You asked about the Birthday Present cake.
It’s an easy one, really. Not nearly as hard as the Under the Sea Cake…that one was hard!
The Pirate Ship Cake was a little tougher, too, but the Jungle Cake and the Race Car Cake weren’t too bad.
The Birthday Present Cake was easier, though. It just took time.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Chocolate cake (2 8- or 9-inch layers)
- White cake (2 8- or 9-inch layers)
- Chocolate frosting
- Butter Cream frosting
- Box of white fondant (you can buy this at Michael’s, Joann Fabrics, or any store that carries cake decorating supplies)
- Food coloring
- Sprinkles
- Small amount (maybe 1/4 cup) of confectioner’s sugar.
Here’s how we did it:
First, bake, cool, and assemble four layers: white layer, chocolate, white, chocolate. Spread chocolate icing in-between each of the layers but don’t frost the outside yet.
Cut:
- Two long strips of white fondant for the part of the bow that wraps around the cake.
- Four shorter pieces, folded into the “bow” part of the bow. I let them dry on their sides overnight before attaching them to the top of the cake with a little confectioner’s sugar/water mixture.
- One small strip of fondant, folded into a circle to be the middle of the bow. This will also need to dry on its side (to hold its shape).
- One small rectangular piece of fondant for the gift tag. Use a toothpick to carve the letters, then dip it into food coloring, and trace over the letters.
- Fondant number 9s. These are the most time consuming – I stuck my mom with the job! She cut a 9 out of paper, traced it onto the fondant with a toothpick, then cut the 9s out with a paring knife. Nice work, mom.
- Lots of little fondant balls to add to the base of the cake.
Next, add a little food coloring to a small piece of fondant & knead it until the fondant is the color you want–we went with red. Roll small circles, cut large circles, and cut 4 red 9s (1 for each side of the cake).
Make sure to prepare the fondant decorations before you add the butter cream frosting, otherwise, they won’t stick!
Frost the outside of the cake with Butter Cream icing, then add sprinkles to the top. Next, apply the two long strips of fondant, criss cross, around the cake. Press the other fondant decorations into the cake in any way you like. We put white 9s on the top, and red nines and circles on the sides.
Add the little balls of fondant around the base.
After the top parts of the bow dry, set them on the top of the cake. Mix a little confectioner’s sugar and water together to make a thick, paste-like icing. Put it into a small ziplock bag and snip off the end. Squeeze a little of the icing into the center of the 4 “bow” pieces and apply the small, round, middle of the bow to the top.
Squeeze a little more of the confectioner’s mixture to the bottom of the gift tag, and place it near the bow on top of the cake.
Voila! You’ve got a lovely Birthday Present Cake for your nine-year-old. Naturally, you could make this for any age and with a million variations. There’s an even fancier, more complicated version inside the Wilton’s fondant box, but I thought this one worked just fine. Have fun, and Happy Birthday!
