Does it bark? This cake bust of Nikita the German shepherd is made of chocolate and vanilla cake with white chocolate raspberry filling --- made for human (not canine!) consumption by cake designer Grace Chyun of Sweet Gems Cakes. Photo: Grace Chyun
For Andrew's sixth birthday party, canine cake maker Ada Nieves made the diminutive Maltese her signature doggy cake using stone ground wheat, honey, vegetable oil, cream cheese --- and the pièce de résistance --- real chicken broth. "It's simple and digestible and the dogs love it," she says.
With doggy birthday parties gaining in popularity, so has the demand for canine-friendly cakes. Three Dog Bakery, famous for using all natural ingredients, ships its cakes --- made with unsweetened carob or peanut butter --- all over the country. Want to try your hand at baking your own dog birthday cake? The Internet is rife with recipes for canine-friendly cakes, including one that suggests crumbling crispy bacon on top.
And remember, chocolate is toxic to dogs, so leave that to conventional cakes intended for human consumption, such as the one cake designer Grace Chyun (who has twice appeared on the Food Network Cake Challenge) made for one client who wanted to surprise his wife with a chocolate and vanilla birthday cake made in the image of their beloved German Shepherd Nikita (above). The cake turned out scarily life-like, but we're told it was delicious.
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