LEGO Movie Cake

My son has recently become a huge fan of lego (The Lego Movie having everything to do with it). Every my kids put in their birthday cake order from mom (me) since they know mom can do it. I literally have to talk them down from their imaginations of cake grandeur hoping to save something for their weddings. This year my son and I agreed on a Lego Movie cake and here are the details:

Here I used Duff Black fondant. I purchased it locally but occasionally I order (a different brand) fondant from my supplier in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most commercially made fondants handle well. You can make fondant at home, but it may take much longer to achieve your desired results.

• The logo was hand transferred by printing a photo from the internet and tracing it onto a doubled piece of parchment. Once the logo is traced you cut off or remove the layer that has touched the printer paper/ink. Gently smooth the parchment design face up onto the cake which has already been covered in fondant. The parchment will stick. Using a clean needle poke tiny holes along the lines you have traced, following the entire design. After completing the pin pricks use the appropriate colors to trace (or dot-trace) the design. Fill in your outlined design. Up close you can see the texture but when you step back it looks amazing.

• The Mini-Figures and lego blocks were made with gum paste (easy to make: Just mix fondant and tylose gum-sold by Wilton) and a mini figure and block mold. After mixing the gum paste and coloring it yellow (and brown for Vetruvius) I placed the gum-paste in the mold and placed the entire mold in the freezer for about 5 minutes. This is my quick method (read: quick-get-it-done-while-it's-still-nap-time-method). When the gum paste is stiff (not frozen solid just stiff) immediately un-mold it and then leave it to dry and harden. I then dressed, decorated, and painted my mini-figures by hand (that was the pain-staking part). Tip: Make extra Mini-Figures. You may break a couple getting the hang of the process. I used plain old skewers to stand them up on the cake.
• Just in case you were wondering about the cake inside of the design, my son chose carrot cake. So if you are looking for an awesome carrot cake recipe I have the recipe for you!
  
  I have adapted a recipe found here by Dori Greenspan from her book Baking at Home. Hers calls for oil, and I hate oil in carrot cake. So I use butter in the same proportions. In my opinion it tastes much better. I also use my own cream cheese frosting recipe because it goes under fondant but the one listed in the site looks yummy.
  
  So the recipe goes:
  
  2 Cups AP Flour
  2 ts. Baking Powder
  2 ts. Baking Soda
  2 ts. Cinnamon (or to taste)
  1 ts salt
  3 cups grated carrots (food processor or cheese grater works)
  2 cups Sugar
  1 cup BUTTER, soft at room temp
  4 eggs, NOT COLD must be room temp.
  
  optional:
  Raisins (we added this) recipe calls for 1/2 cup
  Walnuts (this too)  recipe calls for 1 cup
  Coconut (yep) recipe calls for 1 cup
  
  Mix the sugar and butter together add in eggs mix until fully combined. Mix dry ingredients together and then add to wet ingredients. Mix only until fully combined. Do not over-mix.
  
  Dori's recipe says use (3) 9 inch pans. But I used two 9 inch and torted (sliced in half) and filled the layers.
  
  Bake at 325 F until skewer comes out clean in the middle.
  
  ENJOY!

Keep Creating!!