Turkey of a Cake

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What could be more fun than carving a turkey cake? Eating it, of course!

Ingredients

2 boxes yellow cake mix
1 box spice cake mix

Buttercream frosting

Instructions

Bake the cakes: For the turkey's body, prepare 2 boxes of yellow cake mix according to the directions and bake the batter in two 8- or 9-inch-wide stainless steel bowls (note: the cakes will take nearly twice as long to bake as they would in standard cake pans). For the drumsticks, prepare 1 box of spice-cake mix and bake the batter in a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan. Chill the cakes overnight to firm them up.
Assemble the bird: Trim the flat surface of each bowl cake so that it is as level as possible, then frost the trimmed surfaces. Stack the two cakes with the frosted areas together. Then, to help the turkey's body sit faceup, cut a 2-inch-wide section off the right side of the layered cakes to create a flat base. Drop a big spoonful of frosting on the center of a serving platter and set the body cut-side down on top of it (this will keep the cake stationary).
Add drumsticks: Cut the chilled loaf cake in half diagonally and carve a drumstick out of each half, as shown. Slowly push a bamboo skewer through the center of each drumstick lengthwise (they will be fragile), then carefully trim the protruding ends. Attach each drumstick to the body by pushing another skewer through its outer side, under the skewer running lengthwise, and into the bowl cakes.
Dress the turkey: Now frost the whole bird. You'll need 4 cups of buttercream frosting tinted a golden brown (we used a blend of Wilton's copper, brown, and yellow food coloring paste). Cut the spice-cake scraps into stuffing cubes and attach them with dabs of frosting. For a festive flair, decorate the drumstick ends with fringed paper caps and garnish the bird with orange slices and dried sweetened cranberries. Serves a crowd!