lego batman birthday cake with handmade fondant batman and chocolate lego pieces

I've been making birthday cakes for Doan's son ever since his first birthday, and his fourth birthday was no exception! This year the theme was Lego Batman, so we decided that I'd make a Lego Batman fondant topper, and since I already had a Lego chocolate mold, I decided to make colorful edible Legos to decorate with as well!

First I made the fondant topper in advance, in order to give it time to dry. I started by using black fondant (or you could use white fondant and tint it black), made a little log, folded it in half to make two legs, and then started them shaping them to look more like Lego character legs. (Using a mini rolling pin worked great for this!)

Then I formed all the various body parts - a torso, two arms, and two Lego hands.

Next, I made a cape, and formed the head and used fondant tools to add the details for the face.

After assembling the body parts using a bit of water applied with a food safe brush, I used yellow fondant to form the belt and the Batman logo.

An edible marker worked great for drawing the Batman logo!

And the final step was attaching the head, secured with a toothpick! Then I let Batman dry out for a week or so.

The day before making the cake, I made my chocolate Lego pieces to decorate with. I used this silicone Lego mold to shape my melted chocolate.

After pouring in my melted chocolate and giving it a few hard taps on the counter to release any air bubbles, I chilled it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes of so, making it super easy to pop them out. Then I stored the chocolate Legos in airtight containers until it was time to decorate.

For the cake, I baked up two 10-inch rounds of my favorite vanilla cake (recipe in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book! Note that the recipe is for two 8-inch rounds, so to adjust for two 10-inch rounds I used 1.5 batches of the recipe and adjusted the baking time.) Then after letting the cakes cool, I sliced them in half horiztonall to give me four cake layers, and then filled them with freshly whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

For the frosting, I whipped up two batches of my Swiss Meringue buttercream frosting (recipe also in my book!), covered the top and sides with a quick crumb coat of frosting, and then let it chill for 30 minutes before adding a final smooth layer of frosting. Then I place the entire cake in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

The morning of the party, it was time to decorate!

I added my fondant Lego Batman to the top of the cake, secured with a toothpick and a bit of buttercream on the bottom of the topper, and then piped the birthday boy's name on the front of the cake using a small round tip.

Then it was time to add my chocolate Legos! I used alternating colors, and secured them with a bit of buttercream on the bottom of each chocolate piece.

I thought it turned out super cute!

Doan later told me that all of the kids were fighting over the chocolate Lego pieces! ;)

Hope you had a happy birthday, Roland!!!

hungry caterpillar birthday cake with handmade fondant topper

I've had the privilege of making cakes for Doan ever since her son's first birthday (see this circus carnival cake, and this elephant cake for his second birthday), and last summer for his third birthday the theme was The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar! We decided on a vanilla cake filled with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, and a handmade fondant caterpillar topper.

A few weeks before the party, I got started on the topper, as it would need time to dry completely. I started with white fondant, which I tinted several shades of green, and then rolled into little balls (about the diameter of a quarter).

Then I shaped each ball into a square, flattened them a bit, and connected them to form the caterpillar's body.

Then I formed a red ball for his head, yellow and green eyes, and little purple antennae. And a little black dot for the nose, done with an edible food marker. The final step was to insert two toothpicks into the bottom of the topper, so that it would stay in place when it was time to place it on the cake!



When it came time to make the cake itself, I baked up two 10-inch vanilla cakes (used my favorite vanilla cake recipe in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book, and did 1.5 times the ingredients), let them cool, and then sliced them in half horizontally to give me four layers.

After filling each layer with freshly whipped cream and sliced strawberries, I covered the top and sides of the cake with a crumb coat of cream cheese buttercream (recipe also in my book!).

Then I let the cake chill in the fridge for half an hour before covering the cake in a final coat of frosting, smoothing it out with a long metal spatula (and a long offset spatula for the top of the cake!)

I also added a beaded border along the bottom of the cake, using a disposable pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip, as well as Doan's son's name in brown frosting (and a "3" since he was turning three!)

The final step - adding the handmade fondant topper!

The toothpicks in the topper helped to keep it nice and stable on top of the cake, but I also added a few dollops of frosting under the topper to help keep it in place.

I also made a few apples and pears out of fondant (with holes in the middle, just like in the book!), to decorate the sides with.

Happy Birthday Roland!

elephant birthday cake

Last year for Doan's son's first birthday, I made this Circus/Carnival cake with a fondant lion topper, and this year she wanted a similar cake, but this time in green and with a fondant elephant on top!

A couple weeks before the party, I started on the fondant elephant, in order to give it enough time to dry. I used a bit of Super Black gel-based food coloring to tint my white fondant the perfect shade of gray (or so I thought), and formed the body, arms, legs, and a ball for the head. Then I use a toothpick in the center of the body, to firmly attach the head.

I also formed the trunk, and used a heart cookie cutter to cut out the shape for the ears. (I also used pink fondant and a slightly smaller heart cookie cutter for the inside of the ears). Finally, for the eyes I used an edible marker. Then I let it dry.

After a few days, I noticed a color change in my shade of gray. It was still gray-ish, but had much more of a blue tone. Hmm ...

Anyway, moving on to the cake! The night before the party, I made two 10-inch vanilla cakes, which I sliced in half horizontally to give me four layers. As with last year's cake, I filled each layer with freshly whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

After stacking all four layers, I was ready to frost!

I whipped up a batch of buttercream, and tinted the majority of it green (I left a small portion of it white, to be used later). I did a quick crumb coat on my cake, then let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, and then did a final smooth coat.

With the white frosting, I piped a beaded border around the bottom of the cake, and piped the birthday boy's name across the front. Then I let the entire cake chill in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, it was ready for the elephant topper! By now, the elephant had taken on a strange blue/purple tinge. But at least he was still cute. :)

Happy Birthday Roland! Hope you enjoyed your elephant cake!