Cake Decoration: An Easy Elmo Cake For Your Teen Or Tween To Make

If your tween has surpassed the decorating options of the Girl Gourmet Cake Decorating Set, and is inventing interesting icings and colorings, it may be time to advance to some simple cake artistry!

This Elmo cake, made by my teen and tween daughters for their younger brother's birthday, allows for creative expression that pleases the designers, as well as the birthday child! Perfection is not the aim, though neater is better. Rather, the goal is helping the young chefs to create a pleasing centerpiece, to experiment with techniques in cake decoration, and to learn to be problem solvers in the kitchen.

Whether you need a project for your cake artist, an Elmo cake for your toddler, or just a fun cake for some youngsters, this is an easy option that a toddler will love!

Tap into the creative side of your tween, and give a little leeway for error. Some freedom to design will be great for giving your tween a sense of what works, and when it comes to toddler cake designs, toddlers are not as picky as parents! My tween daughters' ability to design far exceeds mine, and their results astound me, every time they get busy in confectionary pursuits!

The Cake

For the aspiring cake decorater, the cake is not necessarily the most important thing. However, for the birthday child, it may be another story. Whether boxed or from scratch, choose something that will be pleasing to all involved. Our birthday boy wanted strawberry, and based on the number of people celebrating, we chose to use 2 cake mixes. This gave ample room for the image we used, and allowed ample servings for all. Check out "The Cake Doctor" for some interesting recipes based on altering cake mixes. Of course, Fanny Farmer is a great source of from scratch cakes, and there is always the Mix In The Pan Chocolate Cake for an easy, frugal cake for a young chef to make

Every successful cake artist had to start somewhere.  The innovation demonstrated in challenge shows is discovered by combining the known techniques with ideas and creativity.  The techniques were developed by someone at some time.  Instill in your teen, tween, or yourself, the confidence that it is possible to invent, or re-invent.

For the teen or tween, keep it simple in the learning stages. Use of a pre-made frosting is fine for this Elmo cake. If you are using a double recipe cake, double up on the frosting, as well.

If you are interested in making your own frosting, there are many recipes. Take time to research, and find one that suits your needs. There are many references on cake decoration, and Fanny Farmer, Joy of Cooking, and most other cookbooks will serve to provide options.

An Elmo Cake is perfect for a beginner because there are very simple shapes in his features. There are many images available online. A google search will easily provide many, particularly by selecting the images results at the top of your search page. You may be able to print the image as it is, but do a print preview first. If this is not a desirable size, copy and paste to your desktop, and re-size to suit your needs.

Not wanting to get carried away with tubes and piping and colored frostings, we opted for a little creativity for our Elmo Cake.. No particular recipe was used, just materials on hand: powdered sugar, corn syrup, water, and Wilton Icing Colors Red, Black, and Golden Yellow, all part of the 8 color set we have. The set can be purchased, or individual colors can be obtained for a given project. Our set has lasted nearly 2 years, and is just ready to be replaced. Other companies' products may work, as well, but we were pleased with the brilliance of the colors for this project. An Elmo cake needs a brightly colored Elmo, and the hues are just right!

Our glaze was similar to the consistency of the little tubes of decorative gels for cake decorating, often found in the baking section of your grocer. However, the dollar per tube that those cost is much more pricey than the very inexpensive homemade variety, and the brilliance in color is much better.

No measuring was done, simply judging consistency, we started with approximately 1 cup of powdered sugar, a couple of tablespoons of water, and a couple of tablespoons of light Karo corn syrup. Mix together well, if the glaze is too thick, add a little more corn syrup or water. Add some of the color you want, and if it is not quite the shade you want, add a little more. Use a toothpick to pull color from the container, or a popsicle stick. A little bit goes a long way, so do this incrementally, thoroughly mixing. Do the same for each color: red, black, and yellow. We wanted an orange tint in Elmo's nose, so we added just a tinge of the red glaze to the yellow, and mixed. This gave us just the color we wanted.

These glazes were opaque in appearance, and worked well for our purposes. I experimented with the idea of heating leftover glaze in the microwave. At 30 seconds on high in our microwave, the nature of the glaze changed to more transparent. You can certainly experiment, given the low cost of ingredients, and come up with other alternatives in consistency and color.

For the young cake designer, a Ziploc bag is a great tool.  We used sandwich bags, but I would recommend something sturdier, either refrigerator of freezer bags, 1 qt. sized, for the sake of sturdiness.  Fill 3 bags, one with each color.  As you use them, poke a hole in one of the lower corners with a toothpick.  For finer lines, you may want to use a pin or needle for the black.  To pipe out the gel, hold above the contents, and gently apply pressure.  Have your young cake artist practice on a paper plate before working on the actual Elmo cake.

Lay the image over the frosted cake.  Have your designer pipe black around the outline.  Gently remove the paper image, and set aside.  If your cake artist is comfortable with making eyes, nose and mouth on their own, have them fill in the lines for these, and then fill the mouth with black.  If your young cake ace isn't so comfortable, have a second image ready, with the eyes, nose, and mouth cut out.  Lay the individual elements gently on the cake, and outline.  Remove the paper elements, and continue to fill in colors appropriately.  Because the glaze is a little runny, it will bleed a little, and this will help to fill in spaces. 

Depending on your teen/tween's creative ideas in cake decoration, you may want to make other colors for borders.  My young bakers used candies to make edible confetti accents.  The possibilites are really limitless.  The creativity that is inspired, priceless.

When serving your Elmo Cake, do be aware that the nature of the glaze is a little goopy, and it is possible that it will be a little messy.  This really won't bother the typical toddler!  Our cake was particularly moist, and amplified the goopiness.  However, the birthday boy was very pleased with his Elmo cake.  For a less goopy option, there is a Royal Icing approach.  However, that's another hub, another day!

Skill and detail will improve with experience, whether you are involved in cake decoration or wood burning.  With youngsters, confidence must be built as you practice.  This Elmo cake is simple enough for the aspiring decorater to do a good job and satisfy a sibling or friend with birthday fun!  Encourage your cake designer with an easy project!