Cherry Almond Vanilla Cake - Lego Style

Want to know who's mom of the year?

That would be me.

I finally had George's birthday party two weeks after he turned 6. TWO. WEEKS. And it took me all of 5 minutes to plan and prep: four friends; Puss in Boots; cake and ice cream. The end.

Yep, I'm party planner of the year as well.

At least the cake turned out pretty cool.

For their birthdays, my kids get to choose their cake flavor and cake style. (For some of my past cakes and cupcakes, check out this post; it has links to some of the faves.) This year George asked for a cherry cake, and when I suggested Legos in place of Superman (I have no idea how I would've pulled that off), he was all over that. Using this recipe from Betty Crocker and this recipe from Tidy Mom, I crafted him a cake everyone loved.

This Lego cake was actually pretty simple to throw together, probably because I used a few shortcuts due to that whole messy crumb coating thing. And you could substitute any flavor cake you like, from scratch or boxed mix. I used a combination of both.

Sadly I ran out of my gel food coloring so the colors aren't nearly as vibrant and Lego-ish as I would've liked. At least now I know this cake would work perfectly for a little boy's baby shower too!

Cherry Almond Vanilla Lego Cake
1 package vanilla (or white) cake mix
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 21-oz can cherry pie filling
Buttercream frosting (recipe below)
Large marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch pan.* Mix together dry cake mix, eggs, baking powder, both extracts and ½ can of cherry pie filling on medium speed until moistened. Fold in remainging ½ can of cherry pie filling by hand until blended. We prefer smaller cherry pieces instead of whole cherries so I added the entire can and mixed on medium speed. Batter will be thick.

Pour batter into pan(s) and level with a spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely in pan. Invert cake onto a serving platter to decorate.

* For the Lego-style cake, I poured the batter into five disposable mini loaf pans and baked for about the same amount of time. They popped right out when cool. Easy peasy!

Buttercream Frosting
This makes quite a bit. I probably used just over half a recipe for this cake.
1 cup shortening
1 cup butter
8 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tsp clear vanilla extract
6 ounces heavy cream

Cream butter and shortening until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and continue creaming until well blended. Add salt, vanilla and cream and blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream if necessary. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

For the Lego cake, separate the frosting into as many bowls as colors you're using. You will need about ¾ to 1 cup of frosting per cake. For darker colors, use gel or powdered food color as the liquid kind will thin the frosting.

Assembling the cake
Here's how I put together George's Lego cake using the original Betty Crocker recipe as a loose guide. (Listen to me totally winging it! My friends Steph and Ryley would be proud!)

1. Trim the top of the mini cakes so they're nice and flat. Place cakes in a ziploc bag and freeze at least an hour or overnight.
2. Remove cakes from the freezer. Gently frost each cake in the colors you choose. (If cakes start to defrost and get crumb-y, place in the freezer until firm.)
3. Place the cakes in the position you choose. You can do a tower like I did or arrange them in a single layer.
4. To make the Lego pegs, slice the marshmallows in half lengthwise and frost. I found the best way to frost these suckers is to hold the top and bottom between your thumb and middle finger and frost the outside edge. Then place the bottom of the marshmallow on your cake and gently frost the top.

   

5. Do the same with the rest of the marshmallows. Tip: They turn out better if you enlist the help of the birthday boy's little sister.

Once you're done, you'll have one slightly non-geometric Lego cake creation...

...perfect for a six-year-old boy!*

* If you want perfectly squared Lego pieces, you can try the Betty Crocker directions and cut a 9x13-inch cake into different shapes. But then you should probably do that crumb coating thing, something that's way too much work for me!

Printable recipe for the cake and frosting below:

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Cherry Almond Vanilla Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

This is a super delicious, easy cherry cake with my favorite buttercream frosting. You could also top with your favorite cream cheese frosting...up to you!

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Ingredients

Cake

• 1 package vanilla (or white) cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 21-oz can cherry pie filling

Buttercream frosting

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup butter
• 8 cups powdered sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp clear vanilla extract
• 6 ounces heavy cream

Instructions

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch pan. Mix together dry cake mix, eggs, baking powder, both extracts and ½ can of cherry pie filling on medium speed until moistened. Fold in remainging ½ can of cherry pie filling by hand until blended. (We prefer smaller cherry pieces instead of whole cherries so I added the entire can and mixed on medium speed for about 2 minutes.) Batter will be thick.
2. Pour batter into pan and level with a spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely in pan. Invert cake onto a serving platter to decorate.

Frosting

1. Cream butter and shortening until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and continue creaming until well blended. Add salt, vanilla and cream and blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream if necessary. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 699Total Fat: 39gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 286mgCarbohydrates: 88gFiber: 0gSugar: 72gProtein: 2g