I was inspired by Jehan P. from Richmond Hill, NY ‘s cake on this very page.
When my son asked me for a Sponge Bob Birthday Cake I was horrified! I have only ever white iced ‘normal’ cakes and never for visitors – even a bunch of 9 year olds.
I was looking for images of Sponge Bob to colour, hoping that I could work out how to do the face, but the mouth didn’t turn out right (I am a terrible artist!)
So looking around the internet I found Jehan’s beautiful cake, and as it had no arms and legs, it seemed easier! My son is allergic to red colouring so I suggested we give Sponge Bob a green tie. Unheard of!
I made a normal sponge cake with 8oz of margarine, 8oz sugar, 8oz self-raising flour, vanilla flavouring, 3 eggs and a little milk. I peeled and cut an apple, passed it through some more flour and threw that in to. It keeps the cake moist as I made it a day before the birthday. It also helped keep it flat. What I mean to say is that when cooked (40 minutes at 180ºc) I didn’t get a camel’s hump in the middle of the cake. A bit difficult to decorate, no?!
After the cake cooled I first of all iced the yellow bit. We had made a ‘practice cake’ the week before with royal icing, but it was very hard to roll out for a first timer! This cake was just normal icing sugar and water and E102 colouring. I poured it on and straightened it with a wet palette knife. When nearly dry I pressed the end of my wooden garlic press, both ends as they have different sizes, so that the sponge effect holes were formed. Once the yellow icing was completely dry I started the chocolate pants (I cut out a rectangular piece of cardboard and laid it on the cake where the shirt should go, to make the top of the pants line straight.)
Last the shirt and the eyes. This is also normal icing. I just placed a ‘scone cutter’ dug it into the yellow icing a couple of mm so the white icing didn’t seep underneath, and filled first one eye and then when dry the second eye overlapping the first. The pupils are just blue sweets.
I couldn’t find black icing in Spain and my son would probably be allergic to it anyway, so I marked the eyes, eyelashes etc. with a chocolate pencil (a plastic tube filled with runny chocolate that then dries). I also used it as glue for the chocolate spaghetti bits on the belt.
The tie is strawberry jam. That was my husband’s brilliant idea. My son can eat strawberries, just not the red colouring, E124 or cochineal natural red. At least this way Sponge Bob had his red tie on – oh and his tongue! (which originally was going to be cardboard cut-outs!)
All together fun to make, kids loved it. Absolutely impossible to buy over here, so completely original. Thanks for the inspiration and yes I would do it again!
Absolutely genius Michelle,
I love how you came up with original ideas for the different parts…
I have made some unusual cakes too when my daughter was young, because she asked LOL
Much more fun to try then just buy it at the store…and like you said the kids usually love it.
And Mom can brag about it!
Good job.