The 5th Birthday Cake: Loki’s Tower

October is basically over! Isn’t that just plain ol nuts?! I mean, we’re a whole two months from the end of the year! It’s madness.

Even more madness? This is a post about something that happened waaaaaaaaaaaay back in March! Hahaha, yeah, I know! What the heck am I doing? The answer is: I have no idea!

Honestly, I made this with every intention of remaking it in the future. Unfortunately, with it being October seemingly over night, I never found the time to get back in the kitchen and do it over. So here we are, 7 months later, catching up on old times.

This was Sebastian’s 5th birthday cake. I thought about it, made it, and almost instantly thought of 10 different ways I could’ve made it better. But you know what? Sebastian was absolutely floored!

See, when he’s not going crazy about Star Wars, he’s going crazy about super heroes. And his love for the bad guy always shines through, because his favorite character (from Marvel, at least) is Loki. Yeah, of all characters, my son looks up to Loki. Brother of Thor, and the God of Mischief. Kids!

Anyway, his birthday landed at a perfect time. It was just a few days after the figure for Loki was released for Disney Infinity 2.0. I knew it would’ve been the best cake topper for him because he was asking for him since the game released, and I was right. I just had to figure out how to execute the cake.

If Loki was the topper, then picking a theme was easy. Ice and snow had to be present seeing as how Loki is part Frost Giant (stay with me, non-nerds). I thought candy would look awesome as ice, so a quick search led me to this crazy looking Frozen themed cake. I knew right away that’s what I wanted to do for Seb’s cake.

Another event that lined up perfectly with all of this was the Wilton Sweet-Up which took place a few weeks later. At the time of making the cake, I already had the Color Right System in my possession, so I broke it open to see what it could do, knowing I wasn’t going to be able to share how I made the cake until after the Sweet-Up.

So how did I put the cake together? Let’s find out…

Ice Cake

 

Your favorite cake recipe or box (not yellow)
Colored with about 5 drops of Blue from the Wilton Color Right System

 

Wilton Buttercream Icing

 

Hard Candy for the Ice

 

2 cups granulated white sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
4 or 5 drops of Blue from the Wilton Color Right System
(optional) flavoring of choice

Notes

• You’re going to need a candy thermometer. And the Loki figure or whatever other ice themed figure you’re topping it with.
• For the buttercream, I did all shortening instead of a shortening/butter combo. This ensured a pure white color that you need for the snow. Plus it’s how mama always did it.
• The effect I was looking for when putting the cake together was a supposed to be an icy terrain covered by patches of snow. The cake itself was meant to be a huge piece of ice and the buttercream the snow, with the sugar bringing it all together.
• It looked better in my mind. Haha. But still, it was loved by my kid so whatever. The main focus is the figure surrounded by the jagged ice candy, and that’s what stands out the most. I would have fixed it to the way I described below, but by the time I finished it was already like 10pm the night before his birthday and didn’t feel like making more buttercream.
• A huge reason why I wanted to redo the cake for the blog was because I was a fool who didn’t remember my basic colors from grade school. I decided to use yellow cake mix that I had in my pantry. So as you could imagine, trying to make a yellow cake turn blue left me with a totally different outcome. Green! (head to wall)
• Another reason is the way the buttercream doesn’t cover the whole cake. I went with my original plan, to have patches of snow so the icy looking blue cake can show through. But with having to cut off the outer crust thanks to it being straight up green, it doesn’t look too great. Again, it didn’t matter, but I have my personal standards that were irking me about it.
• So if you ever try to recreate this, try and aim for the entire cake covered in icing, and random pieces of ice all around. It’ll be a much cleaner look and much more presentable.
• The color was pretty easy to reach with just a few drops of blue from the Wilton Color Right System for both the ice and the cake.
• While this was made for Loki, it could also work for Elsa.
• This could easily be done with any cake recipe or mix. Just… make sure it’s not yellow.

Alright, so let’s start with the showstopper – the ice candy.

When I tell you this is insanely simple, I’m not trying to fill you with confidence. Making candy is a cinch, you just need a candy thermometer. Make sure it’s calibrated correctly though. I had never made candy before so this was new and exciting. I was expecting something more tedious but when I finished I was like “really?!” Just be sure to have everything ready before you start. You have to be quick when you’re working with candy so every second helps.

• So first and foremost, do what I said and calibrate your thermometer. If you don’t, then nothing will work. You calibrate a candy thermometer by putting it in a pot and bringing water to a boil. Water boils at 212°, so check your thermometer when it’s boiling and adjust the temperature of your recipe accordingly. For example: If your thermometer is saying the water is boiling at 200°, then subtract 12° from whatever temperature you’re supposed to bring your syrup to a boil.

• Next, be sure to have a nice sized cookie sheet or a sheet tray with some depth to it, lined with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with non-stick. Don’t go crazy with the spray, but don’t be cheap either. Last thing you want is to go through all of this and get your candy stuck to the foil. Another thing to have ready is foil covering your working area. This was a great tip from Chica and Jo and it helped with clean up a lot. So line the sides of your stove with a few sheets of foil to protect from splattering sugar syrup. Last thing to have ready is a nice wooden spoon, along with the coloring at arms reach and ready to be used.

• You start by putting the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a pan, and giving it a good stir. Once it’s incorporated, hook up your candy thermometer and make sure it’s not in direct contact with the bottom of the pan. Throw it on high heat. You need it to go quick because you’re making candy, not caramel.

• At this point, once the heat is on, there’s no turning back. Don’t go and fold laundry, this demands your attention for the next few minutes.

• As the sugar is boiling you’re going to have lots of steam. But it will dissipate once the water evaporates, making it much easier to read the thermometer.

• You’re watchin’ and waitin’. The temperature you need to remove the pan from the heat is 300°! But you’re looking for it to reach about 295° before you have to work fast.

• Once it does hit 295°, drop the coloring and stir it up slowly. You’ll notice turn a really nice blue, but don’t sit there staring at it because by the time you’re done stirring it’s probably at 300° and needs to come off.

• At 300°, the sugar is done and it needs to be poured onto the tray. The cooking process needs to be stopped or else the color and texture could be off. At this point, if you didn’t think I was serious about being prepared, then you’re probably kicking yourself while a mini-me is laughing at you shaking his head from on top your shoulder.

• So when it hits 300°, remove the thermometer and just put it down on the nearby foil, and carefully pour the sugar onto the foil lined sheet tray. Try and have the tray sitting where you’re going to leave it. Somewhere flat and where it’s not going to be messed with. The other side of the stove top worked for me.

• When everything is out of the pot, just put it in the sink with water and soap to soak in it for about an hour. Toss your thermometer and spoon in there as well.

• Everything is done and now you’re just waiting for it to harden. I left it for about 2 hours to be safe. Once ready, it’s time to have some fun!

• You’re looking for long pieces. Remember what the cake top looks like. The longer the pieces, the more omph the presentation is going to have. I tried hitting with a butter knife but it wasn’t doing much, but the best way would be by hand.

• So just grab it on the side and push down on the top with your thumb. Try to keep the sheet of candy low so you don’t shatter the entire thing in one shot.

• Even if you do, it’s alright, it’s not the end of the world. You’re going to need a few long pieces and one wide enough piece where the figure can stand on. As long as you got that you’re fine.

• Now that the hardest part of the entire thing is out of the way, go ahead and get your cake made.

• When the batter is done, just put a few more drops of the blue color from the Wilton Color Right System and watch the magic happen.

• And remember the tip about staying away from yellow cake mix. The cake itself will come out a brilliant blue, but the outside was much more green and I had to cut it away. I’m still smacking myself over it, trust me. I wish I had more patience and time when I was making it because I would’ve fixed it up more. But hey, the main event is the candy so that’s what we’re focusing on!

• When the cake is baking, make the buttercream. Like I said, you want to go all shortening and no butter because it’s going to give you a pure white icing that looks great as snow.

• Once the cake is cool and everything is made, it’s assemble time. Here’s where you do what I say, not what I do. Just go ahead and cover the whole cake with icing. It doesn’t even have to be perfectly even, remember, it’s snow, and snow falls wherever it wants to. Once it’s covered, start placing your ice candy. Place some smaller chunks around the cake pressed into the sides, and a wide one on the center of the cake on top. Go ahead and place the figure on top and then get your nice long pieces and place them around the figure. 

And that’s the cake! Or, the cake top, to be more specific. It’s a great, great idea, especially for those who have super villain loving children like I do.

Again, I wish I would’ve been able to do it over again, but I’m glad I took these pictures so I could at least show you the awesome idea. With winter coming up and all those Elsa and Loki themed birthdays, this will be a great cake to put together! The Wilton Color Right System did a fantastic job with the blue I was trying to create. If you want to go a different shade for anything – the ice, the cake, the icing – it’ll be insanely easy to do so. So be sure to check it out if you’re ever looking to color something!

If you’re interested in picking up this specific Loki figure for your Loki loving kid, you can get it right here on Amazon. Buying it from this link will help me and my site out, so thanks if you do!