For my daughter's 2 year old birthday, I chose Mickey Mouse as her birthday theme. She became a big fan of Mickey Mouse when her brother brought home a Mickey Mouse Foil balloon from Disneyland.
As her birthday is just a few days before Christmas, I wanted to keep her cake very simple since I would be busy preparing for Christmas. I opted for a spiced Christmas 3 layer cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and decorated with red and brown M&Ms in the shape of Mickey Mouse heads. The frosting between the cake layers was striped red and white to add a little hidden surprise when cutting the cake and to recall Mickey Mouse theme.
I found inspiration for the cake from Preppy Kitchen Christmas cake which was delicious. Parents and kids enjoyed the gingerbread cake. The spices were subtil enough for kids.
Ingredients for the cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 113g, room temperature
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
- 2 eggs medium room temperature
Cake Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Combine boiling water and baking soda in a medium bowl.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt into a large bowl.
- Using a mixer with a whisk attachment beat the butter on high until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about two minutes. Add the molasses, ginger, baking soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.
- Butter and flour three 6" cake pans. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans and bake from about 30-35. You’ll have some left over batter. Use it to make a few cupcakes and bake them for about 15 - 20 minutes.
- Allow cake layers to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Ingredients for the Vanilla buttercream
- 450g unsalted butter room temperature
- 800g icing sugar sifted
- 135ml milk
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
Vanilla Buttercream Instructions
- Beat with an electric mixer the butter for 5 minutes so it becomes white and smooth
- Beat in half the icing sugar for 3-5 minutes. Beat in the other half of icing sugar for 3-5 sugar
- Combine 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract into 135 ml of the milk
- Add 3 tablespoons of milk in the buttercream and mix. Adjust the quantity of milk based on the consistency of your buttercream. The consistency should be spreadable and soft and not too loose that it can’t hold its shape and drip off the cake. Beat in the milk for about 3-4 minutes.
Cake Decoration Ingredients
- Red M&Ms
- Brown M&Ms
- Hershey Drops (If you can’t find Hershey Drops you can replace them with Brown M&Ms. All your Mickey Mouse shape heads will be of the same size)
- Red mini M&Ms or Smarties
- Brown mini M&Ms or Smarties (in the case you weren’t able to find Hersey Drops)
- Red food coloring
Cake Decoration Instructions
- Mix red food coloring into ⅓ of your vanilla buttercream. Transfer into a piping bag and snip off the tip.
- Transfer ⅓ of your white vanilla buttercream into a piping bag and snip off the tip. Make sure both piping bags are the same size.
- Transfer both piping into 1 big piping bag and snip off the tip.
- Pipe a red and white swirl between each layer.
- When your 3 layers are assembled, cover the cake in plain white buttercream and smooth with a spatula and bench scraper if you have.
- Place on the cake the M&Ms, Hershey Drops and mini M&Ms to make Mickey Mouse Shape heads.
Voilà, a delicious Mickey Mouse cake that will surprise your guests.
