Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while may remember my annual stresses over birthday cakes. Last year I begged you all for birthday cake tips, and then I chickened out and made a layer cake that was cute and tasty, but not very adventurous. Our little Anna likes Spiderman a lot. It’s pretty cute. I decided that I would make her a Spiderman cake this year. Thankfully his head is a simple oval, so this was a good cake for me to get my feet wet with.
Do you mind if I brag a bit? I love her cake! I’m so happy with how it came out. YEA!!!!!
I will say this. I didn’t cheat at all in the process.
- I used cake strips, of course.
- I froze the cakes before assembling and frosting.
- I made the frosting from scratch, so I could make a ton for not much money and have plenty to work with.
- I used wax paper to keep the cake platter clean.
- I applied a crumb coat of frosting first before doing a top layer of frosting.
- I used tons of food coloring to get the color of icing I wanted.
- I practiced decorating with frosting before attacking the cake itself. (This was big for me, I hate “wasting” time practicing!)
All of this meant it took longer to make, but it was well worth the effort. Thank you for indulging me and letting me show off the cake! Maybe next year I’ll try a more interesting shape. Or maybe I should just stick with things at are oval-shaped. 😉
Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
That looks great! Excellent work!
Wax paper to keep the cake platter clean. You. Are. Brilliant. I always end up with messy, frosting-everywhere cake platters! Thanks for the tip. 🙂
It looks fantastic! I took a year off and bought cakes for the kids’ birthdays, but in about two weeks, I am back at it. If only mine looked that great!
PS. Mentioned you on my Home Essentials blog today. 🙂
Awesome job! I have been totally getting into making cakes lately. This year my son wanted a “Special Forces” birthday. So, I made him a camo cake, and it turned out so flipp’n awesome. I wish I had uploaded the pictures onto a website somewhere, it would be fun to share. Seriously, I was all giddy about it.
Might I ask what kind of food coloring you used? I typically use gels, but after watching a “Good Eats” episode a while back, he got me thinking about powdered food coloring.
I just have to add re: the cake strips – So THAT’S how they are used. Hahah! I feel like such a twit. I’ve often looked at “cake strips” at the local craft/baking supply store I frequent. I was always wondering HOW one would use them – did they get put under the cake, in between, inside the pan, outside the pan… AHHA! Brilliant! I’m going to use that trick this Christmas when I make our annual Christmas Gift Cake!
I love your spiderman cake! It’s adorable and fierce at the same time!
thanks everyone! 🙂
nevadamtnbear…I used gels b/c it’s what I had. I had to use a LOT to get the frosting red… and even had to add in a little brown and orange to tone down the pink-iness.
I’m totally going to check out the powdered, though…and I have a good friend who is a pastry chef. I’ll ask her on monday when we go to her house to decorate gingerbread men, see what she likes better. 🙂
Awesome! What a great mom!
Great cake! My son turns 1 on Christmas Eve and I’ve been thinking about his cake. I think we’re going with an UNO theme.
awesome Jane!!! Happy Birthday Anna!
Perfect for my g/c! – oh, and Renee
Sooo cute
That looks great. I’m about to try my hand at first shaped cake. I’m making a ladybug cake this afternoon for my daughter’s third birthday tomorrow. I was planning on making a practice one earlier this week but never had the time.
That looks great. I love kids birthday cakes, this year for my daughters first birthday I made a Babushka doll shaped cake and it turned out great (it was my own design). My elderest daugter got two cakes one for her party and one for Kindy (her actual birthday). Both these cakes were picked from books; the kindy cake was a dinosaur and her party cake was a bunch of flowers (made from cupcakes). They all turned out really well and I do enjoy it but wouldn’t be able to do it for a living. I like to do a special cake made with love for my kids 🙂 Happy birthday to your daughter I am sure she will enjo her cake made with love.
Wonderfully done!! What kind of icing did you use?
Yay for you! That looks awesome!
Very cute!
Jane, wow. It’s adorable and it looks very edible! Be proud!
made the exact cake for my son’s 4th b’day, and it was a hit!!! Every body loved it and my son was thrilled. Thank you 🙂
you’re welcome! 🙂
oh, that makes me smile real big. :))))))
Wheres the recipe?!:( it used to be right here ,didnt it?
for this particular spider man cake, I used a cake mix and classic buttercream frosting, which is found in this post https://thisweekfordinner.com/2012/09/26/an-amateurs-guide-to-making-super-cute-cakes/
that link above also has a great chocolate cake recipe if you’d like to make it from scratch! it also has more tips for making cute cakes!
I made this for my 4 year old’s birthday today. He loved it (and so did all of his cousins). Thanks for letting me copy your creativity!!!
that makes me so so so so happy!!! 🙂