I made these viking helmet mini cakes for my son, Caleb, to share with his 3rd grade class on his birthday. He had a How to Train Your Dragon birthday party, so we thought this would be cute to go along with his theme (see the post
Night Fury!!! to view the cake).
I used a mini wonder mold pan to bake these mini cakes in. I didn't fill them up very much, about as much batter as you would use to make a regular-sized cupcake. You might have to experiment with the amount to get the size you want, I happened to get the size I wanted on the first try, yay! :)
After the mini cakes were baked and completely cooled it was time for the icing. I tinted some vanilla buttercream icing a dark gray and then put it in the microwave for about 10 seconds, just enough to get a dipping consistency, but not too runny. I dipped the mini cakes in the icing and set them aside so the icing could set (this was a bit messy).
After the icing was set I piped the flat lines around the base of the helmets and the ones that go down the center. I used a flat tip for this, like one you would use for a ribbon. On one of the helmets I piped some rounded dots on top the flat lines and thin lines running along the edges of the flat lines (both of these things were done with a small round tip). (If I was doing this again I would tint the icing that I used a light gray instead of keeping it white. I think it would have made the next step a little better.)
After the piped lines had set I got some silver Wilton pearl dust and mixed it with a little lemon juice. Then I painted the silver onto the piped lines to make them look metallic. I think I would've had to spend a little less time on this if the icing had been tinted a light gray (as mentioned above) instead of just being white. I think I would have to use a little less since it would be accenting a similar color instead of trying to cover a totally contrasting color. A missed or thinner spot may not have been so noticeable as it was with the white underneath.
The last thing was to make the horns. To do this I got white fondant and mixed just a bit of brown food coloring in to make a more cream-ish color. I pinched a bit off, rolled it into a little ball, and then made it into the shape of the horn. I let them dry some so that they'd keep their shape. Then I inserted them into the cake where I wanted them. I ended up having to carve out just a bit of the cake where they were going to be so that they would stay in and not fall. If I had more time I may have embellished a bit around the horns either making it look like fur tufts or just a line of the dark gray or silver to secure it better and to hide the rough edges of the hole.
Caleb and his class really enjoyed these mini cakes! :)
I created my animated name at this site.)
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