I decided to make paper mache mountains as a 3-D background (I haven't done paper mache since grade school!). Then, the cake was the "rough terrain" leading into the mountains. I made a gum paste station wagon with Steve's bright yellow bike on top. The entire thing was edible except for the 4 pieces of toothpick that made up the "bike stand."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwzrFjx-34inHGbdTISxPOQlymU_w5AOQcCmA3IT-kuCuKIXA6Toga8yOfJuhHgRsiAVmgwwa2ccur3iLMl5p9lSzYMZiRsltOUonxEMssnRKVksXhl9BuvhgvWm878Avb_wL8TCzQGFil/s400/Picture+023.jpg)
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Thank you SO MUCH, Ben, for giving me an airbrush kit! It worked perfectly for this cake! You'd be amazed at how much depth a little brown airbrushing gave to this rough terrain! It was like a transformation!
Side note: To anyone thinking about airbrushing a cake, do it outdoors! I placed this cake in a big cardboard box, from which I'd cut two sides. I thought this was rather smart so that the cardboard box would catch all the airbrush color that went past the cake. Apparently, I have no concept of where the color goes when you airbrush...the color was EVERYWHERE! I only did quick little spurts of color on this cake and the entire thing took about 5 minutes! But later, Adam and I were walking around the kitchen and noticed the bottoms of our socks were turning brown...uh oh. I mopped the kitchen floors 5 times and I was still picking up the color! Dang, and I thought I was being so clever with that box. Oops!