The Lego Cake

Well,

I’ve revived this article from the depths because I’ve seen a lot of links coming in, almost three years after the fact.  The article itself has been gone for a while, but I’ll try to recreate it here.

After some successes designing birthday cakes for my children, I started asking them specifically what they wanted in a cake.  My then six-year-old gave it some consideration and asked for a Lego Cake.  I wanted to go all out for the cake, and I had some time, so I put a plan together.

My mother-in-law had visited the Lego store on a trip out of state and had purchased some Lego-related items for me.  I received a Lego ice cube maker and a lego cake/Jell-O mold.  These were to be the basis for the cake, but I was unsure how to proceed.

I had doubts about getting the cake to retain its shape in the Jell-O mold and am not the master of neat icing, so I decided to go another (entirely sweeter) route.

After baking a chocolate cake in a standard pan and whipping up a batch of buttercream frosting, I set the gears in motion.  Here’s the steps:

Large Bricks

Step 1:  I melted down a batch of candy melts from my local cake store and effectively painted the interior of the mold with several layers, giving it a relatively thick shell in the rough shape of a large Lego block.

Step2: Add a dollop of buttercream to the bottom of the mold (top of the block).

Step 3: Cut a square of cake that will fit into the remaining space of the mold, with room left over at the top.

Step 4: Pour additional melted candy over the top of the mold to form a smooth ‘bottom’ for the Lego brick.

Step 5: Gently remove the blocks from the mold to reveal the large bricks shown in the picture.  Some may break, it’s a matter of the thickness of the candy.  I chose to re-do the ones that broke!

Small Bricks

Step 1: Follow the same procedure for the small bricks in the ice cube mold.  Leave enough room to insert a ‘filling’ of peanut butter (Peanut butter and powdered milk mixed to make a paste).

Step 2: Seal the bottoms of the blocks

Step 3: Remove gently again!  Be prepared for breakage.

The molds in both cases did not have to be greased.  The candy melts are oily enough as it is.

The “Lego Man” was molded by hand from marshmallow fondant (find this recipe at numerous places online).  Don’t fret if you’re not the artistic-type.  It was far easier than I thought it was going to be.  A little dusting of pearl food dust gave it the shinier look.

Here’s the finished product:

The large blocks served as individual cake servings for each child.  Total time: about 9 hours!

Enjoy!