This Batman Cake was so fun to make and even more fun to serve! Made with a dense pound cake with floating chocolate bats inside and a thick yellow buttercream frosting.
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. I also found a recipe for marshmallow fondant on Faithfully Gluten Free that I used for the Batman decorations.
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Why I Love This Recipe
I love this Batman Cake recipe because of the bats gracefully suspended in the cake and the bright yellow frosting finished with Batman logos. I also love to make creations that are completely from scratch and have a wow factor for any occasion like my Strawberry Ice Cream Cheesecake.
Key Ingredients For This Recipe
- Cake Flour: Cake flour results in a softer, more tender cake texture, perfect for the bats.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder provides a rich chocolate flavor in the cake for the bats. This adds an additional layer of flavor to this busy cake.
- Black Gel Food Coloring: Black gel food coloring is essential for achieving the iconic black color associated with Batman. Gel food coloring is concentrated and ideal for tinting frosting or cake batter.
- Vegetable Shortening: Vegetable shortening is used in this recipe to create a crusting effect when the frosting dries. It's also used for the fondant.
- Yellow Gel Food Coloring: Yellow gel food coloring is used for the frosting and to get the iconic yellow Batman color.
- Mini Marshmallows: To make your own fondant, all you need are mini marshmallows and a few other ingredients.
- White Corn Syrup: White corn syrup helps sweeten the fondant and create a glossy finish.
- Powdered Confectioners Sugar: Powdered confectioners sugar, also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar, is used in the frosting and the fondant, so make sure you have enough!
*See the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Classic Batman Shapes
The Batman shapes on this cake were made from Batman cookie cutters I found on Amazon. They worked perfectly for this cake, and for cookies in the future.
Steps to Make a Batman Cake
- Mix and bake the chocolate cake. Allow the cake to cool, cut out bat shapes, and set aside.
- Mix and bake the yellow pound cake batter, add ½ inch of the batter to the rectangular pan, add the cut-out bats upside down to the middle, and then cover completely with the rest of the batter. Bake and then allow to cool.
- Make the thick buttercream frosting. Once the cake has cooled completely, frost the entire cake with yellow frosting.
- Make the homemade fondant and cut out Batman shapes with the cookie cutters.
- Decorate and enjoy the Batman Cake!
Pro Tips For This Batman Cake
- The frosting and the fondant can be made ahead of time to reduce overall cooking time the day you make the cake.
- A wet finger helps smooth out the frosting and the fondant shapes if needed.
- Ensure the cake has cooled completely before decorating to avoid any melting frosting.
- Ensure you coat your hands in vegetable shortening when handling the fondant to avoid sticking and to keep the fondant nice and shiny.
- Store the cake in the fridge until ready to serve. This also helps with slicing the cake.
More Celebration Recipes
If you get a chance to make this Batman Cake, tag me on Instagram or Facebook and show me, or leave a review below! You can also follow me on Pinterest and sign up for my e-mail list to receive more fun and delicious recipes right in your inbox.
Batman Cake
This Batman Cake is fun to make and so delicious. With bat cutouts inside the cake and thick yellow buttercream frosting, everyone will love this cake.
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Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 738kcal
Equipment
- 8 x 8 baking dish
- angled icing spatula
- plastic wrap
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake for Bat Cutouts
- ¾ cups cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup boiling water
- black gel food coloring
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg room temp
- ¼ cup sour cream
Pound Cake for Batman Cake
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temp
- 1 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large eggs room temp
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup milk room temp
- yellow gel food coloring
Thick Buttercream Frosting
- 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
Marshmallow Fondant
- 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
Chocolate Cake for Bat Cutouts
- 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 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 it from the baking pan and cut out bats using a cookie cutter.
- Pound Cake for Batman Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a 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 the 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 them upside down in a line along the top of the batter in the pan (put them 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.
Thick Buttercream Frosting
- 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.
Marshmallow Fondant
- 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
- You can also freeze cake batter! Just place it in a plastic freezer bag, lay it flat, and ensure all the air is out before sealing. Lay in your freezer flat. The batter should last about 1 month in the freezer.
- Buttercream frosting can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days before use.
- If you have leftover frosting, you can freeze it in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
- The fondant will last up to two weeks in the fridge. I did this step a day in advance for the Batman cake.
Nutrition
Serving: 1sercing | Calories: 738kcal | Carbohydrates: 129.4g | Protein: 6.9g | Fat: 23.5g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 229mg | Potassium: 862mg | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 92.6g | Calcium: 373mg | Iron: 3mg
Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
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