How to Make an Anime Birthday Cake for Your Niece

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

Okay, so my niece Madisyn loves anime. So much so that she talks about it all the time. Explaining things I don’t remotely understand as I am not a fan of anime.
Last year, right after her birthday she told me she wanted an anime cake for her birthday this year and I’m absolutely stumped. I have no idea what to do. Anyone have any ideas?
Should I find a way to make her an anime cake or should I talk her into something simpler.
Thanks!
Angie

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Okay, so my niece Madisyn loves anime. So much so that she talks about it all the time. Explaining things I don’t remotely understand as I am not a fan of anime.
Last year, right after her birthday she told me she wanted an anime cake for her birthday this year and I’m absolutely stumped. I have no idea what to do. Anyone have any ideas?
Should I find a way to make her an anime cake or should I talk her into something simpler.
Thanks!
Angie

Hey Angie, since you work in buttercream a buttercream frozen transfer might be the easiest for you.

Since fondant sticks to buttercream, you could also cover the cake and buttercream smooth it out and then use anime cookie cutters to create fondant anime faces to stick to the top and side of the cake.

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

Hey Angie, since you work in buttercream a buttercream frozen transfer might be the easiest for you.

Since fondant sticks to buttercream, you could also cover the cake and buttercream smooth it out and then use anime cookie cutters to create fondant anime faces to stick to the top and side of the cake.

I didn’t even think of that. That’s a great idea. I’ve done the buttercream transfers once and it worked pretty good. The cookie cutter idea is a good idea as well.
Thank you so much. I think this will really help.

 

[ChesterV]

I would ask, what KIND of anime does she like? Who is her favorite character?

There are different methods for different kinds of anime characters.


Here is one that is an edible image, with a fondant artwork tree to enhance it....

Here's one where they made some very detailed shaped cookies and placed them on top of the cake....

This one is the girls face on top of a head of "hair"........

Then, there's the sculpted cake made 3D....

And then there's the fondant crafted figures............

 

[Becky]

I would ask, what KIND of anime does she like? Who is her favorite character?

'Anime' covers a lot, so this is definitely worth asking. The buttercream transfer is a really good idea! You could maybe use that technique to make a big face (like the third photo in Chester's post), and perhaps dye the cake to match. How old is your niece?

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

I would ask, what KIND of anime does she like? Who is her favorite character?

There are different methods for different kinds of anime characters.


Here is one that is an edible image, with a fondant artwork tree to enhance it....

Here's one where they made some very detailed shaped cookies and placed them on top of the cake....

This one is the girls face on top of a head of "hair"........

Then, there's the sculpted cake made 3D....

And then there's the fondant crafted figures............

I absolutely love the edible image idea. I recall seeing several websites that sell them. I think that is what I might do.
Regarding her favorites, there are a lot.
She gave me a whole list.
Inuyasha
Full Metal Alchemist
Sword Art Online
Charlotte
Brother Conflict
Naruto
Bleach
Kiss Him Not Me
Ouran High School

I’ve done research on a few but not all of them. Like I said, anime really isn’t my thing. The first picture you posted is from Inuyasha and I think that on would be a hit.
Thank you!

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

'Anime' covers a lot, so this is definitely worth asking. The buttercream transfer is a really good idea! You could maybe use that technique to make a big face (like the third photo in Chester's post), and perhaps dye the cake to match. How old is your niece?

My niece Madisyn is turning twelve this year. And I will probably either do the buttercream transfer or the edible image. I’ve done many of my cupcakes and cakes dyed in the past and I think it’s a great idea.
I am also going to get another possible theme for her cake if the anime one doesn’t pan out.

 

[Becky]

I'm looking forward to hearing more about this cake, I hope it all works out well!

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

Update!!!!!!
So it’s not surprising that my niece changed her mind. She decided instead of anime she wanted a Criminal Minds birthday cake. I did some research and I didn’t think I could pull that off. Especially a Criminal Minds cake for someone so young.
A few days ago, my niece Madisyn was over and I sat her down with the iPad and had her search for what kind of cake she wanted. She settled on a Pretty Little Liars cake.
For this I had to work with gumpaste for some of the decorations and so far they turned out pretty good. They aren’t complete but when they are I will share a picture. I’m thinking for this cake i will also try my hand at buttercream roses. Wish me luck!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Eek! Criminal Minds that TV show?!! Oh I don’t know how anyone could watch such a program and not have nightmares. The kids definitely grow up too fast.

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

Eek! Criminal Minds that TV show?!! Oh I don’t know how anyone could watch such a program and not have nightmares. The kids definitely grow up too fast.

Yep that TV show. I watch that show myself but was surprised hearing my niece loves it. I think part of it is that she’s boy crazy and has a crush on Matthew Gray Gubler who plays Dr. Spencer Reed on the show.
And I agree. The kids really do grow up too fast. It makes me feel old and I’m only 28.

 

[Becky]

Kids sure are fickle! I've never seen Criminal Minds, but if she wants a gruesome cake then I made a cake a long while ago (in fact it was one of the first cakes I made) that was easy but effective. Basically what I did was make a plain sponge cake, then covered it in red buttercream, then covered that with white fondant. I then slashed at the cake to reveal the red underneath, and used a more liquidy red frosting to look like blood. It basically looked like the cake had been in a fight and lost!

I've got a photo somewhere, I'll see if I can find it later (might be tomorrow).

However a cake with buttrcream roses sounds far better! You could always combine the two - make a pretty cake with flowers that is bleeding, lol!

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

Kids sure are fickle! I've never seen Criminal Minds, but if she wants a gruesome cake then I made a cake a long while ago (in fact it was one of the first cakes I made) that was easy but effective. Basically what I did was make a plain sponge cake, then covered it in red buttercream, then covered that with white fondant. I then slashed at the cake to reveal the red underneath, and used a more liquidy red frosting to look like blood. It basically looked like the cake had been in a fight and lost!

I've got a photo somewhere, I'll see if I can find it later (might be tomorrow).

However a cake with buttrcream roses sounds far better! You could always combine the two - make a pretty cake with flowers that is bleeding, lol!

Well it changed from Criminal Minds to a Pretty Little Liars cake. I’ve never seen the show but Madisyn loves it.
The cake she chose doesn’t have the roses on it but I think they’ll look great with the cake she chose.

 

[Becky]

I've just had a quick Google for Pretty Little Liars - the swirly script font seems to be very recognisable. You could maybe write 'Happy Birthday' in the same font...? @Norcalbaker59 posted a link to a helpful video showing how to do this kind of thing easily in chocolate; https://www.baking-forums.com/threads/baking-videos-watch-and-share.4793/#post-35332

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

I've just had a quick Google for Pretty Little Liars - the swirly script font seems to be very recognisable. You could maybe write 'Happy Birthday' in the same font...? @Norcalbaker59 posted a link to a helpful video showing how to do this kind of thing easily in chocolate; https://www.baking-forums.com/threads/baking-videos-watch-and-share.4793/#post-35332

Thank you for the link. On the cake she picked out it says Pretty Little Liars in that script but I love the idea of doing Happy Birthday Madisyn. I think she’ll love it.

I’m baking the cake today and decorating tomorrow so I’m going to look at that link and figure out how to do that script. Lots to do!
I’ll post pictures of the cake soon!

 

[Becky]

Awesome, hope it all goes well! Can't wait to see a photo

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

I finished my niece’s birthday cake! I think it turned out pretty good. I made several mistakes that I had to fix but I really like the finished product. The smooth, buttery vanilla buttercream compliments the white cake very well.
Like with most cakes I bake, I made an extra cake layer with the extra batter so I’m able to taste it and it’s delicious.
My gumpaste work still has a lot of room for improvement. She wanted the gumpaste makeup accessories so I made a lip gloss wand and a make up brush and of course the grave stone with Alison on it from the show. The writing was harder than I thought it would be with the pastry bag but it turned out okay.
I didn’t get to the roses but I think what I was able to accomplish looks good.
She going to love it!

 

[-Daniel-]

Angie that looks awesome!!! I really love the decoration you did, what a great idea.

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

Angie that looks awesome!!! I really love the decoration you did, what a great idea.

Thank you Daniel! I appreciate it.

 

[Becky]

Wow, great job! It all looks fantastic, I bet your niece will be thrilled

Also that's a really good idea re making an extra layer so you can try it, I don't know why I haven't thought of doing that.