Beer mug cake

My friend had a 'Cheers to 40 years' party for her husband. We debated cake designs and came up with a beer mug. I made a pinterest board, of course.

Here's the happy guy:

I saw this one and this one & decided to attempt a poured sugar stream to hold the can up.

I had to make the sugar twice, I'm still struggling with getting a hard crack on mine (& yes, I went as hot as I was supposed to). End result, you can see the wire but it held up. And it was a hit.

This was a chocolate cake but next time I would do a chocolate stout cake to be more authentic. Or maybe a vanilla lager one.

Here it is crumb coated:

wire in can. Next time I would use a very stiff wire so I don't get the bend down and backwards in it.

Finished cake part. I felt like I was back in art school, I had some food coloring in a dish and dry brush painted on some streaks so it would have texture and depth. I attempted a poured sugar handle but it wouldn't set so I went with white chocolate.

The finished product!

Everyone was impressed and that's all the matters. But I really need to learn poured sugar!