I don't think I've ever made my own birthday cake before. Somehow, that just seems wrong. But this year, I decided it would be a good excuse to try the Garfield character cake pan that I bought a year ago and blogged about last week. When I announced this plan to my boyfriend, he insisted that he should help, because I shouldn't have to make my own cake. Another C&J Creation. I was game.
Next, we needed a pattern for the fondant that would replace the missing plastic face. First, I traced the impression on the pan so that it would be the right size and general shape. Then, looking at a picture of the vintage pan on Pinterest, I sketched in Garfield's features -- his eyes, nose, and mouth. Once we were happy with it, I made a few copies and, the following night, we made a pilgrimage to Bulk Barn to buy a cake board big enough for the Garfield cake.
Then, over the weekend, I set about colouring the fondant. I had some yellow left from making Woodstock as part of our 2024 gingerbread "house," so I combined it with white to make it more pastel. Then I coloured a chunk of white fondant with orange. When it was looking a little neon, I added a small touch of brown to tone it down. Finally, as with the yellow, I combined some red fondant with white to achieve the pink for Garfield's nose. I cut apart my template and used it to make the various features of his face, piecing them together on a white fondant base. Then, my boyfriend used an extruder to create the black outlines that are key to Garfield's cartoon appearance. Once we were happy with the face, I placed it on top of the cake pan so that it would take the pan's shape and dry with a curve.
The next day, we made the cake. This was the strangest cake recipe I've ever made. I chose Yolanda Gampp's ultimate chocolate cake. It started with dissolving Dutch-processed cocoa powder in boiling water. Then it said to cream the butter and sugar for eight minutes. EIGHT MINUTES! I thought this was overkill, but was committed to following the recipe. It was surprising to see the butter and sugar move through so many textures during that eight minutes. I have to say, if the recipe hadn't specified eight minutes, we probably would have stopped after one thinking we'd adequately creamed the butter and sugar. Clearly, none of us are doing that correctly. Until now. I sifted flour. I cracked open eggs. We mixed, alternating between dry and wet ingredients. And eventually we had batter to fill the pan (and more besides, so I also filled a 6" round).
Now, we had carefully prepared the pan. We greased it extremely well and even used a pastry brush to get into every nook and cranny. We were sure that we'd done an adequate job on that front. But about 90 minutes later, after the cake had baked and then cooled slightly before turning it out onto a wire rack, I discovered we had not done a good enough job. That cake did not want to come out of the pan. I ran a spatula around the edges, I tapped, I forced a flexible bench scraper between the cake and the pan, I swore, I tried the spatula again. I continued in this fashion for about 30 minutes before I finally got the cake out of the pan. And when it did finally come out, it was in two pieces.
You win some and you lose some in this life, and I had clearly lost this round. I wrapped the cake in plastic and gave myself a timeout. After some reflection, I decided that the best way to proceed was to coat the cake in ganache to hold the cake together and smooth the crumbs. So the next day, I made a dark chocolate ganache and once it had cooled and thickened, I coated the cake before returning it to the fridge yet again.
My boyfriend did the first section of the cake. And then when he tired of dotting stars, I tagged in. About forty minutes later, with severe hand cramps, the cake was completely covered in orange icing. Then we once again extruded fondant and used it to outline Garfield's features and create his characteristic stripes. We admired our work and took copious photographs. And then we chopped two pieces of cake from his body.
Not to toot my own horn, but this was the most delicious birthday cake I've ever had. The cake was dark and rich, and had a very dense texture -- almost like a chocolate pound cake. The icing was very buttery. And that thin layer of ganache really kicked it up a notch.
As for lessons learned, first I would say, don't make a character cake -- at least not with a character cake pan. You're in for a world of hurt. They are frustrating to use and I find it hard to believe anyone has success getting the cake out of the pan without any casualties. But if you are like me and just can't stop yourself from doing it, invest in the expensive cake release spray instead of typical pan preparation methods. I don't know whether that would make a difference, but I'd try that before anything else.
Second, the hand cramps are real. Plan for breaks. Or take a tag team approach. Or at the very least keep the icing bag topped up so that you don't have to squeeze as hard when piping (and so that the heat from your hands doesn't melt the buttercream).
And, finally, less is more. You don't need to get all of the details done to capture the essence of the character. A few well placed details will do the job. We initially intended to outline the legs and feet, but quickly realized it overwhelmed the cake. When we pared it back, the cake looked better.
All in all, a fun birthday adventure! Now I need to fly home later this month to make a Tigger cake for my sister.
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