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Dragon Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a dragon birthday cake with gumdrops. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 (8-inch) round cake
- 1 (8-inch) square cake
- 1 ½ cans (3 cups) vanilla frosting
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 bags gumdrops
- ¼ cup red decorating sugar
- Green food coloring
- 1 strand black licorice lace
- 1 tube black decorating icing
- 2 Junior Mints
- 2 large marshmallows
- 3 spearmint "leaves" (leaf-shaped gummy candy)
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A large serving platter
- A rolling pin or a heavy bottle
- Kitchen shears or scissors
Trimming the cakes:
- Place the cakes on a clean work surface. Using a bread knife, cut cakes as shown in the template.
- Arrange the pieces on a serving platter or tray to make the dragon's head. Secure the cake pieces together with some vanilla frosting.
For the gumdrop decorations:
- Lightly sugar your work surface.
- Press the green, yellow, and white gumdrops into the sugar and flatten to make 1 ½-inch circles; set aside.
- Sugar your work surface again.
- Press 4 to 5 of the orange gumdrops together. Using your rolling pin or a heavy bottle, roll out to make a 2 by 4-inch strip. Cut out a flame shape as pictured with kitchen shears or clean scissors. Repeat with more orange gumdrops and red gumdrops until you have 4 to 5 flames of each color.
- Clear your work surface. Spread the red decorating sugar onto your work surface.
- Press 3 red gumdrops together and roll out onto the red sugared surface. Cut out an oval shape for the dragon's eye, as pictured. Repeat to make the other eye.
Frosting the cake:
- Tint the remaining vanilla frosting green with the green food coloring.
- Spread the top and sides of the cake with the frosting and make smooth.
For the candy decoration:
- Add the eyes and scales on the top and sides of the cake, as pictured.
- Cut the black licorice into 2-inch pieces and use as eyelashes.
- Using the black decorating icing, pipe thin black ovals on the red eyes for the pupils. Add the Junior Mints for the nostrils.
- Arrange the orange and red flames at the mouth area of the cake.
- Cut the marshmallows in half on the diagonal to make the teeth. Press the cut marshmallows above the flames as the teeth.
- Add the spearmint leaves to the top center of cake, as pictured.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
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Fish Tank Birthday Cake Design
How to make a fish tank birthday cake with goldfish crackers and Jolly Rancher fruit chews
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 (10 by 15-inch) cake
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- 1 ½ cups dark chocolate frosting
- Blue food coloring
- 1 cup praline crunch sundae topping
- Mini-colored goldfish crackers (Pepperidge Farm)
- 2 graham crackers
- 8 green Jolly Rancher fruit chews
- 4 spearmint leaves
- 3 tablespoons sugar
What you'll need:
- 2 resealable sandwich-size plastic bags (Ziploc)
- A serrated knife
Trimming the cake:
- Trim the top of the cake and make smooth.
- Transfer cake, cut side down, onto a serving platter.
Frosting the cake:
- Spoon 2 Tbsp vanilla frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
- Spoon the dark chocolate frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
- Add enough food coloring to the remaining vanilla frosting to tint it a light blue.
- Heat the green Jolly Rancher fruit chews on the microwave for no more than 3 seconds to soften. Roll out the fruit chews and cut them into seaweed shapes as pictured.
- Sprinkle a little sugar onto your work surface to prevent sticking. Roll the spearmint leaves out in the sugar. Cut the flattened green leaves into long oval shapes and twist, as pictured.
- Using a serrated knife, cut the graham crackers into tower shapes.
- Spread the blue frosting over the top and the sides of the cake. Make smooth.
To complete the decoration:
- Press the praline crunch in an uneven line along the bottom edge of cake for the sand.
- Press the graham cracker tower, the seaweed-shaped fruit chews, the twisted spearmint ovals, and the goldfish crackers all over the cake.
- Snip a very small corner from the bags with the vanilla and dark chocolate frostings. Pipe white dots above the goldfish crackers for bubbles. Pipe dark chocolate eyes onto the goldfish crackers.
- Enlarge the cut corner in the bag with the dark chocolate frosting to ¼ inch. Pipe a border with the chocolate frosting to create the outline of the fish tank.
Cake Anatomy:
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Penguin Birthday Cake Design
How to make a penguin birthday cake with chocolate frosting and circus peanuts
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 2 cakes baked in 1-quart Pyrex bowls
- 2 cakes baked in (12 oz) ovenproof glass bowls
- 1 can (16 oz) dark chocolate frosting
- Black food coloring
- ½ cup vanilla frosting
- 1 thin chocolate cookie (Famous Chocolate Wafer)
- 3 orange circus peanuts
- 2 white Jelly Belly Mint Cremes*
- 2 black round candies or brown M&M's
- 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
What you'll need:
- A serving platter
- A chopstick or wooden dowel
- A resealable sandwich-size plastic bag (Ziploc)
Trimming the cakes:
- Trim the top side of all of the bowl cakes to make level.
- Trim ½ inch from the curved bottom of one (1-quart) cake and place it wide side up on a serving platter. Spread the top of the cake with some of the chocolate frosting. Place the other quart cake on top, flat side down to make a ball.
- Repeat the trimming and assembling process with the 2 (12-oz) bowl cakes.
- Spread some frosting on the top of the larger ball and place the smaller ball cake on top as the head. Insert a chopstick or wooden dowel in the center to help balance the cakes (see template).
Frosting the cake:
- Tint the dark chocolate frosting black with the black food coloring. Spread the black frosting over the cake to cover and make smooth.
- Spoon 1 Tbsp of the vanilla frosting in a resealable plastic bag. Spread the remaining vanilla frosting on the front of the larger round cake for the penguin's chest and make smooth.
To complete the decoration:
- Cut the chocolate cookie in half with a serrated knife. Press the cookie pieces on either side of the cake for the penguin's wings.
- Snip a small corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe dots of frosting on the penguin's face and attach the Jelly Belly Mint Cremes for the penguin's eyes.
- Pipe a small amount of frosting onto the Mint Cremes and attach the black round candies (or brown M&M's) for the penguin's pupils. Dot a small amount of vanilla frosting onto the black round candies for the sparkle in the penguin's eyes.
- Trim 2 triangular notches into 2 of the circus peanuts with a small knife, as pictured, for the penguin's feet. Attach the feet to the bottom of the penguin's body.
- Cut one end of the remaining circus peanut into a triangle for the penguin's beak. Make a small slit perpendicular to the penguin's body in the center of the beak, as pictured. Place the mouth in the center of the penguin's face.
- Sprinkle the base of the cake with coconut.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 12
Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 16
Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 16
Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 16
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 8
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 12
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 14
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 12 to 14
Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 12
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 16
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 8 to 10
Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 8 to 10
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 12
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 16 to 18
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Step-by-step recipes, designs and color pics of the easiest (and cutest) birthday cakes for boys and girls
Serves 16
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Magnifying Glass Birthday Cake Design
How to make a magnifying glass birthday cake with almond M&Ms and Yodels
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 (10-inch) round cake
- 1 ½ cups vanilla frosting
- 1 can (16 oz) dark chocolate frosting
- 12 red Almond M&M's
- 4 Yodels cream-filled chocolate snack cakes
What you'll need:
- A serving platter
Trimming the cake:
- Transfer cake to a serving platter large enough to fit the handle.
Frosting the cake:
- Spoon 1 1/4 cups of the dark chocolate frosting into a resealable bag.
- Spread the top of the cake with the vanilla frosting and make smooth.
- Spread the sides of the cake with the remaining dark chocolate frosting and make smooth.
To complete the decoration:
- Arrange 3 of the red candies, end to end to make the ant bodies on top of the cake.
- Snip a very small corner from the bag with the dark chocolate frosting. Pipe the legs and antennae onto the red Almond M&M's as pictured.
- Enlarge the cut corner in the bag with the dark chocolate frosting to ¼-inch and pipe a line around outer edge of cake.
- To make the magnifying glass's handle, arrange the snack cakes, end to end, and secure them together with the remaining chocolate frosting.
Cake Anatomy:
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Mermaid Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a mermaid birthday cake with M&M’s Minis. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 (13 by 9-inch) cake
- 2 cans (16 oz each) vanilla frosting
- Green food coloring
- Red food coloring
- Yellow food coloring
- 1 bag (16 oz) M&M's
- 2 blue Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews
- 2 brown M&M's Minis
- 2 strawberry-flavored Mentos
- 1 pink jelly bean
- 4 pieces Big Red chewing gum
- 1 red M&M's Minis
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A small paring knife
- A serrated knife
- 3 resealable sandwich-size plastic bags (Ziploc)
Trimming the cake:
- Place cake on a clean work surface. Using a bread knife, trim the top of the cake to make it level. Following template, cut out shape with a small paring knife. Transfer the cake to a serving platter.
For the green, pink, white, and yellow frosting:
- Spoon the contents of one can of vanilla frosting into a bowl. Tint the frosting green with the green food coloring.
- In a separate bowl, tint ½ cup of vanilla frosting light pink with the red food coloring.
- Spoon 1 Tbsp of vanilla frosting into a small bowl and add enough red food coloring to tint it dark red. Spoon into a small resealable plastic bag.
- Spoon 1 Tbsp of the untinted vanilla frosting into another small resealable plastic bag.
- Tint the remaining vanilla frosting bright yellow with the yellow food coloring. Spoon ¾ cup of the yellow frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
Frosting the cake:
- Spread the face area with the pink frosting and make smooth.
- Spread the remaining yellow frosting on the top and sides of the hair area.
- Spread the green frosting over the body area and make smooth.
- To add scales to her tail, attach green, yellow, and blue M&M's all over the mermaid's body in clusters of 3, as pictured.
- Roll out the blue fruit chews and cut out ¼ by 2-inch triangles. Attach triangles to the tail fin.
For the finishing touches:
- Snip very small corners from the bags of white, red, and yellow frosting.
- Pipe white dots on the mermaid's face for her eyes and attach the brown M&M's Minis.
- Pipe the mermaid's mouth with red frosting.
- Add the pink Mentos as the cheeks. Add the pink jelly bean for the nose.
- Pipe yellow eyebrows. Pipe curls of yellow frosting over the yellow hair area.
- To make the bow, shape a loop from one piece of Big Red gum, squeezing the sides of the loop together at the seam. Repeat with a second loop of gum. Take the 2 other pieces of gum and use your scissors to taper one end while cutting notches into the other end for the bow's tails. Press the 4 pieces of gum together to form the bow. Add a red candy to the center of the bow.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
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Castle Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a castle birthday cake with Bubble Tape. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 5 sugar cones
- 2 Kids Cones (mini-ice cream wafer cones)
- 3 pink ice cream wafer cones
- 3 Tbsp light corn syrup
- ½ cup pink decorating sugar
- 1 (8-inch) round cake
- 1 (9-inch) round cake
- 1 jumbo cupcake, paper liner removed
- 2 cans (12 oz) whipped vanilla frosting
- 1 roll Bubble Tape
- ¾ cup Smarties
- Orange and pink Runts
- 2 bags sour gummy Life Savers
- 2 rolls Necco wafers
What you'll need:
- A serrated knife
- A pastry brush
- A bread knife
- A serving platter or a cake stand
- Craft scissors or a pastry wheel
For the turrets:
- Trim 2 of the sugar cones with a serrated knife so they can fit, mouth to mouth, into the Kids Cones.
- Trim 1 pink wafer cone, 2 inches from the base, for the top of the cake.
- Heat the light corn syrup in the microwave 5 to 10 seconds until bubbly. Caution: Hot corn syrup can burn and should not be handled by children.
- Pour the pink sugar into a dish.
- Brush the sugar cones with corn syrup and roll in the pink sugar to coat.
- Press the sugar cones upside-down into the wafer cones to make the turrets; set aside.
Trimming the cakes:
- Using a bread knife, trim the tops of the cakes to make level. Trim the 8-inch cake down into a 6-inch round.
- Place the 9-inch cake onto a serving platter or cake stand. Place the 6-inch cake on top and to one side of the larger cake.
- Place the cupcake on top of the two cake layers and to one side, as pictured.
Decorating the castle:
- Spread the cakes with vanilla frosting and make smooth.
- Trim one long side of the Bubble Tape with clean craft scissors or a pastry wheel to make a decorative edge. Press the Bubble Tape along the bottom edge of the top 2 cake layers.
- Press the Smarties into the circumference of the base of the largest cake. Press the orange Runts around the upper circumference of the middle cake layer. Press the pink Runts around the upper circumference of the bottom cake layer.
- Cut the gummy Life Savers and Necco wafers in half. Place the gummy Life Savers and Necco wafers in a decorative row along the top edge of cakes (see photo).
- Add the cone turrets on top of cake using the trimmed cone for the highest cake. Press into the frosting to secure.
- Pour the remaining pink sugar on top of the bottom cake layer.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
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Pirate Ship Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a pirate ship birthday cake with boxed cake mix. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 (13 by 9-inch) cake
- 1 can (16 oz) dark chocolate frosting
- Yellow food coloring
- ½ can (1 cup) vanilla frosting
- 1 plain breadstick (8 inches long)
- 16 yellow mini–candy-coated chocolates
- 6 PepOMint Life Savers
- 1 cup blue coarse decorating sugar
- 2 thick pretzel rods
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A serving platter
- A fork
- Scissors
- Black and white construction paper
- Glue
Trimming the cake:
- Place the cake on a clean work surface. Using the bread knife, trim the top of the cake to make it level. Cut the cake in half, crosswise, to make two 6 1/2 by 9-inch rectangles.
- Spread a thin layer of chocolate frosting on top of one cake layer and place the other cake layer on top. Cut the 2-layer cake into the shape of a ship (see template).
- For the deck, carve a 1-inch-deep rectangle from the middle of the top layer, as pictured.
Frosting the cake:
- Place the ship cake on a serving platter.
- Spread the chocolate frosting onto the sides and top of the cake, avoiding the deck area. Use a fork to make the zigzag lines along the side of the ship.
- Add yellow food coloring to the vanilla frosting to tint it yellow. Spread the yellow frosting onto the deck area on the top of the cake.
For the decoration:
- Trim some of the pretzel snaps and press the cut edges along the boat edges to use as the railing. Press several whole pretzel snaps onto the sides of the ship for the windows.
- Insert the plain breadstick into the bow of the ship. Press the yellow M&M's and the Life Savers onto the sides of the ship. Sprinkle blue sugar around the base of the ship.
Making the masts:
- Cut out skulls and crossbones using the white construction paper.
- Cut 2 rectangles from the black construction paper for the sails.
- Glue the skulls and crossbones onto the black sails.
- Cut holes from the top and bottom of the black sails. Thread the pretzel rods through the holes. Insert the pretzel masts into the front and rear of the ship.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
Star Wars-Inspired Birthday Cake Design
How to make a Star Wars-inspired birthday cake with Twinkies
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 (13 by 9-inch) cake
- 4 Twinkies
- 1 can (16 oz) plus 1 cup vanilla frosting
- ¼ cup black coarse decorating sugar
- ¼ cup blue coarse decorating sugar
- 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
- 2 wafer cones
- 8 yellow Laffy Taffy fruit chews
- Blue food coloring
- Red food coloring
- Green food coloring
- 18 fun size Twix candy bars
- 3 Tbsp red decorating sugar
- 3 Tbsp green decorating sugar
What you'll need:
- A serving platter
- A small bowl
- Medium and small star-shaped cookie cutters
- 2 wooden skewers or chopsticks
Trimming the cake:
- Trim the cake to make level. Place the cake, trimmed side down, on a serving platter.
- Trim ½ inch from the rounded end of each Twinkie.
Preparing the decoration:
- Spoon the black decorating sugar into a shallow bowl.
- Heat the light corn syrup in a small bowl in the microwave until bubbly, about 5 seconds. Warning: hot corn syrup can burn and should not be handled by children. Quickly and lightly brush the outside of one of the cones with the hot syrup. Sprinkle the cone with the black sugar to cover the outside completely. Repeat with the remaining cone and sugar. Set aside.
- Unwrap the fruit chews and microwave for no more than 3 seconds to soften. Press 2 of the fruit chews together and roll out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out a 2 to 2 ½-inch star shape with a cookie cutter. Repeat to make 2 more large stars.
- Soften and roll out the remaining fruit chews. Cut out many small (3/4 to 1-inch) star shapes with cookie cutters. Reheat and reroll the scraps to make more stars if necessary.
Frosting the cake:
- Add enough green food coloring to ½ cup of the vanilla frosting to tint it green.
- Add enough red food coloring to ½ cup of the vanilla frosting to tint it red.
- Add enough blue food coloring to the remaining can of vanilla frosting to tint it blue.
- Spread the top and sides of the large cake with the blue frosting and make smooth. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the blue decorating sugar.
- Spoon the red and green decorating sugar into separate shallow bowls.
- Place 2 of the snack cakes, trimmed ends touching end-to-end, on a work surface. Insert a wooden skewer or chopstick through the snack cakes like a long corn dog, leaving some of the stick hanging out of the back. Spread the top and sides of snack cakes with red frosting. Sprinkle the top and sides with the red sugar. Using the stick and a long, thin spatula, carefully transfer the skewered Twinkies to the blue frosted sheet cake as pictured.
- Repeat with the remaining Twinkies, coating with green frosting and sprinkling with green sugar. Transfer the skewered Twinkies to the blue frosted sheet cake, as pictured. Remove the skewers from the snack cakes.
To complete the decoration:
- Place the black sugared cones at the base of each frosted Twinkie as the light saber handles.
- Arrange the yellow fruit chew stars around the rest of the cake.
- Arrange the Twix around the base of the cake to frame it.
Cake Anatomy:
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French Fries Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a French fries birthday cake with frozen pound cake. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Serves 8
Ingredients:
- 1 (8-inch) round cake
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- Red food coloring
- 1 frozen pound cake (12 oz), thawed
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A sheet pan
- A wax-paper-lined basket, bowl, or plate
- 1 resealable sandwich-size plastic bag (Ziploc)
- 1 mini-paper cupcake liner
For the base of the cake:
- Using the bread knife, trim the 8-inch cake to fit into a wax-paper–lined basket, bowl, or plate.
- Set aside 3 Tbsp of the vanilla frosting in a small bowl. Spread the remaining vanilla frosting over the trimmed cake to cover completely.
For the french fries:
- Preheat broiler.
- Trim the darker crusts of the cake away with a bread knife. Cut the pound cake crosswise into ½-inch slices. Cut each slice into ½-inch-thick sticks.
- Spread the pound-cake sticks in a single layer on a sheet pan. Place under the broiler for 15 to 30 seconds until the tops are lightly toasted and golden brown. (Watch the pound cake carefully -- it burns easily. Turn the pound-cake sticks and repeat on each side until they are lightly toasted all over.
- Arrange the pound-cake sticks on top of the frosted cake to resemble french fries.
For the ketchup:
- Add red food coloring to the reserved 3 Tbsp of vanilla frosting to tint it the color of ketchup.
- Spoon the red frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
- Place the mini–paper cupcake liner on top of the "french fries." Snip a small corner from the bag with the red frosting. Pipe the red frosting into the paper liner.
Cake Anatomy:
Cherry Pie Birthday Cake Design
How to make a Cherry Pie birthday cake with cocoa powder and cherry pie filling
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 cake baked in a (9-inch) deep dish pie plate
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- Yellow food coloring
- ½ tsp cocoa powder
- 2 cans (21 oz each) cherry pie filling, drained
What you'll need:
- 2 resealable sandwich-size plastic bags (Ziploc)
Frosting the cake:
- Tint the vanilla frosting with a few drops of yellow food coloring and the cocoa powder to make a pie-crust beige. Divide the frosting between the 2 resealable plastic bags.
To complete the decoration:
- Spoon the drained cherry pie filling on top of the cake, leaving a 1-inch rim of cake.
- Snip a ½ inch corner from the bags with the beige frosting. Pipe 5 parallel rows of frosting over the pie filling about 1 ½ inches apart.
- Pipe 5 more lines of frosting on the diagonal to make the lattice crust.
- Pipe a decorative edge around outside edge of cake to make the outer crust of pie.
Cake Anatomy:
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Gumball Machine Birthday Cake Design
How to make a gumball machine birthday cake with M&M's
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 cake baked in a 1-quart Pyrex bowl
- 1 (3 by 5-inch) loaf cake
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- Red paste food coloring
- ¾ cup M&M's, mixed colors
- 4 red licorice twists
- 1 tube (4.25 ounces) black decorating icing
- 1 red lollipop (Tootsie Pop)
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A serving platter
Trimming the cake:
- Trim the top of the bowl cake to make level.
- Cut the (3 by 5-inch) loaf cake as pictured in the diagram below. Arrange the cakes as pictured.
Frosting the cake:
- Tint 1 cup of the vanilla frosting red with the food coloring. Set aside.
- Spread the remaining plain white frosting over the bowl cake and make smooth. Attach the colored candies all over the cake starting from the base for the "gumballs".
- Spread the red frosting all over the rectangular cakes and make smooth.
To complete the decoration:
- Trim the red licorice twists and place along the red base cake and bottom edge of top red cake, as pictured.
- Insert the lollipop into the top cake.
- Pipe a black line on the bottom red cake for the gumball machine's opening.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
Purse Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a purse birthday cake with Tootsie Rolls. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 2 (8-inch) round cakes
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- Red food coloring
- 1 Tootsie Roll Giant (2.25 oz)
- 10 brown M&M's
- 8 to 9 marshmallows
- 6 Whoppers
- 1 sheet green fruit leather
- 2 Tootsie Rolls
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A resealable sandwich-size plastic bag (Ziploc)
- A serving platter
- Scissors or a small letter-shaped cookie cutter
Trimming the cakes:
- Place the cakes on a clean work surface. Using a bread knife, trim the tops to make them level.
- Spread a small amount of frosting on one cut surface. Place the other cake layer on top, cut side down and sandwich the cakes together.
- Cut a 1-inch strip from one side of the layer cake. Cut a 2-inch deep slice from the opposite edge (see template).
For the pink frosting:
- Spoon 1/4 cup of the untinted vanilla frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
- Add a few drops of red food coloring to the remaining frosting to tint it a light pink.
- Place the cake on a serving platter, deeper-cut side down. Spread the pink frosting all over the cake and make smooth.
To complete the decoration:
- Snip a small corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe dots along each thin side of the cake and attach the brown M&M's.
- Bend the Tootsie Roll Giant into a "C" shape to make the handle and place on the top of the cake.
- Cut the marshmallows with clean scissors, crosswise, into 4 slices. Arrange the marshmallows as flower petals along the top of the cake, adding some vanilla frosting to help secure them to the cake. Attach the Whoppers to the center of each flower with a dot of frosting. Cut small leaf shapes from the green fruit leather and tuck them underneath the marshmallow petals as leaves.
- Heat the 2 Tootsie Rolls in the microwave for 2 to 3 seconds to soften. Roll out onto a sheet of wax paper and cut out desired letter using clean scissors or a small cookie cutter. Press the letter onto the front of the cake.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
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Building Blocks Birthday Cake Design
How to make a building blocks birthday cake with pound cake and fruit chews
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 (16 oz) family size frozen pound cake, thawed (Sara Lee)
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- Red, green, yellow and blue food coloring
- 6 each red, blue, yellow and green fruit chews (Jolly Rancher and Laffy Taffy)
Trimming the cake:
- Place the cake on a work surface. Trim the short ends to make the sides perpendicular to the bottom of the cake.
- Cut the cake crosswise into 4 equal pieces (see template).
Frosting the cake:
- Divide the frosting evenly between 4 bowls. Add enough food coloring to tint each bowl of frosting a different bright color: blue, red, yellow and green. Cover the frosting to prevent drying.
- Spread an even layer of tinted frosting over each piece of cake to make one block of each color.
To complete the decoration:
- Unwrap the red fruit chews and microwave for no more than 3 seconds to soften.
- Press 3 softened fruit chews together and flatten slightly into a 1 ½-inch thick circle.
- Cut out a 1 ½-inch circle with a cookie cutter or small knife. Repeat with the three other like-colored fruit chews.
- Repeat with the rest of the colored fruit chews -- you will wind up with 6 colored fruit chew hockey puck shapes.
- Arrange the 2 like-colored fruit chew pucks on top of the frosted cakes to make the blocks.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
All American Flag Birthday Cake Design
How to make an American Flag birthday cake with Fruit by the Foot and white star candies
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 (13 by 9-inch) cake
- 1 can (16 oz) plus 3/4 cup vanilla frosting
- Blue food coloring
- 3 packs of Fruit by the Foot red fruit leather
- 19 small white star candies
- 1 Tbsp blue decorating sugar
What you'll need:
- A serving platter
- A bread knife
- Pizza wheel or scissors
Trimming the cake:
- Trim the top of the cake to make level. Place the cake on a work surface, trimmed side down, and cut into thirds. Arrange the pieces on a large serving platter, stepping them down by 1-inch, from left to right (see template).
- Trim corners from center piece of cake.
Frosting the cake:
- Tint ¾ cup of the vanilla frosting blue with the food coloring. Spoon the blue frosting into a resealable bag.
- Spread the remaining vanilla frosting on top of the cake to cover the top and sides and make smooth.
- Mark a 3 ½-inch square with toothpicks at the upper left corner of the cake. Snip a small corner from the bag with the blue frosting and pipe and outline of the square and fill in with the blue frosting. Spread to make smooth.
To complete the decoration:
- Cut the red fruit leather into 1/2-inch wide strips with pizza wheel or scissors.
- Starting at the top of the cake, arrange the fruit leather in wavy, parallel lines along the top edge of cake. Trim the ends. Repeat with 6 more strips, setting each strip about 1 inch apart.
- Arrange the candy stars on top of the blue frosting.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
Rocket Ship Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a rocket ship birthday cake with an ice cream cone. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients:
- 1 (9-inch) square cake
- Red food coloring
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- Blue food coloring
- 1 ice cream cone, bottom 2 inches trimmed with a serrated knife
- 1 package Twizzlers Pull-N-Peel
- 11 Hot Tamales
- 6 red Spree candies
- 9 white gumdrops
- 2 Tbsp red decorating sugar
- 2 Tbsp white granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp blue decorating sugar
- 3 Tbsp mini–red, white, and blue candy stars
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A serving platter
- A spoon
- A rolling pin or heavy bottle
Trimming the cake:
- Place the cake on a clean work surface. Using a bread knife, cut out the rocket-ship body shape as shown in the template.
- Use the 2 larger trimmed pieces as the side wings of the rocket. Trim each triangle to make the long edge of each wing straight. Arrange the cake into the rocket-ship shape on a serving platter.
For the red and blue frosting:
- Add red food coloring to 1 cup of vanilla frosting to tint it red. Frost the 2 side wings with the red frosting. Use the tip of a spoon to create indented lines in the wings.
- Add blue food coloring to the remaining vanilla frosting to tint it light blue. Spread the body of the cake with the light blue frosting.
To decorate the body of the rocket:
- Press the trimmed cone into the base of the cake as shown. Place some trimmed Twizzler Pull-N-Peel laces into the mouth of the cone so the laces fan out.
- Arrange 4 Twizzler Pull-N-Peel laces along the length of the rocket-ship body, as pictured.
- Press the Hot Tamales along the bottom edge of the rocket. Press 1 Hot Tamale into the tip of the rocket ship.
- Press a line of 3 red Spree candies between the laces on either side of the rocket-ship body.
To finish the candy decoration:
- Spread the red sugar onto your work surface.
- Press 3 white gumdrops together. Using a rolling pin or a heavy bottle, roll the pressed gumdrops out in the red sugar.
- Cut the shape of a "U" from the rolled gumdrop sheet.
- Repeat with 3 gumdrops and the white sugar for the "S."
- Repeat with the last 3 gumdrops and the blue sugar for the "A."
- Arrange the gumdrop letters down the center of the rocket. Sprinkle the platter with candy stars.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
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Train Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a no-bake train birthday cake with frozen pound cake. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 family-size frozen pound cake (16 oz), thawed
- 2 cans (16 oz each) vanilla frosting
- Yellow food coloring
- Red food coloring
- 2 Fruit Loops Cereal Straws
- 1 Kids Cone (mini–ice cream cone)
- 2 tsp light corn syrup
- 2 Tbsp yellow decorating sugar
- 2 Tootsie Rolls
- 4 Ring Dings
- 1 cup dark-chocolate frosting
- 12 mini-Oreos
- 4 Oreos
- 11 large chocolate nonpareils
- 12 Sno-caps
- 1 blue M&M
- 2 Tbsp mini-marshmallows
- 2 green Fruit Loops Cereal Straws
- 1/3 cup Hershey's Kissables
- 5 Hershey's Sticks or Kit Kats for the track (optional)
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A serving platter
- A resealable sandwich-size plastic bag (Ziploc)
Trimming the cake:
- Using a bread knife, trim a ¾-inch piece off both short ends of the pound cake to make the cake about 9 by 4 ½ inches.
- Cut the pound cake as indicated on the diagram to make two 2 ½ by 4 ½-inch cars, one 4 by 3 ½-inch car, and one 1 by 4-inch slice. Reserve the 1 by 4-inch piece and set aside.
For the colored frosting:
- Spoon the contents of 1 can of vanilla frosting into a bowl. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to tint it a light blue.
- Divide the remaining can of vanilla frosting in half and spoon into separate bowls. Add yellow food coloring to one bowl of frosting to tint it yellow; add red food coloring to the other bowl of frosting to tint it red.
For the engine decorations:
- Cut the red Froot Loops Cereal Straws in half.
- Brush the outside of the Kids Cone with the corn syrup and sprinkle with the yellow decorating sugar.
- Heat the Tootsie Rolls in the microwave for 2 to 3 seconds. Roll out each Tootsie Roll on wax paper and cut into two 1 by ½-inch rectangles for the train windows.
Frosting the cake:
- Lay the trimmed 1 by 4-inch slice flat on a serving platter. Spread the top with some blue frosting.
- Stack the 4 Ring Dings, spreading frosting in between each cake, and lay the stack on its side to make the cylindrical front engine.
- Place the 4 by 3 ½-inch piece upright behind the stack of Ring Dings.
- Spread the entire engine with blue frosting to cover and make smooth.
Assembling the engine:
- Spoon the chocolate frosting into a resealable plastic bag. Snip a small corner from the bag and pipe a 1-inch-high layer of chocolate frosting at the base of the cake.
- Add 2 mini- and 2 regular-size Oreos to either side for the engine's wheels. Pipe small dots of chocolate frosting on the cookies and add the large chocolate nonpareils to the Oreos and press the Sno-caps onto the mini-Oreos.
- Press the Tootsie Roll windows into the sides of the upright cake.
- Press a single large chocolate nonpareil into the nose of the engine. Pipe a small dot of chocolate frosting on the center of the nonpareil and add a blue M&M.
- Gently press the Kids Cone and Froot Loops Cereal Straws into the top of the engine. Fill the cone with mini-marshmallows for the engine's steam.
Decorating the middle car:
- Set one of the 2 ½ by 4 ½-inch pieces of pound cake behind the engine. Frost with the yellow frosting.
- Trim the green Froot Loops Cereal Straws with a serrated knife to fit the length and width of the top edges of the cake.
- Fill the top of the cake with the Hershey's Kissables.
- Pipe a &frac-inch-wide band of chocolate frosting along the base of the cake. Attach the mini-Oreos. Pipe a dot of chocolate frosting onto each mini-Oreo and add the Sno-caps.
Decorating the caboose:
- Set the remaining cake piece behind the middle car and cover completely with the red frosting.
- Set the 2 remaining red Froot Loops Cereal Straw halves on top of the back of the cake.
- Pipe a &frac-inch-wide band of chocolate frosting around the base of the cake. Press the remaining Oreo cookies in as wheels on either side of the caboose. Pipe a dot of chocolate frosting onto each mini-Oreo and press the Sno-caps on.
For the optional train tracks:
- Cut 3 of the chocolate sticks in half.
- Place the pairs of halved chocolate sticks in front and in back of the middle car and caboose. To complete, place the 2 long chocolate sticks in front of the engine cake.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
Monster Truck Birthday Cake Design
How to make a monster truck birthday cake with doughnuts
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 1 family size (16 oz) frozen pound cake (Sara Lee)
- 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
- 1 cup chocolate frosting
- Red paste food coloring
- Yellow paste food coloring
- 4 chocolate-frosted doughnuts
- 4 yellow Laffy Taffy or Starburst fruit chews
- 2 Mentos round white mints
- 2 red M&M's
- 2 yellow M&M's
- 4 green Jelly Belly Mint Cremes
- 2 cups crushed Oreos, optional
- 3 Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolates, halved, optional
What you'll need:
- The lid from the pound cake package or cardboard
- A bread knife
- A serving platter
- 4 resealable sandwich-size plastic bags (Ziploc)
- Clean scissors
Trimming the cake:
- Place the pound cake on a work surface, lengthwise. Make a 2 ½-inch cut crosswise from one short end. Cut a 1-inch thick slice from the larger cake as pictured in the template below. Cut the 1-inch slice in half, lengthwise, to use as the cake's support.
- Trim the lid from the pound cake package, or a piece of cardboard, to the exact size of the largest piece of cake. Place the cake on top of the cardboard support.
- Arrange the two 1-inch pieces of cake side-by-side on a serving platter, about 4 inches apart. Place the cardboard-supported cake on top of the supports for the truck's body.
- Attach the reserved 2 ½-inch piece to the cake base, cut side down, for the truck's cab (see template).
Frosting the cake:
- Spoon the chocolate frosting into a resealable plastic bag. Spoon 3 Tbsp of the vanilla frosting into a separate resealable plastic bag.
- Add yellow food coloring to ¼ cup of the vanilla frosting to tint it a bright yellow. Spoon the yellow frosting into the third resealable plastic bag.
- Add enough red food coloring to the remaining vanilla frosting to tint it a bright red. Spoon 2 Tbsp of the red frosting into a fourth resealable plastic bag.
- Press the excess air out of each resealable bag and seal well.
- Spread the remaining red frosting all over the cake and make as smooth as possible.
To complete the decoration:
- Press 2 of the chocolate-frosted doughnuts on either long side of the cake for the truck's tires, hiding the small cake supports.
- Unwrap and microwave the yellow fruit chews for no more than 3 seconds to soften. Press the fruit chews together and roll out to a 2 by 4 ½-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick. Using scissors, trim the fruit chew into a rectangle with rounded upper corners and press into the front of the cab for the truck's front window.
- Snip a small (1/8-inch) corner from each bags of frosting. Pipe an outline of red frosting around the cab window. Pipe two dots of white frosting to the front engine of the truck and attach the white mints as headlights. Pipe dots of white frosting in the rear of the cake and press the M&M's in for the truck's red and yellow tail lights.
- Pipe wavy yellow lines of frosting onto the truck's hood, next to the front wheels and near the rear of the cake. Add a few white squiggles of frosting to the rear of the cake.
- Pipe a lattice pattern of chocolate frosting on the top edge of the doughnuts for the tire treads. Pipe a few lines of chocolate frosting along the back edge of cakes near the taillights.
- Pipe some chocolate frosting into the holes of the doughnuts and press the green Mint Cremes in as the hubcaps.
- Sprinkle the platter with the crushed cookies and halved Ferrero Rocher chocolates.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
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Basketball with Hoop Birthday Cake Design
Sweet! How to make a basketball with hoop birthday cake with Twizzlers. Easy, step-by-step recipe, diagrams and pictures
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 2 (8-inch) round cakes
- 1 cake baked in a ½-quart glass bowl (Pyrex)
- Orange food coloring*
- 2 cans (16 oz each) vanilla frosting
- 1/3 cup chocolate frosting
- 12 yellow Twizzlers
- 1 package Twizzlers Peel-N-Pull
What you'll need:
- A bread knife
- A serving platter
- 1 resealable sandwich-size plastic bag (Ziploc)
- Scissors or kitchen shears
Trimming the cakes:
- Place the round cakes on a clean work surface. Using a bread knife, trim the tops to make them level. Trim the top of the bowl cake to make level.
For the frosting:
- Add orange food coloring to 1 cup of the vanilla frosting to tint it orange. Add a few teaspoons of the chocolate frosting to achieve the right shade of basketball orange; set the frosting aside.
- Spoon the remaining chocolate frosting into a resealable plastic bag.
Frosting the cake:
- Place a round cake layer on a serving platter. Spread some of the vanilla frosting on top. Place the second round cake layer on top, cut side down, and press to make level.
- Spread the remaining vanilla frosting on the top and sides of the cakes and make smooth.
- Use clean scissors to cut the yellow Twizzlers in half, lengthwise. Cut the licorice halves into pieces long enough to lay on the diagonal on the side of the cake for the hoop net.
- Space the pieces in parallel diagonal lines about 2 ½ inches apart. Cut the remaining pieces to fit as diagonal lines in the opposite direction, as pictured. Press onto the cake to complete the hoop's net.
- Do not peel the ropes of Twizzlers Pull-N-Peel laces apart. Place the ropes of Twizzlers Pull-N-Peel around top edge of cake, trimming to make the ends meet.
Finishing the basketball:
- Place the bowl cake, cut side down, in the center of the cake. Spread evenly with the orange frosting. Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, uncovered.
- Once the frosting has set, gently press a clean dish towel against the frosted bowl cake to make the basketball texture.
- Snip a small corner from the bag with the chocolate frosting and pipe the lines on top of the ball, as pictured.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
Golf Birthday Cake Design
How to make a golf birthday cake with vanilla wafers
By Karen Tack, Parenting.com
Ingredients:
- 2 (9-inch) round cakes
- 1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
- Green food coloring
- Yellow food coloring
- 1 ½ cups shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 cup ground vanilla wafers
- 1 (4-inch) piece of Fruit by the Foot fruit leather
- 1 wheat stick (Pringles) or thin pretzel stick
- 1 large chocolate chip
- 3 white gumballs
What you'll need:
- A serving platter
- A bread knife
- 1 large resealable plastic bag (Ziploc)
Trimming the cake:
- Cut a 1 ½-inch-deep oval from the cake (see template). Arrange the cakes on a serving platter.
Frosting the cake:
- Tint the vanilla frosting grass green with the green and yellow food coloring. Spread the green frosting on the top and sides of the cake to cover completely.
To complete the decoration:
- Place the coconut in a large resealable bag. Add 2 teaspoons warm water and several drops of green and yellow food coloring. Massage the bag until the coconut is tinted bright green. Add more food coloring if desired for a darker color.
- Sprinkle and press the coconut over the cake as shown in the photo for the fairway. Leave a few areas open for the sand traps and putting green.
- Pour the ground vanilla wafers onto the open areas for the sand traps.
- Fold the fruit leather in half over the end of the wheat stick and press together for the flag. Press the wheat stick flag into the putting green area.
- Press the chocolate chip, pointed end down, in the putting green area for the hole. place a few white gumballs on the cake for the golf balls.
Cake Anatomy:
Cake Cutout:
