This is my very first fondant cake and my first stacked cake!
I did a lot of research about cakes and toy story designs before I attempted this cake.
Here is the story as to how I decided that I was going bake Evan's Birthday cake. We have our favorite bakery called Love'n Oven. They make beautiful cakes and they are also delicious.
This is the cake they made for his Baptism!
Now, when I look at it the fondant wasn't really that smooth! lol
We went to the bakery on a Sunday to order his Birthday cake. They refused to take my order because it was a stacked cake and told me I needed to come another day to see the wedding cake designer. Plus, they weren't sure if they would be able to make the cake on time...I gave them almost 2 weeks notice. I gave them less time for his Baptism cake. Oh well...
I left there very disappointed and when they said I needed to meet with the designer I knew the price was going to be high. I am such a stubborn person that when I get mad I make a little scene. I said that I was going to go to Jewel instead because I wasn't going to drive that far to come out to see the designer again. I also said "the heck with it I'm making the cake!"
WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!!
I was now stuck with making his cake! I suck at making cakes!! I can't even frost one!!!
And because I can't frost a cake I decided to use fondant to hide any imperfections. PERFECT!
Now where to start?
I found this website thecakeeccentric.wordpress.com that had a great recipe. She also has a youtube video on how to make butter cream frosting...YUM!
(This is what I used for my practice cake. I used full fat everything and brand name cake mix for the 'real' cake.)
2 boxes yellow cake, your favorite brand
1 c sour cream
8 eggs
1/2 c + 2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp mayo
3/4 c milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Mix milk and vinegar and set aside for 3-5 minutes, or use a comparable amount of buttermilk. Combine the rest of the ingredients with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer then add milk mixture.
Pour into 2 greased 8 inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Cool on wracks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely.
(My cakes took longer to bake.)
I also bought Wilton gel food coloring so I can color the cake batter and fondant.
I separated the cake batter into 3 bowls and mix the food color in until I came up with the perfect shades.
Orange, Green, and Blue were the colors of the party, that's how I choose the colors for the cake.
Then with a spoon I just scooped batter into the cake pans with a random pattern. Making sure to fill all the gaps.
I smoothed out the top to make it level.
Here is what it looks like after it has been baked and the top cut off to level it.
I just love the way it turned out!
Everyone was surprised when we cut into the cake.
I frosted it with butter cream frosting.
½ cup butter
½ cup shortening
1 tsp Clear vanilla extract
2-3 Tbsp warm water
Mix on low speed
Add:
8 cups Powdered sugar
Keep mixing until it looks like this
Keep mixing until it looks like this
I used the colored caked for the bottom cake and a chocolate cake for the top. The colored cake had a chocolate pudding center and the chocolate cake had a banana pudding w/ banana chunks in the center. I frosted the cakes. I then put straws in the cake on the bottom where the other cake would be sitting on. I did this so it would have more support. I frosted over the straws.
I tried to make my own fondant but it was so difficult to work with. So, I bought Wilton's fondant and it made a world of a difference. What took the longest was adding the food color to the fondant and kneading it to get just the right shade. Otherwise rolling it out and laying it on the cake was simple.
I did cow print on the top for Woody's vest and yellow with red strips for Woody's shirt.
I use fondant alphabet letter cutters for the words. There was no way I was going to hand cut those. I found that a pizza cutter works the best for making shapes and cutting off the extra fondant.
To add the shapes just put a LITTLE bit of water to the back of the shape and it will stick on to the fondant. Just don't use a lot because it will get very sticky.
This cake took me all day to make. I also practiced with one cake first before making this big one just to make sure I could do this. Researching really helped a ton to make this cake. It wasn't perfect but it was more special because I made it.
BTW it was A-MAZ-ING!
