Cheburashka cupcake cake for Jasper!

Do you know crazy little Cheburashka? A furry little Russian animated character popular in the 1970s. A real cutie who has now recently re-emerged as the mascot for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, though his fur has changed from brown to blue. Apparently he "is a funny little creature, unknown to science, who lives in the tropical forest." He accidentally gets into a crate of oranges, set for a city in Russia, and is found by a shopkeeper!

In Vancouver, there is an amazing community of artist-type craftspeople who make awesome things. Valerie of Cabin + Cub is one of those people - you must check out her blog and etsy store, she has the cutest stuff made from wood and vintage children's book illustrations- anyhow- her little guy Jasper turned 1 years old this year! For his birthday, Valerie requested... yep, you guessed it ... a cute little Cheburashka cake! I made a chocolate cake covered with fondant for the central face, and then jammed together mini chocolate cupcakes to make up his huge oversized ears. I think it looks a bit like he has two furry gloves jammed on either side of his head going "Hey-oh!!" - but still turned out pretty darn cute! Besides, Jasper was stoked... his first taste of chocolate!

I think old Cheb is pretty darn cute in his original 1970s brown form - he looks a bit 90's raver in his latest blue furred Sochi 2014 incarnation. What do you think?