Dr. Seuss Cake
For this Dr. Seuss Cake design, you will need...
8-inch square cake (1 layer), frosted with Americolor "Sky Blue" tinted buttercream
6-inch round cakes (2 layers), centered on the square cake, frosted with white buttercream and Americolor "Super Red" tinted buttercream, to create the stripes of the hat.
gum paste
Americolor gel food coloring in Black, Super Red, and Sky Blue
1. For the "one fish" letters, I used small fondant cutters to cut these from white gum paste.
2. For the "1", I tinted gum paste blue, and then cut the letter using a knife, leaving a 1 1/2 inch "stake" at the bottom, which I planned to insert into the cake to hold the number in place.
3. For the baby's name on top of the cake, see the picture tutorial above for creating the polka-dotted letters out of gum paste.
4. For the fish, I printed off an image in the size I wanted and cut out the shape on paper. I laid the paper over the gum paste and etched the outline with a toothpick, before cutting it out free-hand with a knife. After it had dried for a few hours, I dipped a small paint brush in black gel food coloring and painted the features of the fish, then let it dry thoroughly.
5. I placed all the cutouts on a parchment lined baking sheet and let dry for two days to ensure they were very dry and hard (especially important for pieces that will be standing up straight). Before decorating the cake, I brushed the cutouts with a dry brush dipped in a little edible pearl dust for a slight sparkle.
Dr. Seuss Cupcakes
For these four cupcake designs, you will need...
cupcakes, baked and cooled
white buttercream (vanilla, cream cheese or other flavor)
Americolor "Super Red" gel food coloring
Americolor "Sky Blue" gel food coloring
red, white and blue sprinkles and/or sparkling sugar
small amount of fondant, colored red
candy eyes
Wilton tips: large and small star tips, large drop flower tip, large round tip
1. For the red/white striped hat with red bow design, pipe white buttercream onto the cupcakes with the large round tip. Using a small star tip, pipe red buttercream into a small flat circle, filling in the middle of the circle. Repeat with white buttercream on top of the red, then another layer of red, white and red to complete the hat. Garnish with a red fondant bow (I made the bows by pressing red fondant into a small bow mold, and then letting dry for two days).
2. For the "Thing" design, pipe sky blue buttercream onto the cupcakes using the large drop flower tip, pulling the tip away to create peaks that resemble the blue hair. Garnish with the candy eyes. To top these, I also made little "Thing 1, Thing 2" cupcake toppers by printing off the design on card stock or heavy paper, cutting it into circles, and taping the toppers to toothpicks.
3. For the red/blue swirled designs, paint stripes of red food coloring up the inner seams of a piping bag and fill with white buttercream, using this striping technique. Pipe onto the cupcakes and sprinkle with blue sprinkles. Repeat with blue-striped swirls topped with red sprinkles.
Designs by Curly Girl Kitchen