I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! We are in the midst of birthday season, and my youngest just turned 7 years old. I really can’t believe it, time is just flying by! We had a great time planning the birthday party, and of course, the cake. He wanted an Angry Birds theme on 2 different round layer cakes. We decided to make one cake Piggy Island and the other Bird Island, with the birds using the slingshot to save their eggs. It was fun planning and designing the cakes, and as always, a fun challenge for me. I hope you enjoy the cakes! Now, onto my daughter’s cake next month 😉
The cake is a homemade yellow butter cake, from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. I just adore her cake recipes. I doubled the recipe to make 4 round cakes. I stacked them two high, with icing in the middle. The icing is also homemade, and it’s made with real butter (see recipe below). This type of buttercream is more difficult and temperamental to work with than the vegetable shortening variety, but I prefer it, and am willing to live with a few icing cracks.
When frosting a cake, frost the top first and then the sides. Place a large amount of icing on top of the cake (you can remove the excess later), to prevent crumbs from mixing with your icing. After icing the top and sides, smooth out with a cake spatula and then place the cake under a stove fan and light for about 20 minutes to slightly harden the icing. Smooth the cake by using a smooth paper towel (Viva works well). Place the paper towel on a section at a time, and gently smooth with your hand. Repeat, until the cake is where you want it. I also use the paper towel to smooth the edges, by placing the paper towel on the edge, and smoothing gently from the side to the top. At this point, the cake is ready to decorate. I use a disposable cake box to store the cake in, until it is ready to put the decorations on and time to put on display.
I mixed the icing with red and green gel color. The red, of course, took a lot of food color. The decorations are made out of fondant, gum paste, rice crispy treats, wafers, and graham crackers.
- The birds, pigs, and eggs are made out of fondant. I molded them and used food safe markers and color dust for the details.
- The slingshot was made out of rice crispy treats (which I made and then cut the shape out), covered in brown fondant. I used toothpicks for support. The band was made out of 1/2 brown gum paste and fondant to give it a little strength and flexibility.
- The pig stands/city were made out of a combination of rice crispy treats, wafers, and graham crackers. I built them on the cake the day of the party, and used icing for extra support.
- I used gum paste for the letters and color dust for color.
- We found these great dynamite and bomb birthday candles, which are in front of the pigs.
- I used a gum paste glue to adhere the decorations to each other and the cake (made with water and gum paste). I placed all the decorations on the cake a few hours before the party, but got everything ready the night before, including icing the cake
I am excited to bring this cake to Fiesta Friday #177! Your lovely cohosts this wee are: Ai @ Ai Made It For You and Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook.
Ingredients
- 6 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
- 8 cups pure cane confectioners sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp real vanilla extract
Instructions
- With the flat beater attachment, beat the butter until smooth (about 45 seconds). Add the sugar (sifted if possible or at least whisked well) and beat for about 30 seconds or until combined. Add the vanilla and beat on high until very fluffy (around 2 minutes). Store in a sealed container and use within a day or 2.
Beautiful work!
Thank you!
Hope you are having a lovely summer Antonia! How lucky your little ones are that you make such amazing birthday cakes. I remember an animal or maybe zoo themed cake from a while ago! I’m quite impressed with this one 🙂 Hope you have a lovely weekend and good to hear from you.
Hi Heather, I hope you have been doing well! It has been nice, just surprisingly busy. Thank you for your kind words, and I hope you have a nice weekend too!
Wow, what great cakes, and the theme is fun! Nicely done Antonia!
Angry Birds was definitely a great theme, and we had a lot of fun with it. Thank you so much Deborah!
This is genius Antonia 🙂 Happiest birthday to your kid!
You are so kind, thank you!
I was waiting to see what you’d come up with. This masterpiece made me laugh, especially the two cakes facing off against each other. Cute little pigs and birds too. How fun. You’re a marvel, Antonia.
You are so sweet Diana! He gave me a challenge with 2 cakes, but it was so fun how it worked out. Thank you as always for such nice compliments!
I’m looking forward to the one you do for your daughter 🙂
She is working on it now, and she is thinking of coming up with a short story/comic to go along with it. I am intrigued! Thank you 😀
Ohmigoodness! I love It! You are so very talented!!
Thank you so much Paula!!
Cake looks amazing…am sure your kid would have enjoyed..
Thank you Lathiya! He loved them 😀
Wow you are very creative. looks awesome
Thank you Vidya, you are very kind!
This is a amazing Antonia 🙂 You are a very talented young lady ! And all those fondant little decorations, you are great ! and what a fun project this been for both you and your son 🙂 Well done. I bet the cake was delicious 🙂
Looking forward to your daughter’s cake 🙂 x
Thank you so much Lynne, you are very kind! It is always a fun and special time together! Thanks, she is working hard on the design 😉 Have a wonderful Sunday! 😀
How fun are these Antonia??!! What a bright idea to have two “opposing” cakes!! I’m sure your kids loved them. thanks for the detailed how-to on the figures! So so cute!
Thank you Rhonda! They did, especially the birds and pigs. It was fun to see it all come together! Have a great rest of your weekend!
Glad you took good photos–because I know those cakes didn’t last long!! Waiting to see what you come up with next! xox
So true, lol! Thank you!
They were the cutest!! Hope all’s well at your house. hugs Antonia!
Thank you, I hope you all are doing well too!
Wow, that’s impressive! My decorating game isn’t what it should be. 😉
Thank you so much Anita! Have a wonderful rest of your day! 😀
Amazing work, Antonia, you are so artistic. The decorations are wonderfully detailed and your children must have been thrilled with them.
Thank you Millie, you are very kind! They really enjoyed it, and it was fun to watch as the characters came to life. Have a great rest of your week!
What an amazing cake! Angry Birds is my go-to game on my iPad whenever I have to sit and wait for something (doctor’s office, on the train, etc). I would absolutely love it if someone made this cake for me! Thank you for sharing at FF!
Thank you Ai! It is such a fun game! Have a fantastic day!
I don’t think I’ll be patient enough to make a cake like this! I think I’d just eat from this lovely cake. 😀 Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday #177.
It definitely takes some patience and time! Thank you Jhuls! Have a great day!
Amazing!!
Thank you Mollie! Have a great rest of your week!
🙂 You, too!
😀
A masterpiece! Bravo, Antonia! 👏👏
Thank you so much Angie!
Lovely and colourful cake. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much Liz!