Science Themed Cake
September 24, 2017
Growing up, science was one of my favorite subjects in school. That is easy to recognize as my professional career is in pharmacy. There were a whole lot of science involved in pharmacology classes. Although science is always fascinating to me, I don't talk about it much at home. Thus, when it comes to teaching science or any related-topic, let just say it was never brought up at home. But recently, we found out that we might have a little scientist in the house! My son loves watching this channel on YouTube called “Jessie and Squeak” and it talks about nature and science. He enjoys watching it, and apparently learned a whole lot more about science.
It is in our routine that I talk to the kids about their day such as what they had for lunch and new things they were taught for that day. One day after school, we started to talk about the weather, one topic leading after another, we ended at talking about hurricane and how they occur. Honestly, I was clueless about how hurricanes come to be. It was not something of my interest so I never attempted to understand the "science" behind this natural disaster that occurs almost yearly for those live in the tropical countries. My son became excited and spilled all that he know about hurricane. I was reluctant to believe his explanation, so I asked him to share with me the "show" from where he learned the science from. That night, we watched together the show at home together, learning about how hurricane and many other things come to be... Thanks to my son, I have learned a lot more about nature that night.
So, it is not surprising to hear that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. But that is just one of the jobs he wants to have, out of 5 jobs, including becoming a physician, a chef, a teacher and a pharmacist. And I am sure he will continue to change over the next ten years. A few weeks ago, we started to talk about the theme for his birthday, and he narrowed down to "science" and "nature." But because he is fascinated about science so much, I decided that the theme would fit him better. We compromised by having the birthday party at the nearby park to give it a touch of "nature." And this is how I decided to make this cake.
It is in our routine that I talk to the kids about their day such as what they had for lunch and new things they were taught for that day. One day after school, we started to talk about the weather, one topic leading after another, we ended at talking about hurricane and how they occur. Honestly, I was clueless about how hurricanes come to be. It was not something of my interest so I never attempted to understand the "science" behind this natural disaster that occurs almost yearly for those live in the tropical countries. My son became excited and spilled all that he know about hurricane. I was reluctant to believe his explanation, so I asked him to share with me the "show" from where he learned the science from. That night, we watched together the show at home together, learning about how hurricane and many other things come to be... Thanks to my son, I have learned a lot more about nature that night.
So, it is not surprising to hear that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. But that is just one of the jobs he wants to have, out of 5 jobs, including becoming a physician, a chef, a teacher and a pharmacist. And I am sure he will continue to change over the next ten years. A few weeks ago, we started to talk about the theme for his birthday, and he narrowed down to "science" and "nature." But because he is fascinated about science so much, I decided that the theme would fit him better. We compromised by having the birthday party at the nearby park to give it a touch of "nature." And this is how I decided to make this cake.
PREPARING FOR THE DECORATIONS
I know that I wanted to incorporate some elements from the Periodic Table in this cake. What Science Cake does not have the Chemical Elements right? I decided to punch out five squares of white fondant using my cookie cutter. Then I added black letter on top of this, using the alphabet mold for the birthday boy's name. I was debating between adding the entire name of each element along with their atomic number, but I did not pursue it as I think it would make the "Elements" look little too crowded. I basically wrote the atomic number on the top left corner of each square using my edible black ink. Simple enough! These were left to dry over a few days.
I know that I wanted to incorporate some elements from the Periodic Table in this cake. What Science Cake does not have the Chemical Elements right? I decided to punch out five squares of white fondant using my cookie cutter. Then I added black letter on top of this, using the alphabet mold for the birthday boy's name. I was debating between adding the entire name of each element along with their atomic number, but I did not pursue it as I think it would make the "Elements" look little too crowded. I basically wrote the atomic number on the top left corner of each square using my edible black ink. Simple enough! These were left to dry over a few days.
Next, I decided to make some 2-D Test Tubes aligning on the opposite side of the "Periodic Elements." It would have been a lot nicer with 3-D test tubes, but I did not have the time to explore this option. I like to keep my party theme consistent, so I mimicked the test tube clip art that I used for the party invitation. For more details on the entire party, you can check out the Science Themed Party posting.
I cut out four rectangles in white fondant, and trimmed around the four edges to give it the test tube shape. Using the four primary colors I picked for the party, red, green, blue and yellow, I duplicated these rectangles but in a smaller scale to resemble the "test tube solutions." I really like this design because it tied perfectly with the theme. Using varies round cutters, punched out 11 circles in different sizes to create bubbles going off of these test tubes. I glued these together, except for the bubbles that would go directly onto the cake, and left them to dry overnight.
I cut out four rectangles in white fondant, and trimmed around the four edges to give it the test tube shape. Using the four primary colors I picked for the party, red, green, blue and yellow, I duplicated these rectangles but in a smaller scale to resemble the "test tube solutions." I really like this design because it tied perfectly with the theme. Using varies round cutters, punched out 11 circles in different sizes to create bubbles going off of these test tubes. I glued these together, except for the bubbles that would go directly onto the cake, and left them to dry overnight.
The last thing I made for this cake was these cute Molecules. I was going to make just two molecules for the topper, but decided to add two extra to make the cake more proportional. Now, looking back, I wish I have added a few extra to cover up the "emptiness" of that blue surface.
These molecules were probably the easiest decoration I had to prepare. I rolled up three round “elements,” 2 in the same size with 1 being the largest, to mimic the H2O molecule. I made more yellow elements because I want these to pop out from the blue surface. The "bonds" I used here to tie the elements together were paper straw. I thought orange was a fun color since I didn't have it on the cake. You can use anything to stick to put the two round fondant balls together. I am sure the lollipop sticks or toothpicks would work just fine.
These molecules were probably the easiest decoration I had to prepare. I rolled up three round “elements,” 2 in the same size with 1 being the largest, to mimic the H2O molecule. I made more yellow elements because I want these to pop out from the blue surface. The "bonds" I used here to tie the elements together were paper straw. I thought orange was a fun color since I didn't have it on the cake. You can use anything to stick to put the two round fondant balls together. I am sure the lollipop sticks or toothpicks would work just fine.
ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
This is a 8-inch, three-layer vanilla sponge cake with whipping cream. I used two different recipes and found the one I have current posted on this website resulted in a fluffier cake. I stacked the cake layers between whipping cream and add a light crumb coat of buttercream around the cake. If I had to redo this, I would remove the whipping cream completely from the outside and apply more buttercream for the crumb coat, which should help to uphold the covering fondant better.
I first covered the cake with green fondant. I covered around the cake, instead of placing the entire fondant on top of the cake. I did this because I was afraid that the heavy fondant would slide off the cake. Next, I added the blue fondant on top of the cake to mirror an image of an overflowing test tube. Then I aligned the test tubes along one side of the cake, using the same order on the clip-art picture from the invitation that I mentioned earlier. Lastly, I added the bubbles above the test tubes leading to the top of the cake.
On the other side, I placed a long thin strip of black fondant, resembling as a "chalk board" and then glued the Chemical Elements onto this board. The easiest part was to add the molecules to the side and the top of the cake, surrounding the real mini glass flask holding orange M&Ms.
This is a 8-inch, three-layer vanilla sponge cake with whipping cream. I used two different recipes and found the one I have current posted on this website resulted in a fluffier cake. I stacked the cake layers between whipping cream and add a light crumb coat of buttercream around the cake. If I had to redo this, I would remove the whipping cream completely from the outside and apply more buttercream for the crumb coat, which should help to uphold the covering fondant better.
I first covered the cake with green fondant. I covered around the cake, instead of placing the entire fondant on top of the cake. I did this because I was afraid that the heavy fondant would slide off the cake. Next, I added the blue fondant on top of the cake to mirror an image of an overflowing test tube. Then I aligned the test tubes along one side of the cake, using the same order on the clip-art picture from the invitation that I mentioned earlier. Lastly, I added the bubbles above the test tubes leading to the top of the cake.
On the other side, I placed a long thin strip of black fondant, resembling as a "chalk board" and then glued the Chemical Elements onto this board. The easiest part was to add the molecules to the side and the top of the cake, surrounding the real mini glass flask holding orange M&Ms.
I am not exactly thrilled at how this cake turned out. The difficult part of making this cake is not the decorations, but rather the actual cake structure to withstand the fondant decorations.
My family likes sponge cake with whipped cream. If you serve them anything other than that, it will not get eaten—well, maybe except the kids. So, I decided to use a vanilla-flavored sponge cake with whipped cream, and boy, it did not go very well with these fondant decorations, especially with the freshly made fondant. Whipping cream contains a lot of water, so it does soak up the fondant. The bumps you see on the side of the cake is because the buttercream layer was not thick enough to protect the fondant layer from melting.
My family likes sponge cake with whipped cream. If you serve them anything other than that, it will not get eaten—well, maybe except the kids. So, I decided to use a vanilla-flavored sponge cake with whipped cream, and boy, it did not go very well with these fondant decorations, especially with the freshly made fondant. Whipping cream contains a lot of water, so it does soak up the fondant. The bumps you see on the side of the cake is because the buttercream layer was not thick enough to protect the fondant layer from melting.
But overall, it turned out fine because the birthday boy commented, "WOW, is that my birthday cake Mommy? I love it!" He really did like the cake although his first request a few months ago was not to make his birthday cake out of fondant... I don't think he remembers any part of that conversation.
Things I would do differently if I was to make this cake again are making the flask out of fondant, (it wouldn't be clear though), and adding more molecules on the top of the cake. My excuse for this was because I ran out of time. I literally had one day to put this cake together, along with about a thousand of other tasks to prepare for the party.
Things I would do differently if I was to make this cake again are making the flask out of fondant, (it wouldn't be clear though), and adding more molecules on the top of the cake. My excuse for this was because I ran out of time. I literally had one day to put this cake together, along with about a thousand of other tasks to prepare for the party.
This cake would have been the hit for the kids if we could get our hands on some dry-ice before the party. A friend gave me an idea to put some dry-ice in the flask with water just right before my son cuts the cake, which would have been awesome. Except, we couldn't get anything less than 10 pounds of dry-ice, so we let that thought went to the side. If you are able to obtain this, or willing to get a large amount of dry-ice, you will be a best Science Cake waiting in the corner!
xoxo,
Tristina
xoxo,
Tristina
COPYRIGHT © 2017 - SUGAR & PEARLS ~ CAKE DESIGNS BY TRISTINA