Make a Castle Cake

Castle cakes are delicious to eat, fun to make, and a great way to surprise a birthday boy or girl with a special and unique cake. A castle cake is also very versatile, because you can use any castle style as a model, can customize the icing color, and can change the decorations to completely change the look of the cake. You can even make the decoration a fun party activity that the kids can participate in together before digging in!

Ingredients

Cake

  • 3 cups (250 g) cake flour
  • 3 teaspoons (12 g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon (4 g) salt
  • 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (450 g) sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (237 ml) whole milk

Frosting

  • 6 cups (50 g) powdered sugar
  • ⅔ cup (151 g) butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla
  • 2 to 4 (30 to 60 ml) tablespoons milk
  • Food coloring

Assembly and Decoration

  • 9 ice cream cones (cake cone style)
  • 1 sugar cone
  • 3 graham crackers
  • Edible food dust or food coloring
  • Candy for decorating

Steps

Making the Cakes and Frosting

  1. Gather your ingredients. To make a castle cake, start by baking two separate cakes in different sizes to make the different sections of the castle. Preheat your oven to 400° F (204° C). To make the cakes and frosting, you'll need your ingredients for the cake, along with:
    • One medium and one large mixing bowl
    • Sifter
    • Electric beaters
    • 8-inch greased cake pan (round or square)
    • 6-inch greased cake pan (round or square)
    • Wire cooling rack
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, sift the ingredients together. Sifting will remove clumps and help the batter come together quicker.
    • There are several ways you can sift flour without a sifter, including by using a whisk or strainer.
    • If you don’t have cake flour, you can make some by mixing all-purpose flour with cornstarch. For every cup of flour in the recipe, replace two tablespoons of flour with two tablespoons of cornstarch. For this recipe, replace six tablespoons of all-purpose flour with cornstarch.[1]
  3. Add the butter and sugar in increments. Add the butter a quarter-cup at a time. Use the electric beaters to beat the mixture until it takes on the texture of coarse sand. Then add the sugar in quarter-cup increments as well.[2]
    • When you’ve finished beating in all the butter and sugar, the mixture will look like wet sand.
  4. Add the eggs, and then the wet ingredients. Add the eggs one at a time and beat each one into the mixture before adding the next.[3] When all the eggs have been incorporated, add the milk and vanilla.
    • Once you add the milk and vanilla, increase the speed of the beaters to medium–high and mix until everything comes together as a smooth batter.
  5. Divide the batter and bake. Pour equal amounts of batter into each prepared cake pan. Bake the cakes for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.[2]
    • Set the cake aside to cool for five to 10 minutes.
  6. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool. After five minutes, turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and remove the cake pans. Allow the cakes to cool to room temperature before assembling and decorating the castle cake.
  7. Make the frosting. Combine the sugar and butter in the medium mixing bowl. Beat with electric beaters on medium speed until smooth. Add the vanilla and 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of milk. Beat the mixture and add more milk if necessary to achieve a smooth, light, fluffy, and spreadable frosting.[4]
    • Beat in the food coloring 5 to 10 drops at a time, until you achieve the color you want for the castle. You can use any color food coloring you like.

Assembling and Frosting the Castle

  1. Cut the cakes. Using a pastry knife or cake cutter, slice off the top quarter-inch to half-inch (0.6 to 1.25 cm) of the cakes to ensure they both have a smooth, flat top. Then cut each cake in half and separate the tops and bottoms.
    • Prepare a cake plate that you can assemble and serve the cake on. This will make it easier to move and present the cake once it’s fully assembled and decorated. Wash and dry the cake plate, then set it aside.
    • Place the cakes on two separate plates to frost them.
  2. Apply the crumb coat. With each cake bottom, spread a thin layer of frosting on the top. Then place the top of each cake back onto the bottom of the cake. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the sides and top of each cake. Use a flat frosting knife to spread the frosting out evenly over the cake, making sure the cake underneath isn't exposed anywhere.
    • Refrigerate the cakes for 20 minutes to help the icing set.
    • The crumb coat is a layer of frosting that will trap any crumbs, which will make the final frosting layer look smoother and cleaner.[5]
  3. Assemble and frost the castle. Remove the cakes from the fridge. Place the larger cake on the cake plate. Using a spatula, pick up the smaller cake and carefully center it on top of the larger cake. Apply a generous layer of frosting over all the exposed areas of cake.
    • Smooth and even the icing out with a flat cake knife. Set aside a few spoonfuls of leftover frosting.
    • Return the cake to the fridge and let the icing set for 20 to 30 minutes.

Decorating the Cake

  1. Add the turrets. Take eight of the cake cones and stack them in pairs of two. Each stacked pair will be a turret for the castle. Use a cake decorating brush and your edible dust or food coloring to paint the cones in a color that matches or complements the frosting. Affix one turret to each corner of the larger bottom cake.
    • Gently press the base of the turret into the frosting to secure it in place.[6]
  2. Add the tower. Fill the wide top portion of the last cake cone with leftover frosting. Turn the sugar cone upside down (so the tip is pointing up), and gently press the wide opening of the cone into the frosting inside the cake cone.
    • Paint the tower with the same food coloring or dust as the turrets.
    • Affix the tower to the very top center of the cake. Gently press it into the frosting to secure it in place.
  3. Add the doors and windows. Break or cut all of the graham crackers in half lengthwise. Leave one of the halves intact and set it aside for the door. Break the remaining pieces in half again widthwise (along the serrated center of the cracker).
    • Take the full half and gently press it into the center front of the bottom cake layer. This will be the door of the castle.
    • For the windows, position the graham cracker quarters around the outer faces of the cake to create windows for the castle.
  4. Decorate the castle with candy. Use jelly beans, gum drops, sprinkles, licorice, chocolates, or other candies to decorate the cake if you like. You can create a border around the castle, add candies randomly, create borders for the door and windows, or add other elements to the castle with the candy.[7]
    • You can also lay a full graham cracker in front of the door to replicate a bridge or gate.
  5. Chill the cake until it’s ready to serve. To prevent the icing from warming up and the decorations from sliding off, return the cake to the fridge or a cold cellar until you're ready to serve it.
    • If you’ve made the cake to replicate a specific castle, position a small toy or figurine on the castle as a cake topper right before serving.[8]

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.thekitchn.com/the-easy-way-to-make-cake-flour-substitute-baking-tips-from-the-kitchn-44521
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/recipes/a871/basic-vanilla-cake-69/
  3. ↑ http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/basic-vanilla-cake-recipe.html
  4. ↑ http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/vanilla-buttercream-frosting/39107a19-be94-4571-9031-f1fc5bd1d606
  5. ↑ http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/04/how-to-crumb-coat-a-cake/
  6. ↑ http://www.easy-cake-ideas.com/princess-cake.html
  7. ↑ http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/princess-castle-cake/30644b1f-8ec2-4c23-b8d8-cce1d9566df4
  8. ↑ http://pagingfunmums.com/2013/07/19/princess-castle-cake/

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