I must first say that this Little Einsteins Rocket Birthday Cake is my first attempt at cake decorating; clearly I am not a pro!! Having made my disclaimer, here’s how I made this cake (which took about 4 hours including baking time).
Pans: Wilton 3D Egg Pan (1 box of mix) and an 8×8 pan (1 box of mix)
Frosting: Betty Crocker Cream Cheese (about 3 tubs total)
Icing Coloring: Wilton Red-Red, Americolor Red, Green food coloring
Booster Engines: Twinkies covered in frosting, attached with toothpicks
Fin: graham crackers covered in frosting
Windows/decals on boosters/headlights: fondant
Figurines: purchased from Disney Store
Antenna: Cherry Tootsie pop (I forgot to color the stick red).
For Rocket, I placed a half of the egg cake (it bakes in 2 sections) rounded side down on a wire rack. For the top (bubble) of Rocket, I cut the top ‘egg’ in thirds (vertically) and discarded the middle. Secured the front and back portions of the top with frosting and placed it on the body of Rocket setting it back slightly from the front. I hollowed out the top (a little) so that it nestled on the bottom for a closer fit. The 8×8 cake was simply frosted in green icing and was the base for Rocket.
Icing: Getting a true red took a lot of coloring (I used 2 tubs of frosting for the red). I used 2 jars of the Wilton, let it sit for a day to darken and then it still wasn’t dark enough for me so I added 1/2 a bottle of Americolor. It thinned out the frosting, so I kept it in the fridge to keep it from melting when it became room temp (or you could add confectioners sugar, like I did for the green icing). Next time, I’d skip the Wilton and just head for the Americolor. The green food coloring was added to 1 tub of frosting and as I mentioned, I added confectioners sugar to thicken it back up a bit.
Although this isn’t as beautiful as I envisioned it, the look on my son’s face when he saw it said that he loved it and it didn’t need to be perfect. Hope this inspires someone else to give it a shot for his or her little one!
You did a good job for a first timer! Congratulations on making your son so proud of his cake. I have only made two cakes myself…but found by trial and error that the colored paste works so much easier and used less than drops or food coloring. Keep on baking…it seems to impress so many people and puts a smile on their faces!
WOW – this is awesome… I’m going to attempt a cake like this for my daughters 2nd birthday. Were did you find your little dudes? We don’t have a Disney store around here anymore and the egg cake pan? maybe Michael’s?