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I am a photography fanatic. I love taking pictures, tweaking pictures, and finding the beauty in every day items

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Nintendo Cake

In our family we have the tradition of making shape cakes for people's birthdays. So when my husband's birthday was approaching I got all excited to ask him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. His face got all excited and then serious as he thought about what he wanted. He then blurted out, "I want a Mario cake!". I stood there waiting for more of an explanation. Then he says, "I want some kind of Nintendo Mario brothers cake.... like... Luigi... or Mario... ohoh! I know... I want one of the mushrooms from Mario. You know the ones that make you big or give you an extra life." For any of you who don't know what he is talking about... Mario Brothers is an old school video game when Nintendo first came out... my husband STILL likes to play it. :)

Well, I was excited. My first challenging shape cake. I had no idea where to start, so I basically just decided to jump in. But I have to admit that I was pretty darn happy with how it turned out. So, here is how you can make a Mario Brothers cake, but you can really use these ideas to make whatever shape cake you would like.

First I figured out what shape pan I should be using to give me the best area to work with. I decided to use two circle pans for the bubble mushroom top and a 9x13 pan for the stump (I did a double layered cake, which is why I used so much. If you are doing a single layer 2 circle pans or one 9x13 pan will be fine). While they were baking I took a piece of computer paper and started to sketch out the image of the Mario mushroom, trying to keep it to the size that would fit on the cake.

When the cake is done and cooled, take your image and see if it will fit well on it. Don't worry if the image is too big or too small, simply sketch over it and re-size it. Cut the image out when you have the new correct size and lay it on the cake. With the image on the cake, take a knife and cut around the image.

Once you have all the pieces cut out, go ahead and place them in the freezer to get them a bit frozen. Getting them frozen will make it easier to frost them with out ripping the cake up and getting crumbs in the icing. Once they are a little frozen, put a nice thin layer of frosting around them and place them back in the freezer. When that frosting is frozen a little, finish frosting them completely. Now you can finish decorating the cake.

The mushrooms come in mainly solid red and medium green, but also blue in the newer games. Remember to leave the spots on the mushroom white and color the rest of the top in with the color you chose. I made the mistake of messing that up. I accidentally colored the spots and left the top white. So, hopefully I won't make that mistake again.

So, if you have a child into video games this might be a fun idea for a birthday cake. What I also wanted to do was make really cute matching cupcakes. How cute would THAT have been!? But if you aren't wanting a Mario cake then this idea really is usable for many other shape cakes... sooooo HAPPY BAKING!

33 comments:

  1. Oh - how old-school. I remember and love Mario from the original Nintento too - had soo much fun playing that as a kid! Happy Birthday!

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  2. You're a good wife! We still play that version of Mario around here too - as far as I'm concerned it's the best. Happy Birthday!

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  3. We've got a young Mario prodigy here in the home, and I know he would really love that cake. The problem comes when I remember that we do not have a baking prodigy in the house. Hmmm. I'll have to think about it.

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  4. I have birthday's coming for the next two months (today Lauren turns 3!!!) and my son would love this one! I might give it a try, crossing my fingers...

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  5. WOW! How creative are you Melissa! That is so AWESOME! I have to admit that Mark and I also STILL play the Nintendo Mario 1, 2, + 3 games on the computer (it is the only computer game I will actually play). Especially if we play #2 with the Princess who flys around. That cake turned out super cute- I don't know if I could pull it off- it might end up smushed in a thousand pieces-- from my frustration:)!

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  6. Cute cake - you did a great job. That's a pretty cool tradition to do shaped cakes, we are boring and just ask what kind our family wants - maybe we'll have to *steal* your tradition :)

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  7. Super cute!!! You did an awesome job. Where do you learn all of this stuff?!

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  8. I LOOVE new cake ideas! Thanks for sharing. Who wouldn't love a NIntendo cake?

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  9. honey that is hilarious!!

    your hubby looks sooo proud :)

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  10. How cute! I made my hubby a Nintendo DS cake for his birthday this yeay, and it was hiding in the oven. His friends came over for a surprise party, and one of them turned on the oven to preheat something (which he has never done before). We came home to a great surprise party, and a melted cake. Oh well, it was great anyways.

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  11. Love the cake! My step son (16) looked at me like I was an idiot for downloading the original Mario Bros. to our Wii. So old school, but so awesome.

    Thanks for the comment on the OSU cheerleader outfit. You guys kicked our butts!! I think OSU forgot to get on the plane since they didn't even show up to that game! Congrats on that win...it was well deserved!

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  12. Awesome. That is a very creative cake!

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  13. You are just the sweetest wife :) and creative too!

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  14. Such a cute cake. I was a huge fan of the original nintento. Maybe I'll make this one just b/c it is soooo adorable.

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  15. oh very cute! we still enjoy playing the original mario too!!!

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  16. Old School Nintendo RULES!!!! The cake is so perfect!

    ~melody~

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  17. I used to LOVE the Mario Brothers!!! How fun!
    Great mushroom! :)

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  18. I know you from somewhere...I can't put my finger on it. I, too, live in Alaska and I swear I have met you before. Your blog is wayyyy cute and I love the fun pictures you post. We probably lived in the same area as my husband and I were seriously traveling gypsies throughout Anchorage for a few good years. Thanks for the fun cake directions. My husband is a computer and video "nerd" as well. Happy Birthday!

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  19. What a great idea!
    Girl you're brilliant!
    xoxo

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  20. Awesome. I would LOVE a mario cake! So cute!

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  21. I have the mario theme running in my head now. doo, doo, doo, diddly doo, doo.

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  22. Tell Curtis that I love the Chandler vest!

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  23. What a great birthday cake! We like shaped cakes too but I usually cheat and just use a Wilton shaped pan. I especially appreciated those frosting tips. I've never tried that partial freezing steps but I bet it REALLY helps. I'm going to do that next time.

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  24. That is awesome! I will have to remember this!!

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  25. This is great. I am seriuosly considering giving this a go for my son's birthday THIS weekend, although it makes me nervous. I have never made a birthday cake before.

    BTW. Curtis would LOVE SuperMarioBros. for the Nintendo DS. It is so oldschool with so much more.

    KEEP BELIEVING

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  26. We will never get rid of our old school nintendo. One of the biggest fights Aric and I got into was because he kept beating me at Super Mario Bros!

    Way to go on the cake!

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  27. Is your creativity never ceasing?

    You. rock.

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