Oh that cake!

I was commissioned to make a cake for a birthday, and of course I jumped at the chance. It was a 1st birthday, and since I'm not much of a baby person (didn't really know what to put on the cake) I kind of went generic. I was told 'no limits! Do whatever you'd like to do!' So I did. And this is what I came up with!

I am quite pleased with the final outcome. In all, the cake took me all day to bake. In reality I baked the actual cake the night before, then spent the morning and afternoon assembling it (which didn't take all that long...only 2 layers to the cake) and then tackling the decorations. The part that took the longest was mixing the colored fondant. I've found a recipe to make my own fondant, but so far have found it easiest to use it right after making it. According to the recipe, it should sit overnight. But I find it gets tough and is hard to mix and mold. Go figure. Don't know what I'm doing wrong. BUT the most important part...although the cake looks cute, it also tasted yummy! It was chocolate of course as I haven't found a satisfactory vanilla/white recipe yet. And it had this lemon pudding/cream cheese filling. I still have some of the filling left in my fridge. Yes, I've been eating it plain...without the cake. It's really that good!