Momma Told Me: Sometimes it's okay to get a little crazy in the kitchen.
I make cakes. I make them because I enjoy it, never by request, and almost always spontaneously. Friends and family have often suggested I make them professionally, for me, that would take all the fun out of it. I'm a perfectionist by nature, and crafting cakes is not something I'm professionally trained in, therefor there will always be stray frosting, a crooked layer, or the inevitable bleeding frosting. It happens.
This year I bought myself a cake with the solemn resolve that I would not make myself a cake this year, as I have every year before. I was unmotivated, and looking forward to skipping the crazed planning that usually comes when I'm trying to figure out how to craft a unicorn out of Rice Krispies without fondant. Then, a few days before my actual birthday I felt the itch. The 'what if I just did this....' phrase began running through my head, and before I knew it I was running through the grocery store tossing random ingredients in my cart with Sabrina (11) by my side. It was quite appropriate giving the theme I had chose; minions.
If you're not familiar with Minions, then you've somehow missed both installments of the Universal Pictures
Despicable Me films. Minions, traditionally yellow with a variance of eye and hair quantity, wear blue overalls and work for the evil mastermind Felonious Gru, while moonlighting in their syndicate cover, a Jam factory. They are disaster on two feet, highly unpredictable, and love bananas above all. Which is why the current range of Banana Cream Twinkies made an obvious selection for my traditional minion base. With some Oreo cookies of choice (in our case cookie dough), candy eyes, and blue melting chocolate we whipped up some adorable minions to top my standard square birthday cake.
As adorable as my tribe of hard working, slightly zany, but good intentioned minions were, no Minion cake would be complete without the presence of the second film's nemesis; Evil Minions, in all their purple glory. For these, we used Jumbo Marshmallows mounted on cake pop sticks, dipped in melting chocolate for a base. Next, the part Sabrina was talking about for weeks; I placed 4 Grape Jolly Ranchers in my Pyrez measuring cup and slow melted them at 70% in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Once the Rancher had began to lose form and bubble it was tacky enough to swirl onto parchment paper for our Evil Minion's 'hair.'
One thing I learned quickly, after cake assembly, is that the traditional Wilton candy eyes bleed when they are refrigerate (or frozen) and return to room temperature. This sweating makes the eyes seep green food color, which can be touched up with a damp Q-Tip for photography, or left to add to the zany look of your minions. I am usually entirely hands on with my birthday cakes; this year I let Sabrina do the bulk of the building, and went with many of her personal minion creations. The imperfections only served to give our minions more character!
Inside our Minion Cake we layered a thicker layer of yellow cake atop a thinner layer of Blue Velvet (both boxed, nothing fancy this year) and frosted with a thick cream cheese layer. I was especially proud of how each slice resembled a minion in profile! Both of our minion concept creations could easily be adapted for cupcake toppers for a children's party, and I'm already thinking of making them again for our Winter league potluck!
Have you ever made a themed character cake from scratch?
What Daughter Says: Sometimes the best form of perfection is imperfection- This cake is perfect for small handed helpers and big smiles!
