"Crab" Cake

My friend's husband absolutely loves crabs.  So she planned a surprise crabbing trip and dinner to celebrate his birthday and I offered to make him a crab cake, i.e. a cake in the shape of a crab, NOT a cake made of crab.

I began by googling pictures of crabs and tried to find an easy shape that I could replicate in cake form.  

Then I enlisted the help of my cutie patootie.

Making the "sand" by crushing graham crackers

Making carrot cake

I used fondant to cover the cake.  I wish I had a steamer to make the fondant shiny like I saw the Cake Boss use.  But I suppose the occasional cake baking doesn't justifiy such a purchase...at least for now.  The two points of the crab are actually rice krispy treats that I shaped and attached to the cake with a skewer.

I coated the bottom of a serving platter with frosting, sprinkled "sand" on it, positioned my crab, and then scattered some seashells and starfish that I made out of chocolate using candy molds.  Lastly, I attached a little happy birthday sign to a candle and placed it in the claw of the crab. 

Here is a picture of the final product.  I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.

top view

front view

While making the cake I decided I wanted to eat some too.  Of course I couldn't dig into my friend's cake so I made another batch of batter and made cupcakes.  Then I decided I should make some baby crab cupcakes.  I saw two versions of crab cupcakes online that looked simple enough and replicated it.  I'm not creative but I'm pretty good at reproducing something someone else has done just by looking at it.   

 
I can't wait to deliver the cake.  I hope my friend likes it!