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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Skateboard Cake


Our boy turned 8 last month - October 20, to be exact - and since skateboarding is one of his favorite activities, I had decided to make him a skateboard cake.  I got inspiration from the Family Fun website.  
But how to decorate it?  
I scoured Cake Central for ideas, ones that would be simple (we do have a newborn baby around here, after all) but appealing to him.  When I found this one, I knew it would be perfect, since he loves all things camouflage and it looked relatively easy to replicate.  
I chose well, he absolutely loved it, and his friends were all very impressed as well.  

Here's how ya do it.

Recipe:

1 13 x 9 " cake (I used chocolate)
1 9" round cake (I used yellow)
1 batch Buttercream Frosting** (recipe at end of post)
Cocoa powder
Heavy cream or milk (for thinning frosting if necessary)
4 small chocolate-coated doughnuts
2 Pirouette cookies
Food coloring - black, green

It helps to have the cakes baked ahead of time and frozen, that way they carve easier and you get fewer crumbs when icing the cake.
Cut the 9" round cake in half.  Lay the 13 x 9" cake horizontally on the cake board and trim off a little of the sides, to give the skateboard some dimension.  Place the cut halves of the circle cake on each end.  Trim bottoms to make level with the larger cake if necessary. 


I tinted my whole batch of frosting light tan with some sifted cocoa powder.  Sifting is very important, you don't want clumps of cocoa in there! 

I removed about 4 cups of frosting and divided equally between 4 bowls.  One I added extra cocoa powder (plus a little cream) to make the dark brown.  Another I added a little bit of green food coloring for the light green. Another I added lots more green and some more cocoa powder to make a dark green.  The last I added more cocoa powder and black food coloring to make black.  (It's much easier to achieve black frosting with chocolate in there!) 

With the plain light tan frosting, I gave the cake its base coat. Then I used a toothpick to outline the design I wanted. You could skip that step if you want, I just felt more comfortable with having an outline.

Then I simply fitted a couple of pastry bags with small star tips (Wilton tips 17 and 18), filled with frosting, and went to work.


Interesting note: I only have two re-usable pastry bags that I like to use. Since I didn't want to wash them out between colors, I did the dark brown before the light brown and the dark green before the light green and just left the residue of the darker frosting in there when I filled the bag with the lighter frosting - it made the lighter frosting come out mixed and made the camoflaged appearance even cooler.


After the piping was all complete, all I had to do was stick a couple of the Pirouette cookies in between a couple of doughnuts for the wheels and axles and place them carefully on the cake. I made sure to have extra doughnuts handy for the kids at the party, because of course everyone wanted one.


The happy birthday boy.

**Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup butter, room temperature (salted)
1 cup shortening
8 cups powdered sugar
1 T. vanilla extract
1/4 cup cream or milk (more if necessary for desired consistency)
1/2 t. almond extract (optional)
Pinch of salt, (if you used unsalted butter)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and shortening on high (8 on my KitchenAid) for a minimum of 10 minutes. Reduce speed to "Stir" and add the powdered sugar slowly. Add vanilla and cream or milk. Whip until smooth. Add almond extract if desired. It gives the frosting just an extra "Wow" factor that I really like.

9 comments:

  1. I love the look of this cake for my sons 6th Birthday. I will attempt to make it this week. I am in Australia and we dont seem to use shortening in icing though will try to find some.
    Thanks for posting this fabulous cake.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment - glad you like the cake! You can use all butter instead of the shortening if you want - the only issue is that it will be softer and won't hold up as well to heat. If the weather is cool, it should be fine. For some added stabilization, you can dissolve a couple of Tablespoons of cornstarch in the milk before adding to the frosting, like the wilton website recommends. http://www.wilton.com/recipe/High-Humidity-Icing-Recipe-I
      Best of luck!

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  2. Oh Thank you very much Rebekah. Well yes it is very hot where I am about 35c it will be on the party and it is at the Skatepark. I said to my hubby we will need to leave it in an esky full of ice. I will add the cornstarch thanks for that tip!
    What cake of yours shall I use to make the Skateboard?
    I cant wait to make some of your amazing recipes.
    Thank you again Kate

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome! Definitely keep it cool if possible....but at least there aren't fancy things like roses to wilt. :)
      I just used cake mixes for that cake, but if you want to make one from scratch, I would recommend this chocolate cake. It's sturdy and carves well, but is moist and delicious. :)
      http://rebekahsfamilyfoodandfun.blogspot.com/2013/06/best-chocolate-cake-for-layering.html#.UiaprTZJNv5
      You'd probably need to make 1 and a half times the recipe - just to be sure you had enough batter.

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    2. Hi Rebekah,

      I made the cake you suggested and it turned out perfectly! I was a bit nervous about the boiling water part but it worked out fab!It's in the freezer until Saturday.
      I am trying to find black food colouring and am not having much luck though I have found Ameri color Black Oil Candy Color will that work in the icing?
      I will send you a picture of the cake when I have completed it.

      Thank you again.

      I have never followed any ones blog before though love reading yours.

      Thanks
      Kate

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    3. Hi Kate! I'm so glad the cake turned out well! I just made one yesterday as well....for a Pug Cake for my middle daughter's 6 year old birthday this weekend.

      I have never used Americolor Black Oil Candy Color - but from what I read, it's just for coloring white chocolates for candy making.

      You can google ways to make black food coloring (like mixing red, blue and green together, or dark green, blue, and purple) or if you don't have those on hand or want to buy that many colors, try using dark cocoa powder. I don't know what you have in Australia, but Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa is really dark and would tint the frosting well enough to be a contrasting color.
      If you do go that route, you'll have to add a little extra cream or milk to that frosting, because the cocoa powder will thicken it up.

      Can't wait to see your finished cake!! Best of luck!

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  3. Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea. :) gonna do this on my son's birthday. :) Godbless!!!

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    1. So glad you like it! Best of luck with your own creation!

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    2. So glad you like it! Best of luck with your own creation!

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