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!

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!

mickey mouse birthday cake with handmade fondant mickey hat

My good friend Helen has an adorable daughter named Marni, who discovered Disneyland and Mickey Mouse a few months before her 2nd birthday. She loved it so much that Helen asked me to make a Mickey Mouse cake for the birthday party! We collaborated on ideas for a few weeks, before deciding to do two cakes - one for the kids, and one for the adults - and this is what we decided on for the kids cake! An 8-inch strawberries and cream cake, topped with a handmade fondant Mickey Mouse hat!

A few weeks before the party, I got started on the fondant hat, since I knew it would need time to dry completely. So I bought some black fondant (to save myself the time and colored hands it would take to color my own fondant), and got to work!

I started by rolling out the black fondant pretty thin, and then used an upside-down bowl to form the shape of my Mickey hat.

Then I used a pizza cutter and a paring knife to trim off the excess fondant.

Next I rolled out more fondant and used a round cookie cutter to cut out circle shapes for the ears. These would fit into little slits that I cut into my hat once everything was dry. (I also used black royal icing to "glue" the ears into the slits in the hat).



For the lettering on the hat, I used white fondant which I colored with golden yellow, and rolled it out into a long thin rope. Then I formed that into my cursive lettering and let it dry for several days before attaching it to my hat with just a bit of water.

Then the evening before the party, I started on on the cake. I baked two 8-inch vanilla cakes (recipe in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book!), which cooled and then cut into half horizontally, giving me four cake layers. Then I filled each layer with freshly whipped cream and fresh sliced strawberries.

Once the cake was assembled, I whipped up a batch of cream cheese buttercream, which I tinted bright red before covering the top and sides of the cake with it (first a crumb coat, then a 30-minute chill in the fridge, and then a final smooth coat of frosting).

The next morning, the cake was ready to be decorated!

I added two white fondant circles for Mickey's buttons ...

.. and then came the final touch, my handmade fondant Mickey hat!

I couldn't wait for Marni and Helen to see it!!!

In addition to the cake, I also made homemade oreos (based on Thomas Keller's TKOs), as well as the cake for the adults (stay tuned for my next post!)

The party was at a beautiful park with a playground, and featured dim sum, pizza, a one-man bubble show, as well as a live Mickey Mouse who came and played and danced with the kids! Soooo much fun!!!

Happy Birthday, Marni!!!