superhero logo birthday cake

Along with the Fantastic Four birthday cake that I made for Marni and her four-way birthday party with her birthday friends, I also made this Superhero logo cake! This one would be a coffee chiffon cake (as requested by Helen after I made it for her birthday and for Marni's birthday the year before), and it was mainly for the adults to eat! We decided it should be a "superhero" cake, to go along with the Fantastic Four theme. Each birthday girl would be wearing a custom made cape, complete with a logo with the initial of their first name, so that idea would carry on to the cake decoration.

Before making the cake, I made these fondant toppers in advance, by tinting the fondant and rolling it out thin, and then using cutting out the shapes. For the stars I used a cookie cutter, and for the letters I used mini cookie/fondant cutters (I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma, but these look pretty similar). Once the shaped had hardened for a few hours, I attached the letters to the stars with water and a food-safe brush, and then attached sandwiched the stars onto bamboo skewers, to give me Superhero logo toppers with the first letter of each girls' names.

And for the cake itself, I made three 8-inch coffee chiffon cakes, which I filled with espresso whipped cream.

Then I covered the top and sides of the cake with whipped cream, and used a medium round tip to pipe a beaded border along the bottom.

I let the cake chill in the fridge overnight, and the next morning I was ready to add my cake toppers!

Superheroes Emily, Marni, Sabrina, and Lauren to the rescue!

Happy Birthday, girls!

fantastic four birthday cake

I've had the privilege of making birthday cakes for Marni (my good friend Helen's daughter) every year since she was born! This year Marni turned four, and she was having a four-way joint party with her classmates from preschool, so the theme was Fantastic Four of course! Helen and I brainstormed on ideas for the cake, and eventually we decided that it would be a strawberries and cream cake with the Fantastic Four logo on the top, and each of the girls' names pipes on the sides.

For the cake, I used my favorite vanilla cake recipe (in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book!) to bake up two 8-inch round cakes, which I then cut in half horizontally to give me four cake layers. Then I filled each layer with freshly whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

Once my cake was filled, I whipped up two batches of cream cheese buttercream and covered the top and sides of the cake with it, smoothing it out with an offset spatula.

Next I used a toothpick to trace the outline of the Fantastic Four logo, and filled in the white portion with a medium star tip. I also traced out the names of each girl along the sides of the cake, and used a small round tip to pipe their names.

To finish decorating the cake, I tinted the remainder of the frosting with royal blue food coloring, and used a medium star tip to fill in the rest of the Fantastic Four logo, as well as the sides of the cake.

And then it was done!

The girls' names along the sides of the cake - Sabrina, Lauren, Emma, and Marni.

Hopefully all of the girls liked it!

Here's a shot of Marni with her birthday cake(s)!

And one of all the birthday girls!

My kids enjoyed themselves as well!

Happy Birthday Marni!

coffee chiffon drip cake with espresso whipped cream and dark chocolate ganache

For my good friend Helen's birthday last September, we decided to meet up for Sunday brunch with our hubbies and kids in tow, and I decided to surprise her with this coffee chiffon cake! I knew she liked coffee chiffon because I made a Mickey Mouse version for her daughter Marni's birthday earlier this year, and she told me it was her favorite yet :D

I decided that it would be a small 6-inch cake, the perfect size for her and her family to enjoy, so I made four layers of coffee chiffon in 6-inch round cake pans. Then I filled each layer with espresso-tinged whipped cream.

Next I covered the top and sides of the cake with the same espresso whipped cream, smoothing it with an offset spatula.

I've been drooling at all the drip cakes out there on Instagram, so I decided to try it out again with Guittard dark chocolate (I first tried it with a Blogiversary cake a few years ago), although I still need to work on my drippy ganache technique because it still wasn't drippy enough!

I waited for my not-drippy-enough dark chocolate ganache to set before adding the final touch ...

... Little piped droplets of more of the espresso whipped cream. Don't they look like little meringue kisses?



Hope you had a fabulous birthday, Helen! So glad we got to spend that Sunday with you!

mickey mouse face birthday cake

In addition to the kids Mickey Mouse cake with handmade fondant topper for Marni's 2nd birthday party, I also made this 10-inch cake with Micky's face piped on top! This time we decided on a coffee chiffon cake, since it would be for the adults!

Normally I would bake two 10-inch cakes and then cut them in half horizontally to create four layers of cake, but this time I was making chiffon cake, which is really light and airy and too delicate to cut in half horizontally for assembling. So instead I baked four separate not-as-tall cakes, which I then filled with espresso whipped cream.

I decided to also cover the cake with whipped cream as well, since I didn't think the chiffon cake could handle a heavy dose of buttercream.

After smoothing out the top and sides of the cake, I piped a simple beaded border around the top of the cake.

Then I was ready to pipe Mickey's face on top! I started by using a toothpick to outline Mickey's details, and then went back with black frosting and a small round tip to pipe over the outline. I also filled in his nose, eyeballs, and mouth with the black frosting and the same small round tip.

Then I used a star tip to fill in the rest of Mickey's details - black frosting for his ears and head, ivory frosting for his face, white frosting for the whites of his eyes, and red for his tongue.

And then it was done! Simple, clean, and cute - just the kind of cake I love to make!

I thought the two cakes looked great together on the cake table, and with the homemade oreos as well! And Helen did such a good job with the decorations!

Funny story, when it was time to cut the cake, Helen and I realized that neither of us had brought a cake knife!!! Or any knives for that matter, not even plastic knives! So (to my horror) I ended up cutting the cakes with wooden coffee stirrers. But while the slices were super messy, people still asked for seconding helpings, so (I think) at least it tasted great! And that makes me happy!

Happy birthday, Marni!