It was the little guy’s birthday last week. His 6th, to be precise (ohh, I still haven’t gotten used to saying that!). Six years now that I’ve been a mother/personal assistant/playmate/nurse/teacher/personal chef/groomer. As he grows up, I find that I need to wear some of those caps for a little lesser time with each passing year. For example, he can groom himself pretty well now and is rather particular about it. He can also entertain himself quite well, thank you very much (after all, mommy sucks at Minecraft, so he’d rather play alone).
But, he’s still my baby! His birthday is the most important day of the year in our household and a lot of planning goes into it, regardless of whether we are having a large party or it’s just the three of us. Thankfully, my cake baking and decorating skills too are getting better with each passing year. You can take a look at previous years’ cakes here and here. Not too impressive, huh? But definitely getting better, right? Right?!!
I’m pretty excited to share this year’s cake with you. It’s a Pokemon birthday cake. Pokemon is Boy’s current favorite. He simply cannot seem to get enough of Ash Ketchum and friends and their Pokemon, especially the chubby Pikachu.
I originally had visions of doing a naturally dyed rainbow cake in Pokemon colors (blue, yellow and red) frosted with simple vanilla buttercream in a petal effect. It would have looked gorgeous with the rest of the decor. But I got vetoed on that front because Boy wanted chocolate frosting and only that. So I decided on simple yellow cake for the layers. Yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting is like a match made in cake heaven!
Both the yellow cake and chocolate buttercream recipes given here can be made a day in advance. This helped me greatly because I had to bake three cake layers. I made the frosting a day in advance and whipped it up lightly when it was time to frost. Look at that perfectly whipped, fluffy, chocolatey frosting!
It was time to frost the cake now. I stacked and frosted to my heart’s content. It wasn’t perfect, far from it actually. But I persevered. I left it purposefully messy, making little ridge patterns up the sides of the cake and little swirls on the top. To accentuate the cake, I lined the top edge with our favorite malt balls or whoppers. The malt balls also served as a guide to cut perfectly even pieces while serving. Sweet!
Once the cake was done, it was time to decorate. I used all of Boy’s favorite Pokemon characters and those brilliant blue, yellow and red colors in the decor this year. I think it turned out super cute!
Look at that cake again, will you? It’s not perfect, but it’s a labor of love, and it shows. In every imperfect stroke and swirl of frosting!
When the little champ came home from school, I had the cake all ready and waiting for him. The look on his face was priceless!
The cake recipe is a mish-mash of Wilton’s yellow cake and my vanilla cake recipes. I increased the eggs and butter used in the original Wilton recipe for a richer cake and rather liked how my modifications worked out. The chocolate frosting is my tried and tested recipe and the amount given here comfortably frosts a 3-layer cake with just a little extra to spare.
Here’s how you can make a 9-inch 3-layer yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.
POKEMON BIRTHDAY CAKE {YELLOW CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING}
Makes a 9-inch 3-layer cake, serves 12-15. Yellow cake recipe adapted and modified from Wilton’s basic yellow cake recipe.
You will need:
For the yellow cake,
All purpose flour – 4 1/2 cups
Baking powder – 3 3/4 tsp
Salt – 1 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 3 cups
Unsalted butter – 1 1/2 cups, softened at room temperature
Eggs – 4, large
Vanilla extract – 4 1/2 tsp
Milk – 1 3/4 cups
For the chocolate buttercream frosting,
Unsalted butter – 1 cup, softened at room temperature
Unsweetened dark cocoa powder – 1 cup, whisked to remove lumps
Powdered sugar – 3 1/2 cups plus a little extra (always have extra on hand to adjust the consistency)
Milk or heavy cream – 4-5 tbsp (or as needed)
Vanilla extract – 2 tsp
Salt – a scant pinch
For decoration,
Malt balls or whoppers candy – 1 pack
Any edible decorations like sprinkles or other candy
Cake toppers and candles of choice
How to:
Yellow Cake: Pre-heat oven to 350 deg.F. Grease bottom of three 9-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper. Grease parchment paper and sides of cake pans, dust with flour, tap out excess, and set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light in color. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Continue beating one minute.
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Smooth batter in pans with a spatula. Tap pans on counter-top to get rid of air bubbles and to smooth the batter.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. After this, invert cake layers onto wire rack and cool completely.
Once cool, level the cake layers with a sharp serrated knife, if so desired. Cover each layer tightly with cling wrap and refrigerate till ready to frost. It helps to chill the layers at least a couple of hours before frosting, overnight is best.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting: Beat butter and cocoa powder together till well combined. Add 1 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk (or heavy cream) and beat well. Add the same amounts again, beating all the while till you attain a nice fluffy consistency. Add vanilla extract and salt and mix well to combine.
Beat the frosting on high for at least 2-3 minutes, adding a little more powdered sugar or milk/cream to adjust the consistency as you go. I ended up using around 3 1/2 cups of sugar in all. The frosting should be fluffy and thick, able to hold its shape if you pick some up on a knife or small spatula.
Cover the frosting with cling wrap touching its surface. Cover the bowl with a tight-fitting lid and chill in the refrigerator till ready to use. You can whip it again till fluffy after bringing it to room temperature.
Frosting and Decorating the cake: Line a cake stand or serving platter with long strips of parchment paper. Place one cake layer in the middle. Add a big blob of frosting on top and spread evenly and thinly till the edges. Place next cake layer on top of this and repeat. Once the third layer is placed, frost the top thickly. Frost the sides, filling in any gaps between the layers.
Once frosting is smooth and level to your liking, you can add little swirl or ridge patterns with your spatula. Hold the spatula vertically along the side of the cake and gently slide upwards. Repeat all around the cake. For the top, gently make swirl patterns in the frosting with the rounded tip of the spatula or a small spoon.
Arrange malt balls candy around the top edge of the cake, if so desired. Else, you can add sprinkles or any such decorations.
Gently remove the parchment paper strips from under the cake and wipe the cake stand of any stray crumbs. Refrigerate cake till use.
Top with your cake topper and candles, cut and serve. Enjoy!
This turned out to be a very decadent and delightful birthday cake. I loved the flavor of the yellow cake, it was perfectly buttery and sweet. The dark chocolate frosting complimented it perfectly. The slices of leftover cake somehow seemed to get better even after a couple of days in the fridge.
Most importantly, the star of the hour absolutely loved it and that’s all that matters!
I’ve been asked by a lot of people directly, on Facebook and on Instagram about this cake and how I decorated it. It really is very simple and I do not follow complicated procedures. All my birthday cakes are like so. I am thinking of doing a small post on “how to fake the perfect cake” later on. Do you think it is something that will help you? What specifically would you like to know? Do share in the comments.
Even if you are a master cake decorator or a novice like me, anyone can pull off this cake with considerable ease with just a bit of planning and foresight.
Hope you enjoyed this post!
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I am sharing this over at Angie’s amazing blog link party at The Novice Gardener and Saucy Saturdays.