Cake Boss - 11yr - Decorating Competition

My daughter and her friends love the TV show Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes. For her 11th birthday, we had a Cake Boss party.

We sent invitations with a picture of the Carlo's Bakery storefront (from the show) and told the girls they would be coming for a cake decorating contest. Every girl invited attended! 

Prior to the party, we made our own fondant (very easy and fun recipe at http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm rice krispy treats and baked several sizes of cakes--all to be used for the cake decorating. I lucked out and got cake mixes at Target for 77 cents! I also bought canned frosting on sale and had both vanilla and chocolate.  

I had gotten free hair nets from a local bakery and took a fun photo of them in their hair nets when the girls arrived (we wanted baker's hats, but couldn't find them in time). We had 15 girls which we divided into teams of 5 girls. Each team got 1 9 round cake 1 9x12 and a small "bowl cake" that I baked in glass bowls to create a dome shape (they were very excited about this very different!). There were also a few extras for "scraps." We had 10 batches of fondant pre-colored and the teams took turns picking fondant so each team got three colors and there was extra white that could be colored for small accents.

Each team also got vanilla frosting for the "dirty icing" and then chocolate frosting for the filling.   To start the girls were given an "order" from Carlo's Bakery which I created and printed out. The order was for an 11th birthday and listed the favorite colors interests etc.

First the girls sketched their design. We had also recorded several Cake Boss shows and had them running continuously in the background so the girls would get inspired. Once the "cake expert" (my sister) approved their design they were ready to begin. We helped with the cutting of shapes for the cakes (if needed). They then dirty iced the cake which took a lot longer than I thought it would. I provided plastic knives for them and since most teams did three cakes there was plenty of work for everyone.

Each team also had rolling pins and an extra bowl of powdered sugar so they could roll out their fondant. I also had cookie cutters in shapes like hearts flowers etc. that they could use to create shapes for the cake or use to cut a rice krispy treat and then cover it with fondant as an accent.

Each team also had their own "tools" which included a pastry brush (to remove the excess powdered sugar after rolling) and a spatula to smooth the fondant. Each team was given a special cake plate to display their final project. 

The results were amazing One was a three layer cake with a heart as the top layer and rice krispy stars covered in fondant. It also had the birthday girl's name cut out in the fondant--it was the winner. Another had zebra striped fondant (idea gotten from the episode showing on the TV!) with all three layers a different pattern and a large bow on top. Another created a soccer field and a basketball hoop out of rice krispy treats and covered in fondant--the birthday girl's interests.

The party lasted about 3.0 hours and we used at least 2 hours for creative brainstorming and decorating the cakes. The time went fast! They absolutely loved it and had so much fun coming up with ideas and making changes/adapting the design as it came to life from their drawing. After the judging and the awarding of the prizes (little trophies from a local dime store for first silver and bronze medals for second and third) we put candles in the "winning cake" and sang happy birthday. Then we ate the cakes!

The girls were allowed to try any one they wanted. We had plenty so I also sent cake home with the girls."