Project Nemo - The Story of the Cake

I  have to admit that the general concept for the cake was not original.  There are always loads of greatl ideas on Coolest-Birthday-Cakes.com

I baked three separate chocolate cakes using the recipe for 'Mom's Chocolate Cake' from the Macrina Bakery and Cafe cookbook. This is a superb chocolate cake recipe. It always comes out moist and, having used it for three different birthday cakes now, it seems to be very forgiving. (I just made the basic chocolate cake and not the vanilla syrup or chocolate frosting specified in the recipe). 

I didn't have a small enough tin for the upper tier, so I just made two medium-sized cakes and cut one down to fit.

I was a bit nervous about making a tiered cake as it had to be transported quite a way up the freeway to the pool where we were holding the party, so the the Husband, thank goodness he's an engineer, constructed quite a complex structure of wooden sticks and cardboard circles to make sure that the cakes didn't sink into another or slide about.

 

I then mixed up a large quantity of buttercream and tinted most of it sea blue - I found that about 2-3 drops of Royal Blue colouring to 1 drop of Leaf Green worked well.

We then coated the whole thing, including the base board, with the buttercream; piped on some green seaweed tendrils and jaggedy coral; and then decorated it with the shells. I am so pleased with how they turned out as they made the whole cake.

We then sprinkled it with some blue sprinkling sugar (which you can't see on this photo but which gave the icing the texture of bubbles) and topped it with Nemo and his daddy.  I cheated massively here and used some bath toys - the Minx thought this was an excellent idea as she got to keep a souvenir of the cake.

And the kids were mesmerized...

Comments

[Amanda Nicole]

That cake is amazing! I still remember the elaborate birthday cakes my mom (reluctantly) made for me when I was young, so you can rest assured that your daughter will remember and appreciate it for years to come!

[Liz]

I'm mesmerised, too. Beats my best effort (made oh so many years ago) of a slightly skew-wiff Postman Pat van.

[Paola]

Actually I enjoyed this one as it was well within my capabilities and depended mostly on size and colour for its impact - I wouldn't know where to start on a Postman Pat van! Goodness knows what I'll do next year though...

[Uncle Beefy]

LOOK LADY! Frankly....I could do without the competition!!! ;)

OMG! This is FABULOUS! I'd love this cake for MY OWN birthday! But I'm a man-child...so there you go.

Well done! :)

[Uncle Beefy]

Oh and a belated "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" to the Minx! :)

[Paola]

Praise indeed from the Maestro... I can now go the rest of the day in a warm glow of contentment. Just say the word and you can have this cake for your birthday...

[Robin]

That cake came out gorgeous, well done. I bet you could repeat next year with Little Mermaid or even "a day at the beach" with mini sand pail and shovel, etc.

[Paola]

Ah, you speak wisely Obi-wan...I shall spend the rest of the year buying her Little Mermaid merch. Although she's already told me that she's going to have a Nemo-themed birthday again when she is eight. I believe the plan for next year though was Sponge Bob :(

[cassandra]

omg - it turned out FABULOUS!!! you are the best mama ever, and i'm so glad i don't have children or i'd be feeling mighty inadequate right now. i think i'd have given up halfway through the icing.

[Gypsy]

I can't get over the texture of the piped decorations...the coral and the seaweed look exactly right. You are making the rest of us look very, very bad.

[tula]

I am so in love with the fact that you made this fabulous cake. I can barely ice a cookie.

[Liz@VioletPosy]

That is an awesome birthday cake! I made Lily's first one but since then have wussed out and got them from Waitrose. I might try again this year..

[davina]

amazing as usual....wow!