Why is it that some animals are just so much more popular than others? I mean, I understand the appeal of the cute and fluffy – you’ve got your bunnies, your kittens, your bear cubs. Then there are the popular pets – dogs, gerbils, pythons. All of these just make sense.

But why the enduring love of elephants? Is it that they’re large and imposing? So are giraffes and gorillas. Is it their intelligence? But then what about dolphins, rats, octopi and crows, undisputed geniuses of the animal kingdom?

I think it’s all of those characteristics plus some intangible quality that make elephants so admired. Why, they seem second only to unicorns in popularity. Here are just some of the elephant cakes and figurines that I’ve made in the recent past.

So when I received this order I decided to take the assignment in a completely different direction. Admittedly, one of my chief concerns was the time constraint I was under. Fondant elephant figures simply wouldn’t dry and stand on their own four feet in time for the birthday celebrations. But more importantly, it was time to strike out and try something new and slightly more sophisticated.

What’s great about elephants is that you simply can’t mistake them for any other animal. Imagine a silhouette of a dog placed next to one of a coyote or a wolf. I challenge you to tell the difference. But there’s simply no other species that resembles an elephant. With that kind of freedom, you can have your elephant silhouette doing anything at all and still not confuse it with, say, a manatee or a rock hyrax – the elephant’s closest living relatives.

So here we have our elephants expressing their unique personalities – trumpeting, jumping, marching in line, and just plodding along in a hangdog fashion.