Giant Heart Sunglasses Cake

Description

Cake is transformed into a groovy pair of heart-shaped sunglasses, perfect for spring break.  with blue ocean swirl cake layers and light and airy lemon buttercream, this festive dessert will make you feel like you’re already on vacation.  

Ingredients

• Cake
• Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
• Food Coloring
• Cornstarch
• Fondant
• Egg Whites
• White Sugar
• Unsalted Butter
• Lemon Extract
• Vanilla Extract
• Fine Sea Salt

Instructions

1. For the cake:
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees f
3. Spray two 9-inch square cake pans with nonstick spray
4. Line the bottom with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray
5. Prepare cake mix per package directions, adding in the packages of vanilla pudding mix
6. Scoop 2 cups of batter into a small bowl
7. Scoop another 2 cups of batter to another small bowl
8. Color one of the small bowls a dark blue shade, folding in about 1 teaspoons of deep blue gel coloring
9. Color the other small bowl to a light blue shade, folding in about teaspoon of deep blue
10. You should have white, dark blue, and light blue batters
11. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop alternating scoopfuls of the batter colors into the cake pans, dividing evenly
12. Swirl the batter with a wooden popsicle stick, making sure to get all the way down to bottom of the cake pan
13. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
14. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 20 minutes
15. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely
16. Wrap each square cake in plastic wrap and freeze overnight
17. Print a large sunglasses stencil online and cut in half, dividing the two frames
18. Unwrap the frozen cakes on a wooden cutting board and position the stencil halves on top
19. Trim around the stencils, with a sharp paring knife
20. Transfer trimmed cakes to a large cake board or platter, matching up halves to create one large pair of sunglasses
21. Frost the cake with a crumb coat of pink frosting
22. Chill in fridge or freezer for about 10-15 minutes or until frosting is hard to the touch
23. Meanwhile, cut the lenses out from stencil
24. On a surface lightly dusted with cornstarch, roll out the yellow fondant using a silicone rolling pin
25. Place one of the heart lenses on top and carefully cut out using a sharp paring knife
26. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet
27. Repeat with the other heart lens
28. Transfer some of the pink buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a #803
29. Frost cake all over with buttercream, using the piping bag to apply on the sides
30. Smooth out with a small offset
31. Place back in the fridge or freezer about 10-15 minutes or until the frosting is hard to the touch
32. Using a non-patterned sheet of paper towel, gently smooth out frosting, buffing out any harsh lines or imperfections
33. Position fondant heart lenses into place
34. Let cake sit out to room temperature before serving, about 30-45 minutes
35. For the lemon swiss buttercream:
36. Prep everything first!
37. Bring a small saucepan with an inch of water to a simmer
38. Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a stand mixer metal bowl and attach a thermometer
39. Set the bowl over the simmering water, making sure the bottom is not touching the water
40. Whisk constantly and allow the mixture to reach 160&deg
41. F
42. Immediately transfer bowl to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on high until stiff peaks and glossy and doubled in size, about 10 minutes
43. Switch to the paddle attachment and drop speed to medium
44. Add in a couple chunks of butter at a time, fully incorporating before adding more
45. Once all the butter is mixed in, increase speed to medium-high and beat until smooth
46. Then beat in extracts and salt
47. Fold in about teaspoon deep pink gel food coloring with a spatula