Tip: To save time, consider buying an iced 1/2 sheet cake already made at your local grocery store or bakery. Ask for the cake frozen and iced in white with no border. A cold cake is easier to decorate. Ready made buttercream icing is easiest to decorate with, and gel paste food coloring can be purchased.
 

To make the icing:

1. Make colored icing and set aside. Do not refrigerate. Tip: Use bags that can change tips for the white icing if possible. When using gel paste food coloring, you can make your icing slightly lighter than you want it, it will darken as it sits.

You will need: 

• 1/4  cup bag of black
• 1/2 cup bag of yellow
• 1/2 cup bag of white
• 1/2 cup bag of pink
• 1/2 cup bag of green
• 1 cup bag of light blue
• 2 cup bag of white
• 4 cup bag of red

To decorate:

1. Start with a cold, fully iced cake and cut cake into the shape of a barn according to template dimensions.
2. Carefully remove the extra cake pieces and gently wipe off the cardboard base with a damp paper towel.  
3. Put the large round tip on the large red icing bag, or simply trim the end straight across.
4. Squiggle red generously all over the top of the cake and sides. Then use a damp spatula to smooth the icing.
5. Tip: The secret to a nice, smooth cake is to use a LOT of icing and spread with a warm, wet icing spatula to remove the excess. If you get a lumpy spot, add a glob of icing, dip your spatula in hot water and touch up. If you get any blemishes on the cake that you want to smooth, just chill the cake so the icing hardens a little, then tap and smooth with a clean finger. Pick any crumbs out with a toothpick and smooth with a damp spatula or tap flat after chilling.
6. Switch to a star tip and dot a border along the top, and right and left sides of the cake on the cardboard base (green will go along the bottom for grass and blue will go along the top and down all but the bottom inch of the sides). If you don't have a star tip, simply use a round or trimmed off tip.
7. To make the sky: Start with the blue for sky, and outline around your cake on the cardboard base. Squiggle icing on the base where sky is pictured and use a clean fingertip to smudge it into place. Use the same technique to add white clouds.
8. To make the grass: Squirt green across the bottom 1 inch of the cake using any tip you are comfortable with. Use a damp fork or toothpick to make a pattern in the icing that looks like grass.
9. To make the barn: Press graham crackers into the icing flat across the bottom of the cake to look like a barn floor. Add 3 halves to make a bran window, and two full graham crackers to make barn doors.
10. To make the roof: Across the top of the cake, break your chocolate bars into rectangle shaped pieces and press them into the icing starting with the outside edges.
11. To make the barn doors and window: Add dots with a round decorating tip (or flat trimmed end) along the base of the roof, horizontal stripes on the barn about 2 inches apart, and dot an outline around the barn doors and window.
12. To make the sun: Press a round vanilla cookie into the icing on the cake and surround with candy corn.
13. To make the pig: Squirt a blob of pink icing to make a body, a smaller blob for the head, and even smaller blobs for the arms and legs.
14. Add bits of licorice for hooves, small square pink mints for ears and snout, small white oval shaped breath mints for eyes, and dots of black icing or licorice for the center of the eyes.
15. To make Chica: Chica is made just like the pig, but with 2 yellow blobs (head and body) and a white blob for the nest.
16. Press toasted coconut onto the nest. Add a round colored candy for Chica's crest, two halves of round vanilla cookie for wings, candy corn for the beak, small white oval shaped breath mints for eyes, and dots of black icing or licorice for the center of the eyes.
17. Voila, your cake is good to go! Refrigerate until serving. When your guests get a look at this Sprout-terrific Sunshine Barn.