This Homemade Ladybug Birthday Cake was so much fun to make, and my first ever try at a fancy cake like this (besides ‘Foods class’ in grade 12)!
Okay, to start with I mixed up a chocolate pound cake as my mom has always done. Mix together 1 Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker cake mix; 1 package of instant pudding mix (chocolate for chocolate cakes and vanilla for light colored cakes); 1/2 cup oil; 1 cup water; 3 eggs.
I prepared a round cake pan (9 inch) & a small heart shaped pan by tracing the shapes of each of them onto wax paper, cutting them out and placing them into the pans. Pour the majority of the cake mixture into the round pan and the rest into the heart cake pan (approximately up to half or 2/3 full). Place both cake pans into the oven which has been pre-heated to 350F. Check for readiness after approximately 20 minutes by inserting toothpick into centre. Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cakes cool for approximately 15 minutes before removing from pans.
I made the cakes a couple days prior to the party, so I had time to put them in the freezer overnight after they had cooled off.
I purchased several tubes of red icing (maybe 4-6) to ice the body of the ladybug. (You could screw on different cake decorating tips to the end of the tube.) For the head (heart cake) & the line down the middle of the round cake for the separation of the wings I purchased a couple small tubes of black decorating gel. I used a star shaped tip for the red icing, and for the black I just squeezed it out on the heart cake and used a knife to spread it and then I just used the tip of the tube to make the line down the middle of the round cake. I used mini Oreo cookies for the spots on the ladybugs back and then used white decorating gel to put the dot in the middle of each cookie; red shoestring licorice for the antenna’s; hard white candies for the eyes; a red heart candy out of some cake decorations that I had; some of the white gel around the eyes and mouth.
After I finished decorating each cake I put them in the freezer again. I covered a large cutting board with aluminum foil, then spread Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker chocolate icing over it. When the cakes were cooled for a while I took them out and removed them from the wax paper on the boards with a large BBQ flipper. I placed the round one on the board with the chocolate icing, and then placed the heart one leaning on the front of the round one. I used Oreo cookie crumbs as dirt around the ladybug, gave her a few gummy worms as friends, sprinkled some green sprinkles at the front of the board and wrote on it with the white gel.
….and Whalaa!!!
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