When my daughter turned 5, she wanted a beach party and this Sand Castle Cake fit the bill!  The actual sand castle is made from blonde gingerbread cookie dough rolled out and cut from a pattern.  After they were baked and cooled, I “painted” the sides and top with royal icing and sprinkled with raw sugar to give a sand affect.  Once glued together with royal icing, the castle was decorated with cone turrets, gummy candies, and sugar cubes dipped in raw sugar.  The base is an 8″ square layer cake.  Mr. Crabs is also made from the cookie dough colored red.  I got this idea from the “Bake, Decorate, Celebrate” website.  Fun the sun!