Go Back
+ servings
Comic Book Cake - Viral Cartoon Cake
Print

Comic Book Cake

Comic Book Cake - Viral Cartoon Cake - made with bright fondant, has a fun cartoon appearance and is completely customizable. It's perfect for birthdays!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cake, cartoon, comic book, fondant
Decorating 2 hours
Servings 12

Equipment

  • Serrated Knife
  • 12 inch or 16 inch piping bag
  • 12 or 14 inch Cake Board
  • Clay Extruder (only used for fondant)
  • Roll Pin
  • Offset spatula
  • Scissors
  • Xacto Knife
  • Paint brush – food grade
  • Ruler, optional

Ingredients

  • ¼ sheet cake single-layer
  • 4 cups buttercream frosting
  • 24 oz white fondant
  • 4.4 oz green fondant
  • 4.4 oz navy blue fondant
  • 2 oz black fondant
  • small cup of water
  • ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

Instructions

Assemble the Cake

  • Slice 3 triangle shapes from the sheet cake. (You will end up with 4 but for this cake, you only need 3. I don’t recommend making a 4th layer as will make the cake less sturdy.)
  • Add the buttercream frosting in-between the layers and stack the 3 layers.
  • Chill if necessary. (see notes)
  • Frost the outside of the cake with the same buttercream frosting.
  • Smooth out the buttercream, correcting the shape of the cake with frosting, if necessary.

Fondant Instructions for Paneling the sides

  • Knead the fondant until it is soft like playdoh, there should be no cracks or creases, the fondant should be smooth.
  • Dust the work surface with confectioner’s sugar.
  • Roll out the fondant to ¾ inch thickness (just enough to cover one side of the cake). Do not flip the fondant over to roll, only roll on one side.
  • Lay the fondant against the side of the cold/frozen cake.
  • Cut out the shape of side one with the xacto knife.
  • Roll out more fondant and repeat for sides 2 and 3.
  • Lightly mist the icing or the fondant with water on the side being adhered to the cake.
  • Press gently onto the cake and adhere each of the sides to one another with a little bit of water.
  • Dust the work surface again, knead and roll out the green fondant for the “icing” on top.
  • Roll it into a long triangle, and drape it over the top.
  • Lift up the overhang and add a small amount of water where you want the icing to hang over the sides.
  • Use a Xacto knife to carve the squiggle lines mimicking the appearance of a drip icing.
  • Roll the blue fondant into a log.
  • Press the log down with two fingers, the more imperfect the better for the “filling” in the slice of cake.
  • Adhere with a very small amount of water onto the blue fondant, it should be tacky, not wet.
  • Place on the side of the cake. (repeat twice per side)
  • Roll a thick, long log of white fondant for the “swirl of icing” on top of the cake.
  • Circle it around itself until you have the swirl, set aside.

Outline in black

  • Add the black fondant to the clay extruder, and use the small circle attachment (but not the smallest circle).
  • Outline your entire cake in the black fondant adhering it with a tiny bit of water.
  • It’s best to apply it on the cake itself just get it tacky enough to stick.
  • If it breaks, that's ok! It is supposed to look sketched! Broken black lines help make it look more like a cartoon.
  • Add additional embellishments as desired.

To clean up the cake:

  • You can use vodka or lemon juice to get any remaining confectioner’s sugar off the fondant once the cake has dried. The alcohol content in both will evaporate and dry quickly while leaving the cake without any extra confectioner’s sugar on it.

Notes

It’s easier to work with frozen cake when stacking the layers and adding the buttercream. It reduces crumbs and the cake won’t break.
If you accidentally cut the cake too narrow or too wide and need to adjust it, you can use buttercream to build up any imperfections. Freeze between applications.
Keep the fondant covered and in Ziplock bags when not in use, this keeps it from drying out.
If an air bubble appears in your fondant after kneading it, use a small stick pin or push pin to release the air pocket and rub it gently with your finger.
Water should hold the fondant pieces in place, however, if it doesn’t you can create a “glue” by taking a tiny bit of white fondant and mixing it with a little water until a small paste forms.
If you have tylose powder on hand - mix 1 tsp with 1 tsp water and it is the BEST form of sticking fondant to fondant.