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Superheroes Birthday Cake
Step-by-step instructions for a shaped Superheroes Birthday Cake - featuring all your kiddo's favorite superheroes!
Equipment
- 5 small piping bags + tips (linked is a set that includes several reusable bags & the tips I used in the video)
- 1 cardboard cake board (optional, but I found this the easiest way to decorate and transport the cake)
Ingredients
Superheros Birthday Cake
- 2 Vanilla cake mixes (I like Duncan Hines French Vanilla)
- 1 cup butter (melted)
- 7 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk (room temperature)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese (one package, softened)
- 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 2-3 drops Red gel food coloring (save & add later)
- 2-3 drops Blue gel food coloring (save & add later)
- 2-3 drops Purple gel food coloring (save & add later)
- 2-3 drops green gel food color (save & add later)
- 2-3 drops Black gel food color (save & add later)
Decorations
- 8 ounces Fondant for decorations You can buy fondant or make your own!
- 4 ounces Black candy melts melted
- Iron Man Cupcake toppers I used these cupcake toppers; I couldn't find a fondant design that carried the idea across well enough in such a small space!
- 1 sheet edible gold leaf (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 15x10" baking pan with Baker's floured cooking spray, or grease and line the base with parchment paper.
- Combine melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix until combined.
- Add in cake mixes and stir until moistened (about 30 seconds), then beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for 35-37 minutes, (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow to cool for 20 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before frosting (place cake in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired). (This is a great time to make your frosting!)
- Once your cake is baked and cooled/chilled, use a large serrated knife to cut it into a 4-shape – I used a couple of pieces of paper to help me keep my cuts straight. (I like to make the frosting while the cake is chilling so I can crumb coat it as soon as it's cut - the crumb coat keeps crumbs out of the colored frostings, but it also helps keep the cake from drying out!)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
Decorating
- For each of the sections below, pipe on small stars of frosting to cover the cake section with a piping bag fitted with a small open star piping tip. Cover the sections with your desired colors – the ones I used are below!
- Whether you make or buy your fondant, soften it slightly in the microwave before shaping your decorations.
Spiderman
- Cover section in red frosting. Melt candy melts and transfer to a piping bag with a tiny hole in the tip. Pipe a spider web onto the section - I started a circular pattern in the center swirling outward, and then added straight lines back into the center. It made a pretty convincing web!
Iron Man
- Cover section in red frosting. I bought cupcake toppers to use on this section of the cake; I couldn't find a fondant design to convey the superhero clearly enough in such a small section. I used small bits of silver leaf to add a bit of extra shine to that part of the cake - in hindsight I wish I'd have used gold; you can buy a set with both here!
Batman
- Cover section in black frosting. I printed a batman logo and cut out an oval and then the batman logo shape and used them as templates to cut the same shapes out of fondant. A bit of gel food color later we were good to go!
Captain America
- Cover section in blue frosting. This fondant work involves a little more time – cut out a small fondant star and a large, medium/large, medium/small, small fondant circle. The largest and medium/small circles I painted red, and the small circle was blue – the layers as you stack them should be red, white, red, blue, and then the fondant star. I know, a few steps – but they're easy steps and it looks super cool when you’re done!
The Hulk
- Cover section in purple frosting. I used roughly a 2-tablespoon lump of fondant to make the large Hulk fist shape, and about a thumb-sized amount of fondant to make the cupcake Hulk fists, shaping them with a toothpick and the blunt end of a metal skewer. You can use green fondant or use white fondant and paint it green – I’ve found it easier to get bright colors by painting white fondant, but the color’s not quite as even. Up to you!
Video
Notes
Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate. Nutrition information also does not include fondant decorations.
(To keep cost down, I used gel colors to cover my fondant shapes rather than buying a ton of fondant colors - if you'd rather save yourself the hassle of painting, you can use black, green, white, red, and blue pre-colored fondant!)
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice (1/15th cake)Calories: 495kcalCarbohydrates: 63gProtein: 6gFat: 24g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Did you make this Superhero Birthday Cake?
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What do you charge for this cake
Thank you
I price at supply cost plus labor time – it’s been so long I don’t remember exactly, but somewhere in the ballpark of $50. None of the supplies – cake/frosting ingredients + plastic decorations and marshmallow fondant – were that expensive, and it only took me 90 or so minutes to put the cake together. Take my estimate with a grain of salt though; bakers prices vary with a lot of factors (e.g. professional bakeries have more experienced staff and a lot more overhead to cover than I do as a blogger.) Just my two cents!
Do you have a recipe for this in a chocolate cake?
I’ve not made it with a chocolate base before, but you could use this recipe – https://intensivecakeunit.com/favorite-chocolate-cake-recipe/ – or you could substitute chocolate cake mixes in the recipe in the card! Either way, I’d recommend using buttermilk – it seems to really help keep the cake from getting crumbly and make it easier to cut and shape! If you try it let me know how it goes!