The photo above is the cake that I made for my oldest daughter's 1st birthday. The party theme was The Wonder Pets, which was her favorite show at the time. The cake is two layers of yellow cake (Duncan Hines - I forget how many boxes I used) with 1/2 of the cake filled with chocolate pudding (My T Fine Chocolate Fudge pudding mix) and 1/2 filled with a can of Strawberry Pie/Cake Filling. The frosting was also Duncan Hines which I mixed with food coloring. The characters were made out of fondant. To capture their features, I traced each character's image in a book with a pencil on was paper. Then I cut the wax paper character and placed it on top of rolled out fondant and then re-traced the outline and features with a small knife, making an imprint in the fondant. Then I lifted the wax paper, cut the character out and then embellished with other pieces of fondant, shaping and working with it much like you would with Play-Doh.
I made the Abby Caddaby cake above for my oldest daughter's 2nd AND 3rd birthdays (she loved the Sesame Street theme so much the first time that she asked for it again!). For this cake, again I used Duncan Hines yellow cake mix. I made three 9 inch round cakes and just cut and shaped the two round ones (after fully cooled) to make the pig tails. I also cut the middle round cake a bit to form her chin. My friend recommends freezing the cake before cutting it (it's less crumbly) but I didn't have time to do that. It was a bit messy, but turned out OK. I used the spray cans of frosting (Purple and Pink) for Abby's hair and deocrating gel for her facial features. I also placed silk daisy flowers in her pigtails for a finishing touch.
For the character cupcakes, again I used Duncan Hines cake mix (chocolate this time) and white frosting. I dyed the frosting with food coloring for each character. For the characters with open mouths, I first frosted the entire cupcake with chocolate frosting. I then used my cake decorating cannister (or you can use a bag) and the wavy tip to create the colored "fur", leaving space to allow the chocolate mouth to show through. The eyes are mini marshmallows with mini chocolate chips for pupils affixed with a dab of frosting. The noses are mini marshmallows stretched a bit to be ovals and rolled in colored frosting. Big Bird's beak is made of fondant, eyes made from decorating gel. I used mini chocolate chip cookies (the 100 calorie packs) for Cookie Monster.
This year, my daughter has asked for an Octonauts themed party with a cake and character cupcakes (there are 8 of them! Yikes!). I have my work cut out for me for sure, especially since she wants to help me this year, but I am ready and up for the challenge. Below are some of the characters we made together out of Play-Doh (which is great for practicing before using fondant!) The thing to keep in mind when making your own character cake and cupcakes is to just be creative and have fun! If you'd like to share photos and recipes/directions for your homemade birthday cakes or cupcakes, please send via email to meghanf@macaronikid.com. We would LOVE to feature yours in an upcoming newsletter!!
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Finished Octopod cake and character cupcakes!
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La La Loopsy Cake and Button Cookies/Cupcakes
