Giant Heart Sunglasses Cake
- For the Cake
- 2 (15 1/4 ounce) boxes yellow cake (plus necessary ingredients)
- 2 (3 1/2 ounce) boxes vanilla instant pudding mix
- royal blue gel food coloring
- cornstarch
- yellow fondant
- For the Lemon Swiss Buttercream
- 12 egg whites, room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups white sugar
- 2 lbs unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into chunks
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- deep pink gel food coloring
- For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9-inch square cake pans with nonstick spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray.
- Prepare cake mix per package directions, adding in the packages of vanilla pudding mix.
- Scoop 2 1/2 cups of batter into a small bowl. Scoop another 2 1/2 cups of batter to another small bowl.
- Color one of the small bowls a dark blue shade, folding in about 1 1/2 teaspoons of Deep Blue gel coloring.
- Color the other small bowl to a light blue shade, folding in about 1/2 teaspoon of Deep Blue. You should have white, dark blue, and light blue batters.
- Using a small ice cream scoop, drop alternating scoopfuls of the batter colors into the cake pans, dividing evenly. Swirl the batter with a wooden popsicle stick, making sure to get all the way down to bottom of the cake pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 20 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Wrap each square cake in plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
- Print a large sunglasses stencil online and cut in half, dividing the two frames. Unwrap the frozen cakes on a wooden cutting board and position the stencil halves on top. Trim around the stencils, with a sharp paring knife.
- Transfer trimmed cakes to a large cake board or platter, matching up halves to create one large pair of sunglasses.
- Frost the cake with a crumb coat of pink frosting. Chill in fridge or freezer for about 10-15 minutes or until frosting is hard to the touch.
- Meanwhile, cut the lenses out from stencil. On a surface lightly dusted with cornstarch, roll out the yellow fondant using a silicone rolling pin. Place one of the heart lenses on top and carefully cut out using a sharp paring knife. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the other heart lens.
- Transfer some of the pink buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a #803 tip. Frost cake all over with buttercream, using the piping bag to apply on the sides. Smooth out with a small offset.
- Place back in the fridge or freezer about 10-15 minutes or until the frosting is hard to the touch.
- Using a non-patterned sheet of paper towel, gently smooth out frosting, buffing out any harsh lines or imperfections. Position fondant heart lenses into place.
- Let cake sit out to room temperature before serving, about 30-45 minutes.
- For the Lemon Swiss Buttercream:
- Prep everything first!
- Bring a small saucepan with an inch of water to a simmer.
- Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a stand mixer metal bowl and attach a thermometer.
- Set the bowl over the simmering water, making sure the bottom is not touching the water. Whisk constantly and allow the mixture to reach 160°F.
- 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.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and drop speed to medium. Add in a couple chunks of butter at a time, fully incorporating before adding more.
- Once all the butter is mixed in, increase speed to medium-high and beat until smooth. Then beat in extracts and salt.
- Fold in about 1/2 teaspoon Deep Pink gel food coloring with a spatula.
yellow cake, vanilla instant pudding, blue gel food, cornstarch, yellow fondant, lemon swiss buttercream, egg whites, white sugar, unsalted butter, lemon, vanilla, salt, coloring
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/giant-heart-sunglasses-cake-535190 (may not work)