Batman Cake
- Level: Advanced
- Yield: 12 to 14 servings
- Total: 3 hr 30 min (includes cooling and chilling times)
- Active: 1 hr 20 min
Ingredients
Yellow Butter Cake Layers:
Flour-based baking spray, for the pans
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 to 4 drops liquid yellow food color
Navy Blue Buttercream and Decorations:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk or cream
Pinch of fine-grain sea salt
2 tablespoons navy blue gel food color, plus more if needed
Neon yellow soft gel food color, for the icing sheets (see Cook's Note)
3 plain white icing sheets (8 by 10 inches each)
Directions
Special equipment:
four 8-inch round cake pans; an icing smoother or bench scraper; a kitchen-dedicated soft-bristle art brush and X-Acto knife; a ruler; 3 printable Batman cityscape templates- For the yellow butter cake layers: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat four 8-inch cake pans with flour-based baking spray (or grease and flour pans). Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper rounds.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the ingredients to evenly distribute. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Beat well after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again briefly.
- Beat the flour mixture into the creamed butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the whole milk; begin and end with the flour mixture. Add the food color and mix again until a consistent yellow hue is achieved. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula and fold the batter together to make sure no pockets of white batter remain.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans (slightly more than 2 cups of batter per pan). Smooth the batter using an offset spatula. Bake until the cakes are slightly domed and a toothpick tester inserted near the centers of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
- Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the wire racks and remove the parchment rounds; cool completely.
- For the navy blue buttercream and decorations: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar a little at a time while mixing on low speed. Add the vanilla extract, milk or cream and salt. Beat again until combined. Scrape down the bowl using a rubber spatula to make sure no pockets of sugar remain. Beat again on high speed until the buttercream is fluffy.
- Beat in the navy blue gel food color. Mix until a consistent deep navy blue hue is achieved. Add more navy blue food color, if needed, to intensify the hue. Scrape down the bowl to make sure no streaks of white buttercream remain. Beat again briefly. Cover the bowl with a damp towel so it doesn’t dry out.
- To make the decorations: Place a small amount of neon yellow food color in a condiment cup. Remove 3 icing sheets from the re-sealable pouch and place on a flat work surface. Dip a kitchen-dedicated soft-bristle art brush into the food color and evenly paint the surfaces of the icing sheets. Allow to stand until dry, about 15 minutes. The surface of the icing sheets will still be slightly tacky – this is normal. Meanwhile, print out the Batman mask and cityscape templates at 100% size.
- Lay a cutting mat or board on a work surface. Lay one of the templates on top of an icing sheet and cut out the shapes through the paper using a kitchen-dedicated X-Acto knife. Use the edge of a ruler to easily guide the knife to cut the straight edges. Peel away the white paper from the icing sheet carefully. Place the shapes between parchment paper on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out. Repeat this process with the remaining templates.
- To assemble the cake: Place a yellow cake layer on a cake board, serving plate or cake stand. Cover with a thin layer of the navy blue buttercream. Repeat the process with a second and third cake layer. Top with the final cake layer. Cover the sides and top of the cake with the navy blue buttercream. Smooth evenly using an icing smoother or bench scraper.
- With the cake freshly covered in buttercream, apply the Batman mask and cityscape decorations to the sides of the cake, leaving a space for the Bat-Signal base. Smooth gently with your fingers to flatten. Or, if the cut-outs are still tacky, lay a small piece of parchment paper over the cut-out and gently smooth down. If the cake has been standing at room temperature for more than 15 minutes, the buttercream will crust and the decorations will not stick. If this happens, lightly mist the bottom half of the cake with water using a kitchen-dedicated spray bottle. Apply the Bat-Signal base and the large beam to the side of the cake; trim the top of the beam evenly to match the top edge of the cake. To the top of the cake, apply the remaining beam piece and Bat-Signal. Press down gently to flatten against the sides of the cake.
- Refrigerate the cake until firm and the decorations are set, about 30 minutes. Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.
Cook’s Note
Soft gel food color is a little looser than paste gel food color. Soft gel food color works best for painting icing sheets because it has just enough moisture to glide on evenly with a paint brush, but not so much that it will cause the icing sheet to soften. Edible icing sheets fresh from the resealable package should smell sweet and have some bend to them. If your icing sheet is rigid and hard, then it has been exposed to air and will be too brittle to use.