Pages

Monday, April 15, 2013

Gummy Bear Layer Cake

Gummy Bear Layer Cake
Yep. I covered an entire cake in gummy bears. It's been a while since I did a ridiculously over the top sugar high insanity cake (see Fudge Brownie Cookie Dough Cake), and what better occasion to do one than my friend Tomred's birthday? He is the supplier of all sorts of sweet treats in our office, with a constant supply of Tim Tams and gummy lollies, so this cake seemed appropriate for him. After all, I've already made him a Giant Tim Tam Cake. And I just wanted an excuse to cover a cake in gummy bears. If I learnt anything from my Sprinkle Covered Purple Ombre Cake, cakes are always awesome when covered in sugar.
Gummy Bear Layer Cake
My point is, try not to be too mad at me for making this entirely ridiculous and unnecessarily over the top cake. It's fun to go there every now and then. I mean, look at how pretty it is when you cut into it! It's 5 layers of chocolate buttermilk cake layered with salted butter icing and each layer of icing is tinted to match the colours of the gummy bears on top. SO FUN.
Gummy Bear Layer Cake
I did learn some hard lessons while making this cake. First of all, as great as this chocolate cake recipe is, the cake tends to crumble quite easily so it is not the most ideal for cutting into thin layers and covering in icing. It was a messy job. I'd definitely recommend chilling the cakes overnight before you cut them up, or you can use your favourite chocolate cake recipe as a substitute. I kept the icing simple, using a LOT if salted butter to try to counteract the amount of gummy bears (and I took sugar out of the cake batter too). You could use a Swiss meringue buttercream instead, but I tend to prefer regular butter icing to buttercreams.
Gummy Bear Layer Cake
The gummy bears are a lot chewier than I remembered. So as awesome as it looks as a cake decoration, it makes it a little impractical when you are trying to have a bite of everything at once. And it does make it a little harder to cut slices, I felt bad cutting into the gummy bears! Of course you could skip the gummy bears or use less of them, but I just had to try this out to see how it looked.
Gummy Bear Layer Cake
It was totally worth it. Just looking at this cake makes me happy. Even though I know that most people who eat the cake will end up picking off the gummy bears and saving them for later, I love the effect of the gummies. Plus it's like getting a slice of cake plus a lolly bag for later!
Gummy Bear Layer Cake
So Happy Birthday for tomorrow Tomred! Thanks for being a friend who understands that your birthday cake will almost always come with a slice cut out of it for photographic purposes. It would have been cruel not to share an inside shot with you guys, right? Don't get too freaked out by the recipe, it makes a lot of cake so the amounts sound insane. You can halve everything to make a more normal sounding cake.
Gummy Bear Layer Cake
Gummy Bear Layer Cake
(cake recipe from Martha Stewart, makes a 5-layer 18-20cm round cake, serves 30ish people)
For the cake: (You can halve this recipe to make a smaller cake)
3 cups (about 385g) plain/all-purpose flour
2 &1/2 cups (about 560g) sugar (I used caster/superfine but white/granulated is fine too)
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp baking/bicarb soda
1 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
340g (3 sticks) butter, melted
1 & 1/2 cups (about 360ml) buttermilk
4 large egg
4 large egg whites
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line three 18-20cm round cake tins (if you have taller cake tins you can do this in two tins, don't risk it if your tins are shallow like mine as the batter may overflow). Line a standard cupcake tray with papers. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarb soda, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, combine cocoa and 3/4 cup hot water until a thick paste forms (this process intensifies the chocolate flavor). Add butter, buttermilk, eggs, and egg whites; beat until combined. Whisk in flour mixture until smooth. Pour mixture into tins, distributing to make 5 layers (2/5 in two of the tins and 1/5 in the 3rd, or if using two tall tins; 3/5 in one and 2/5 in the other). Bake until a skewer inserted in the center of cake comes out clean, about 45-60 minutes.Cool in tin for 10 minutes then carefully remove from tin and cool completely on a wire rack. You can chill the cakes at this point to make them easier to cut. Using a long serrated knife, cut cakes into 5 even layers and trim off any doming that may have occurred during baking. (I used this trick to help my cakes bake more evenly)
Gummy Bear Layer Cake
For the icing:
(It sounds like a lot of butter and sugar but you need a lot to cover all 5 layers. Feel free to halve the amounts for a smaller cake)
500g (about 4 1/3 sticks) salted butter, softened
500g (about 4 cups) icing/confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp milk
Optional: Green, yellow, red food colouring
375g (3 & 1/3 sticks) salted butter, softened
375 (3 cups) icing/confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp milk
 4 packs (700g) of gummy bear candies

To fill the cake layers and crumb coat the cake, place the 500g of butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add 500g sifted icing sugar while beating on low speed until combined, then add vanilla extract and beat on high until fluffy. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time while beating on high until you achieve desired icing consistency. Icing should be very fluffy and light in colour, easy to spread but stiff enough to hold its shape. Split mixture into 5 equal portions. Add food colouring to four of the portions, green, yellow, orange and red. Sandwich coloured icing between the 5 layers of cake. Use the remaining icing to crumb coat the outside of your cake. Chill in fridge for at least an hour, can be left overnight.

Prepare more icing using the remaining ingredients and repeating the steps above, without adding food colouring. Using a spatula, spread icing smoothly over the top of the crumb coat. Decorate cake with gummy bears. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Gummy Bear Layer Cake

57 comments:

  1. Now THIS is a cake. I absolutely love your quirky creations. It is gold. and love how the buttercream between the layers of cake is even coloured. How you get it so even and perfect is beyond me! Love love loveeeeeeeeeee it steph! It definitely has your name ALL over it! :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the cutest cake ever!!! Absolutely love it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, this is so SUPER decadent! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. omgsh this is butter and gummy bear lovers( ie me) heaven! you are a genius! i love how u tinted the buttercream too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm glad you're not my close friend... I'd be so fat D: !!! But no, all joke aside, the cake looks awesome *_* I might try this one out for the kids at the community centre I volunteer for ^__^ You have great ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is my dream cake!!!! I love the gummy bears!!! =)

    Ergo-Blog

    ReplyDelete
  7. Omg how cute is the cake!!! This would put a big wide smile on every kids' face, including mine (the big kid)! I really love the different layers of coloured cream - too pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  8. that is all kinds of amazing. i just want to lick all the gummy bears off the cake!

    ReplyDelete
  9. omg, just looking at this makes me giggle! this would have been so much fun to make! I love the rainbow layers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is such a happy cake! Just imagining all those gummi bears running up and flinging themselves at the cake...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, one of the most beautiful cakes I´ve seen. Full of joy and happiness, my sister would love it, full of those bears and fun to make.
    Thanks for sharing!!!
    Marialuisa

    ReplyDelete
  12. Those gummy bears put a smile on my face too! It's so bright and happy plus who says no to extra sugar? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. This looks amazing. Just wanted to say I made your purple ombre cake with the sprinkles on the outside for my fiancés birthday and he loved it! I made swiss meringue buttercream for the first time - it was a bit scary when it curdled but thankfully I saved it! Thanks for the inspiration.
    The Life of Emily-Alice

    ReplyDelete
  14. At first I thought that you scattered decapitated Gummi heads around the cake until I saw the last photo. Not as macabre as I first thought lol. This cake is all sorts of insane and I LOVE IT.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh my word! I know a lot of little wrigglers who would die for this cake! It's AMAZING and then you cut into it and get all that yumminess!!! Just genius!

    ReplyDelete
  16. One question: may I place an order?? This is superb -- it brightened up my day immediately! Now I am just picturing a similar cake with rows upon rows of different types of confectionery -- like the type you see in little English country towns. Can you make one?? Oh dear, sugar comatosed......

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mind = blown
    THAT is one spectacular cake!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Definitely a guilty pleasure cake that looks insanely delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow oh wow. My husband is a gummy bear monster. This would make a perfect cake for him. I also love how you colore the frosting in between the layers. Love!

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is so cool. Probably too much work for me to ever make, but it is VERY cool. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is the most brilliant pie I've ever seen in my life, just wow! xx

    www.creativityandchocolate.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ahhh so happy!! Love it! I would totally save the gummy bears for later though.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Where did you get your cake stand? It is almost as fabulous as that cake!

    ReplyDelete
  24. How do you get your icing so smooth?! It looks stunningly-yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  25. *brain explodes*

    You've done it again, Steph - brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Drooling on table...
    This is brilliant! I'll have to be careful that my husband doesn't see it or he'll demand one immediately. Kudos!

    ReplyDelete
  27. OMG I just discovered your blog recently but it's amazing! The recipes are creative and the pictures are great :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. your blog is incredible and it's the first place i go every monday morning to read your new posts
    please check mine out http://savedbycake.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  29. That's freaking amazing!!! It's the worst thing for me to see right now, since I'm craving cake so badly! haha. It looks great!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Your cakes are always so fun, colorful, and playful! Awesome idea!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I love gummy bears and the idea of having them stuck all over a cake is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  32. This is absolutely brilliant! How did you get your icing so perfectly smooth to coat the sides of your cake?
    Katie
    x
    http://katieskitchenjournal.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow.. it's just awesome. I could really go a piece of that cake..

    ReplyDelete
  34. I love it! It´s original and super inviting......yum yum yum! hehe

    Johlene
    http://flavoursandfrosting.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  35. This is superb!It's unique, and the child inside me love this so much! :)

    Tina
    http://fashionandchocolat.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  36. You know what? I'm gonna make EXACTLY this cake with my girls at my Birthday party.
    I love to do baking parties, cause it's so fun and messy! So when I saw this cake I knew we would have to do this...precious cake!

    Love, Lorelei

    from

    appleandfabric.blogspot.com :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. I love this! Wonderful job. I would have never thought to put gummy bears on a cake.

    ReplyDelete
  38. If I juat remove the cocoa powder would that change it into a vanilla cake? If not how would I go about doing that?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Gummy bears seem chewier and slightly harder to me too! I've found generic brands to be softer and juicier.

    ReplyDelete
  40. This cake is so awesome! My boys would go crazy for this :)

    ReplyDelete
  41. I made this cake for a dear friends 30th Birthday last weekend! It was a huge success and absolutely delicious! As it was a special birthday, I actually made three 5" cakes! One with gummy bears, m&m's and sprinkles! It was a massive day in the kitchen as I only had one small tin and need 6 cakes to make the 3 cakes but it was fantastic and everyone was suitably impressed! People kept asking me if a professional had made it! Thank you for your amazing recipe and all the tips! I cant wait to try a few more!

    ReplyDelete
  42. I love the cake, do you have suggestions to make the smaller version of this cake?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As mentioned in the recipe, you can halve the amounts to make a cake with less layers. If you want to keep the height you will have to find smaller tins.

      Delete
  43. Buzzfeed have added an image of this cake to one of their posts and I don't think they've credited you properly! http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinabarca/reasons-why-gummy-bears-are-the-absolute-best x

    ReplyDelete
  44. Such a great idea! I love the colored layers in between. I am ready to have a piece now!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Very tasty, but difficult to translate to American units. Since she gives ranges, you say, hmm, 8" or 9" layers. It has to be 9s. Not nearly enough frosting for 8s. I won't try to use silly SI in the kitchen again. Hate it.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I just made this cake but as a White Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Cream cheese frosting. Turned out soo cute just like the picture.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Beautiful! Amazing I want to make one for my daughter! It's her favorite candy!
    One question if I make it the night before with the gummy bears be hard by the next day for her party? Thx! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I made mine the night before and it was okay, the gummy bears are quite hard as they are, as I mentioned in the post.

      Delete
  48. Very clever! When I first saw the photos, I wondered if the chewiness of the gummy bears would work well as part of the cake. You mentioned this later on in your post, so I am curious - would you make this again? Or would you try another colorful candy, such as M&M's or Skitttles?

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated and will be published ASAP. If you are viewing this on your phone, you might have to click the Preview button before posting your comment for it to work. People who comment make my day! ♥