Minecraft birthday cake

An Enderman is a character in a video game called Minecraft. My son and his friends LOVE Minecraft. It is the “LEGO” of the video game world, building worlds, etc. I think that my son is drawn to the Enderman character in particular because it has the ability to teleport in order to avoid danger- how cool! 🙂

My son- who was also an Enderman for Halloween this year- requested an Enderman cake for his 9th birthday party at Lazerland! (For those of you without a young boy in your household Lazerland is Laser tag.) I realized that this cake could have used an additional layer to make it more “Enderman-esque” (more of a cube) but I didn’t have a large enough crowd to warrant a 4-layer cake. I made two layers of Classic Yellow Cake (almost a pound cake- my son’s favorite) with a “Busy Day Chocolate Cake” in-between. I had to weigh the batter in order to split in in half (weight below) because I only have one 9-inch square pan. I used vanilla buttercream as the filling between the layers (twice the recipe), and chocolate frosting on the outside- because an Enderman is black (close enough…). The chocolate frosting was very fudge-like and decadent. The cake was HUGE and delicious.

I made the eyes when making our family’s traditional Number Cookies, sugar cookies cut into the number of the birthday being celebrated. I didn’t need my number “9” cookie cutter to make Number Cookies for my son’s birthday this year– he decided he wanted Roman numerals!! 🙂 We gave the cookies to our birthday party guests with an explanation: IX = 9! 🙂 He is a character.

For the Classic Yellow Cake:

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

Yield: Makes 2 layers or 2 square cakes (each half of the batter weighs 2 lbs 8.5 oz)

4 1/4 cups (530 g) cake flour
1 T plus 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups (560 ml) milk
1 1/2 T vanilla extract
20 T (2 1/2 sticks / 315 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups (625 g) granulated sugar
5 large eggs

Have all the ingredients at room temperature.
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the 9-inch square cake pan(s).
To make the cake, over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition until just incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s) and spread the batter evenly. Bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the enter comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer the pan(s) to a wire rack and let cool completely.

For the Chocolate Frosting:

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

8 oz (250 g) unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped (I used Trader Joe’s 72% cacao dark chocolate)
1 1/3 cups (345 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups (375 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted

To make the frosting, in a heatproof bowl set over but not touching simmering water in a saucepan, melt the chocolate; let cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth, creamy and slightly fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to evenly distribute the chocolate.

To Frost the Cake:

Place one Yellow Cake layer, top side down, on a serving plate. (I place pieces or parchment paper around the edge of the cake to keep the serving plate clean.) Using an icing spatula or a knife, spread half of the vanilla buttercream frosting evenly on top. (The recipe was doubled.)
Place the “Busy Day Chocolate Cake” on top. Spread the other half of the vanilla buttercream evenly over the top.
Place the final Yellow Cake layer on top, top side down. Spread the chocolate frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Remove the protective parchment paper, if using.
Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before serving to set the frosting. (I refrigerated the cake overnight.)