I have been absent most of this summer, and have missed catching up with all of my wonderful blogger friends and readers. I hope to be back on a more consistent basis very soon. It has been a very busy summer, with a few challenges along the way. We also added a puppy to our family this summer, and it has been a wonderful, yet a time-consuming experience. I have never had a puppy, so what a learning experience it has been! But, back to the reason for my post. 😀 My daughter turned 9 years old this summer and I still can’t believe she is growing up so fast. One of her favorite things, is DC SuperHero Girls. She loves reading the comics and watching the movies. Naturally, this was the theme for her birthday. She designed her cake and gave me quite a challenge. Out of all the cakes I have made for my children, this was the most difficult. Cutting superhero logos out of fondant and gum paste was definitely an experience! I loved sitting with her while she designed her cake, and especially loved bringing her design to life. I hope you enjoy my little girl’s birthday cake. 😀 Happy August everyone!
The cake is a homemade chocolate cake, from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. 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 light blue gel color. The decorations are made out of fondant and gum paste.
- The superhero logos were all made out of a mixture of fondant and gum paste. Wonder Woman’s rope and Poison Ivy’s vine was also made out of a mixture of gum paste and fondant. The leaves were made out of gum paste and allowed to dry.
- Wonder Woman’s crown, Katana’s sword, and Harley Quinn’s mallet were made of fondant and colored with food safe markers and color dust.
- I used gum paste for the letters.
- 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 #184! Your amazing co-hosts this week are Petra @ Food Eat Love and Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook.
What a great cake! Birthday wishes to your daughter. Know she loved that cake!
Thank you so much Debbie! She did, and loved eating it more..lol! I hope your summer has been great! 😀
Wow, that’s a masterpiece. Some of those logos are Super intricate. I hope Zoe had a great birthday and loved eating her cake. Hope she has a Super year!
Thank you so much Diana! They really are, it was quite a job! She did, it was wonderful 😀 Thank you for the sweet wishes!
Hi Antonia, everyone has been a bit AWOL (including me this summer-lol). Great looking cake and many more Birthdays to Zoe.
Hi Cheryl, I hope your summer has been great! It happens this time of year, for sure! 😉 Thank you for the kind words! 😀
Now getting them all into school term?! hang In.
Right, Cheryl!;) I hope yours goes smoothly too!
xx
😀
I agree and I was about to say exactly the same thing😀
😀 Thank you again!
What a great cake! Your daughter designed a good one.
A puppy! Hard work, but so worth it once you get them trained. You’ll have a wonderful companion and furry friend for a long, long time.
Thank you Deborah! I loved the idea of doing the symbols as good vs evil. Yes, a lot of work, but she is so cute. She is just turning 15 weeks. It is crazy how fast they grow up! I agree, a great companion 😀
It’s beautiful! You are so good with your cakes!
Thank you so much Paula! I hope you have had a wonderful summer!
It’s been a busy summer all around Antonia! So good to see a post from you 🙂 How exciting is a new puppy?! They are a lot of work though… I remember getting our dog at 2 months old and she was a handful. Hope that everything from potty training to obedience is going well. Your daughter is quite lucky to have such a talented mom to make a beautiful cake!
It is great to hear from you too Heather! I hope your summer has been going well. I agree, so much work, almost like children. It is, she is almost house trained and is learning some of the basic commands. She is 15 weeks, so almost out of the terrible 2s! Yay! Thank you for the sweet compliment! 😀
That looks tasty. I’m in the mood for frosting.
Thanks Jacqui! It’s always a good time for frosting, lol! 😉
Cute cake! I’ve worked with fondant some but never gum paste!
Thanks Judi! Gum paste works best for things you need to get really hard, especially flowers and small decorations. I love working with both! 😀
Wow! This looks beautiful and I admire you for making this for your daughter! If my daughter would ask me for this, I would surely buy it somewhere!😂 Happy birthday to her and thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday party! Have fun!
Thank you for the kind words Jhuls! Ha ha, I understand! Happy Fiesta Friday to you as well and thank you! 😀
This is great, love it!
Thank you! 😀
Amazing work, Antonia…You are so creative…
Thank you so much Swapna! I hope you are having a wonderful month!
The cake is adorable! Your daughter is very lucky and it sounds delicious as well! 🙂 happy Fiesta Friday!
Thank you Petra, you are so kind! Happy Fiesta Friday and I hope you are having a fantastic week!
🙂 And you too! x
Thank you 😀
Wow!! Such an amazing cake!! Not everyone is as talented as you 🙂
Thank you for the compliments! Have a great rest of your week!
Antonia, what an amazing cake ! It is perfect 🙂 I bet it tasted great too. I hope Zoe had a beautiful birthday and has a great year ahead.
A puppy…how gorgeous. Enjoy your puppy, they are so special and definitely bring a lovely dynamic to any family. I hope you share a pic or two of your new family member. Have a wonderful week ahead my friend. x
Aww, thank you Lynne! It was a wonderful day! We are having a lot of fun with her. She is getting a little less nippy, which is nice. She just left her terrible 2s, and is 16 weeks today! I need to share photos of her for sure! Thank you, and I hope the rest of your week is wonderful! 😀
So cool that you two worked out the cake design and made it together!! I’l bet she loved it! — and I know how summers can get with kids home and so many things going on!! How is the puppy?? Settling in?? Do we get to see pics of the little guy?? So fun to see the cake Antonia!! hugs hugs!
It has become a wonderful tradition, and hopefully they will love the memories! She is doing well, and I am sharing pictures tomorrow. She is a sweet little girl, but definitely a handful!
Hi Antonia! just checked in on your blog and found those amazing cheese beer biscuits!! I’ll bet your husband loved them!! I want to give them a try!! thanks! xox
Yes, maybe too much, lol! Thanks again!
The cake turned out so amazing. That’s such a beautiful gift for your little princess. I am sure she was excited. I loved all the details on the cake especially the rope. Lots of good wishes to her💐
Hugs and regards
Ana
Thank you so much! She loved it! Have a fantastic rest of your weekend!
That was one nice cake. I hope your daughter enjoyed! Belated Birthday Wishes!
Thanks Liz, it was so much fun bringing her design to life! 😀 I hope you have a wonderful weekend!