This was such a fun project to make for my soon to be three year old! In this post there are 4 recipes. A dense pound cake with floating chocolate bats for the cake. And to decorate, a buttercream that holds up to anything and homemade marshmallow fondant.
For months all I heard about was Batman cake. I have no idea where my 2-year-old got the idea that he needed a Batman cake for his birthday. But, since it was all he talked about, it was definitely happening. I started my search on Pinterest (of course!). And then I found an amazing YouTube tutorial from The Icing Artist on how to get a bat into a cake. Mine wasn't quite as perfect as hers, but it turned out pretty good. There were great recipes for cake and buttercream on The Icing Artist as well. I used her recipes for inspiration. I also found a recipe for marshmallow fondant on www.faithfullyglutenfree.com that inspired the decoration. The batman shapes were from cookie cutters I found on Amazon.
There are quite a few steps in making this cake so be prepared. The fondant and buttercream can be made ahead of time.
Steps to make a Batman cake:
- Make and bake a chocolate cake, cool and cut-out bats
- Make and bake pound cake with cut-out bats inside
- Frost with buttercream frosting
- Make fondant and cut out batman shapes
- Enjoy Batman Cake!
Hahahaha, if only it were that easy! But seriously, it's fun and kids and adults will love it!
Chocolate Cake for Bat Cutouts
Ingredients
- 1½ cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup boiling water
- black gel food coloring (see notes)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- ½ cup sour cream (this is what make is nice and moist!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare baking pan with nonstick spray or butter and parchment.
- Add cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt to a bowl and stir until combined. In another small bowl stir cocoa powder with the boiling water and mix together. Add black gel coloring and set aside to cool.
- In a mixer add butter, vanilla and sugar and cream together. Add eggs one at a time, fully mixing in after each one.
- Add ½ of the dry mixture to butter mixture and combine then add ½ of the sour cream and combine. Repeat until all ingredients are added and mixed in. Then, add cocoa and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add batter to the prepared baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick is clean. After the cake has fully cooled, remove from baking pan and cut out bats using a cookie cutter.
Notes
- I cut this recipe in half since I was only making enough to cut out the bats.
- You can also freeze cake batter! Just place in a plastic freezer bag, lay flat and ensure all the air id out before sealing. Lay in your freezer flat. Batter should last about 1 month in the freezer.
Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
Pound Cake for Batman Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 4½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ cups milk, room temp
- yellow gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare rectangle baking pan (loaf pan) with non-stick spray or butter and parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix together until combined.
- In a stand mixer or a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until nice and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and mix in completely. Add eggs one at a time, fully mixing in after each one.
- Add ⅓ of the dry mixture to butter mixture and combine then add ⅓ milk and combine. Repeat until all ingredients are added and mixed in. Add gel food coloring and mix until fully combined.
- Add a little batter to the bottom of the rectangle baking pan, no more than ½ inch.
- Take bat cutouts and place upside down in a line along the top of batter in the pan (put them in upside down so when you flip your cake after baking they are right side up ?).
- Carefully add the rest of the cake batter around the bats to fully cover. Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
Notes
- This cake made quite a bit of batter (more than I needed for the loaf pan for the Batman cake), so I used the extra to make a Naked Marionberry Cake!
Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
Thick Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- measuring cups/spoons
- rubber or silicon spatula
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temp
- ¾ cup vegetable shortening (makes a crust when dry)
- 1¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
- 3-4 teaspoon water
- yellow gel food coloring
Instructions
- Place butter and shortening in mixer and cream together on medium speed. Add in vanilla and salt and continue mixing.
- Begin to add confectioners sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low speed until combined then med-high speed for a minute or so each time. After each cup addition, add a tablespoon of water to get your desired consistency. Add gel food coloring and fully incorporate it.
Notes
- Buttercream frosting can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days before using.
- If you have leftover frosting, you can freeze it in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
Ingredients
- 4 cups mini marshmallows (loosely packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use clear for white fondant)
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1-2 tablespoon water
- ½ tablespoon white corn syrup
- 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
- gel food coloring
- vegetable shortening for kneading
Instructions
- Grease the inside of a microwave-safe bowl with unsalted butter and place marshmallows, vanilla, salt and water in a bowl. Microwave for 60 seconds. Stir and ensure marshmallows are melted, if not zap for another 30 seconds and stir to ensure everything is combined and melted.
- Stir in corn syrup and gel food coloring at this time if you are going to color your fondant.
- Add mixture to stand mixer along with sifted confectioners sugar. Use dough hook attachment and mix at low speed until everything is combined, then mix at medium speed for about 1 minute. At this point, it's pretty sticky!
- Remove from mixer and place on surface sprinkled with confectioners sugar. Use vegetable shortening as needed to keep the dough from sticking as you knead in more confectioners sugar and create a smooth dough.
- Wrap ball of dough in plastic wrap and place in a ziplock bag to keep from drying out. Let dough rest for at least an hour before using it.
- Once you are ready to use the fondant, have vegetable shortening ready to knead once more as you make your creation. This helps it from being dry and gives it a nice shine. I used a flat surface sprinkled with confectioners sugar to roll out the fondant and cut out my shapes.
Notes
- The fondant will last up to two weeks in the fridge. I did this step a day in advance for the Batman cake.
Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
This cake was so much fun to make, but as you can see, there were quite a few steps. Now that I have made this recipe, I'm excited to try another cake with a shape in the middle.
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