African Serengeti 40th Birthday Cake

I have planned this cake for a  few years. My husband spent 2 years in southern Africa in his twenty's serving a religious mission and doing much service work. He has always loved Africa and I've always wanted to give him an African cake. The opportunity came in the perfect way- his surprise 40th birthday party! I had a hard time coming up with a theme for the party, even after a year of trying to plan it, since he is a man of many loves!  Finally, after much though, I decided to theme the party around all his favorite things! What better way to represent Africa than the cake?!

 He loved, and speaks fondly of the many different Safaris he was able to travel on. He loved the animals and the scenery and the beauty of the colors. So for the cake, I decided to spotlight exactly those things!  I couldn't pick a favorite animal pattern, so I chose the cheetah and zebra.

 Photos of the African savannah always show the gorgeous red and orange sunsets, so I decided to highlight the sunsets and put the animals and trees in silhouette against the colors!

I wanted a simple but rustic way to separate the tiers so I simply tied some raffia around the bottom two tiers and loved how vibrant the colors turned out! One of my favorite cakes, I'd have to say!

Happy 40th to my wonderful hubby! Here are some pics from his fun Favorite Things party!