf, and carrot nose are made with marshmallow fondant (make sure to start with vegan marshmallows if you want a vegan cake), and adorned with vegan aqua faba sugar lace — watch this space for the recipe!  The snowman’s coal features and buttons are made of marshmallow fondant brushed with black luster dust for a coal-like shine.  The arms are pretzels joined together with a bit of vegan gumpaste, and I used a clay extruder to make the pompom on top of the hat.

There is always a risk with cakes like this, and there was a small mishap at the party when a young guest put a finger print into the snowman’s face, because he didn’t realize it was a cake!  It got fixed on the spot, though, and both kids and adults enjoyed the cake.