Lego Cake

In the months after finding out I was pregnant, I naturally thought a lot about the future things I would get to do for my child. One thing I was excited to try is fun birthday treats. Our families aren't huge on the enormous birthday parties, but we do celebrate as  family and have birthday treats each year. I had pictures in my head of learning how to make the fun ruffled iced cakes, pretty pies, and elegant desserts. And then we had a boy and I realized, he probably won't want pretty desserts, he's going to want dinosaurs, dirt cakes, monsters, lizards, etc. While they aren't "pretty", I realized that those are going to be fun to make too. So when Lou sent in her Lego Cake Pinstrosity, I had to put that on the list of future birthday treats to try out. I may be trying it out sooner than I think though; Cameron just saw the picture and said "I want a Lego cake!". I love this man. So for his birthday in 6 months, maybe this is what I should make him. Cameron's 31st Lego Themed Birthday. This'll be awesome.

The Original Pin

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/building-blocks-cakes/ca36541e-624c-48af-ab78-68ef256e8903

See? That's a fun cake! And it looks deceptively easy. Lou said, "Our oldest son turned 11 years old (on the 11th of August).  He is majorly into Lego's so of course he wanted a Lego shaped cake.  I have tried a few things on Pintrest that have been quit successful (shelves, cookies in a jar, scrapbook ideas, etc).  I saw an adorable cake and thought to myself "I can totally do that!"  Well, I attached two pictures proving how I could not totally do it....... Although all three of my boys said it tasted amazing."

The Pinstrosity

It does look like a Lego, but maybe one that's lived out in the yard too long and has had too much sun and sand. The basic anatomy of a Lego is there, but it just needs a little refining to make the Legoness pop.

First, the block shape. The instructions have you cut the top of the cake off so that it is completely flat. This will help tremendously!

Next, the frosting. The instructions have you frost the cake, then freeze it, and frost again while the cake is frozen to seal in the crumbs. I know, if you are like me you don't want to take the time. If you are particular about the look though, you'll want to do a crumb coat.

Third, the lego studs. I almost called them posts, but I didn't know if that's what they were really called, so I had to go look it up. The sticky-uppy parts of the Lego blocks are called studs (did you know the machines that make Lego's have a precision tolerance of 2 micrometers...they have to get things pretty precise to ensure the blocks all fit together properly). Now that you have that piece of trivia to share around the dinner table, I'll proceed. The studs in the original pin were created by cutting large marshmallows in half and frosting them. My thoughts were, "Why not just use mini cupcakes. Those look like the right shape and size." And it looks like maybe that was Lou's thoughts as well (or maybe I'm seeing crumbs from the actual cake stuck on the frosting...not sure). As I think about it though, marshmallows will give a more accurate shape and they might be easier than cupcakes.

Fourth, the coloring. This recipe called for the pre-colored gel frosting, which is already vibrant and ready to use. If you don't want to use that, and want to color your own, you need to use cake/frosting specific colorings. The normal food color many people have in their cupboard just won't cut it (and will change the texture of your frosting...learned that one the hard way).

So there you have it! Lego cake! If I had some of that on hand, I think that'd be my breakfast. You can't go wrong with cake, frosting and marshmallows!