love bug cake

This year in one of my classes I was required to make a cake for a project. And this class was no baking or foods class. Oh no, this was my Entomology 105 class (aka: bugs class).

Awesome thing about this project = I get to make a cake, and it is going to be judged at a little cake competetion for Purdue’s Bug Bowl.

Bad part about this project = my cake has to look like, or relate to insects. (Just to clarify…It does not have to include insects in the recipe, just relate to them.)

I figured I was responsible for making an awesome cake. I had told some of the people in my group about my blog, and I think they too were expecting something amazing.

My cake is by no means amazing. But, I would say it was cute. It’s just a little lady bug cake that I made with a heart shaped pan to make “the love bug cake.”

It’s not completely finished in any of the pictures I have… But this is what it looked like before adding antenna

This was an easy to make cake. It took a long time, but the work was easy and relaxing. I did make the mistake of starting this at 8 PM…so I was up until about 2 or 3 AM putting on the finishing touches and realizing I had even forgot a few things.

Let me tell you, at 2 AM when you have to be somewhere at 8 AM the next morning, you will not be a happy camper to realize you forgot something.

fondant cut outs 300x199 The Love Bug Cake

The steps for this includes:

Make the fondant. Clean up, I promise there will be a huge mess.
Make the cake. And allow to cool fully.
Make the buttercream (or use the store bought stuff like I did…)
Roll out the fondant, and cover the cake. Decorate as desired.

I’ll post some of the other cakes submitted at the end of the post!

Ingredients

Cake recipe from JoyofBaking.com

Marshmallow Fondant
1 can of buttercream
Items to use for the eyes, antennae, and legs (if you desire)
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cup sifted cake flour (175 grams)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick of butter, softened (113 grams)
1 cups white sugar, divided (200 grams)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF and butter and flour the cake pan.
Separate the egg whites and yolks. Don’t discard either one.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat together the butter and 3/4 cups sugar for 3-4 minutes. Add in the yolks 1 at a time. Mix in the vanilla.
Alternate adding the flour mix and milk, beginning and ending with flour.
Make a meringue with the egg whites by beating the whites until foamy, then adding in the cream of tartar. Gradually add in the 1/4 cup sugar until soft peaks form.
Gently fold the whites into the cake batter.
Pour batter into 2 cupcake liners, and pour the rest into the cake pan.
Bake until a tester comes out clean. (for 2 9 inch cake pans, about 20-25 minutes each and about 10 minutes each for the cupcake).

Allow the cake to cool. Then using the 2 cupcakes make a giant cake ball by crumbling the cupcakes and mixing with a big scoop of icing until it forms a ball. Allow the ball to hard in the fridge.

Spread a thin layer of frosting over the cake to do a “crumb coating” or capture all the little crumbs that want to come off.

Allow the frosting to set, then repeat with another thin layer of frosting.

Roll out the fondant, and cover the cake. Carefully smooth out any bubbles or uneven areas. Using another coating of fondant cover the head of the bug. Cut out circles (or in my case hearts) for the spots and continue to decorate how ever you feel appropriate.