The first thing I did was make a template for the shark. I decided on using a 12 x 12 square cake as the base. That meant the shark would need to fit on that cake. I just used a regular 8 1/2" by 11" piece of paper.
For the shark part of the cake - I knew I wanted to use red velvet. The scene in the movie, Steel Magnolias, when they "hacked" into the armadillo cake has always stuck with me. What would be a better time to use red velvet than when you cut into a shark cake?
Next, it was time to do the crumb coat of the cake. You have to seal in all that red cake so there is that big surprise moment when you cut into it.
I knew that the dorsal fin and the tail (caudal) fin were really important to make this look like the meat eating predator it is. To make these fins, I used modeling chocolate. It is really forgiving, and you can use the warmth of your hands to mold it however you want. For the dorsal fin, I cut out a piece of the cake so I could insert it. Again, I was wanting to make it more stable. Nothing would be worse than the fin falling over during transit. I also added a second crumb coat to keep those cake pieces sealed inside.