75th Birthday - Mardi Gras Theme

I was lucky enough to be asked to do a 75th birthday cake for one of my closest friend's (growing up) dad!  This was a FUN one to do too!  The theme was Mardi Gras.  I knew I couldn't do a Mardi Gras cake without at least one mask, and if there is going to be one you might as well do two!!!!  The masks were made from MMF and painted with edible gold paint.  They had originally asked for a 2 tier cake, but I decided a 75th birthday REALLY needed a 3rd tier :-)  All 3 tiers were marble cake, which I used vanilla cake, chocolate cake and melted chocolate.  So each bite had a nice chocolate surprise!  Then the top and bottom tier were filled with vanilla BC; while the middle tier had chocolate mousse!  The cake was covered in white MMF and then decorated with MMF (the gold was painted using edible paint).  To keep the medal wires from touching the cake I inserted a straw, which then butted up to the dowel.  The cake was stabilized using a wooden dowel that went from the top tier through the bottom (leaving about a 2" gap on the top for the straw).    TFL!!!!