cake decorating gurus? I need a kangaroo.

[LiLStar]

We're going to a kangaroo petting zoo for my son's birthday and I really want to make a kangaroo birthday cake. Its going to be a strawberry shortcake. vanilla cake frosted with whipped cream with strawberries in between the layers and strawberries (and possibly other fruit) on top as well. I really want to put a kangaroo on there. Has to be made of fruit and/or candy. No piping.. definitely no piping. Anyone have any ideas? Colors do not need to be realistic. 

[mumkimum]

No candy ideas - but I know that I do happen to have a kangaroo cookie cutter.  I'd try to get one, and make kangaroo cookies (and pair it with broccoli 'brush', maybe raw sugar for "sandy dirt") for a kangaroo cake habitat.  

[Smokering]

The easiest/laziest way would be to ice the cake smoothly; then, when the icing's crusted (if it does), use a baking paper template with a kangaroo silhouette cut out of it, and sieve cocoa over it to make the basic kangaroo shape... or evenly sprinkle coconut, chocolate chips, sprinkles, chopped nuts, or some kind of tiny candy. Then if you need to add some lines in for definition, use thin strips of raspberry or regular licorice for the pouch, arms and so on.

I like mumkimum's idea too, with the cookies. If you did gingerbread cookies the colour would be very realistic, and you could make a pouch-shaped cookie separately and the head and paws of a joey, and glue them on with icing to make a slightly 3D kangaroo. You don't need a cutter - just find silhouette templates online, print and cut them out, and use a sharp knife to carefully cut around them on the dough. It's a bit of a pain, but if you're not making tons of them, just one (or two for spares!) for a cake, it's very doable.