Calvin and Hobbes Snowman Cake - April 2013

I made this Calvin and Hobbes cake, featuring their very unique snowmen, for my son, Caleb, for his 11th birthday.  I loved Calvin and Hobbes growing up, so when I introduced it to my kids I thought it was cool that they liked it, especially Caleb, he really took off with it.  I was excited when he picked it for his birthday theme, and I pretty much immediately knew this was what I wanted to do for his cake.

For this cake I baked one 12 inch round cake and two 6 inch round cakes.  A while back I had seen Duff Goldman's zebra striped cake mix in the store.  I thought it looked cool and was interested so I took a look at the back of the box to see how they said to do it.  When Caleb decided to have a Calvin and Hobbes party I thought it would be fun to use that technique to make the inside of the cake look tiger striped (and 'Calvin striped' (red and black like his shirt) for other cakes).

 

I used a chocolate cake mix and a white cake mix that I colored orange by putting food coloring in the batter and followed the directions that I had seen for the Duff zebra cake.  The two 6 inch cakes I made tiger striped, and the 12 inch cake had some Calvin stripes next to some Hobbes tiger stripes with white cake batter that I mixed up in addition around it to look like snow.  (I took part of that white cake batter and added red to it to make the red for the Calvin stripes.)

 

After the cakes were completely cooled I leveled them and stacked them (icing in between).  I stacked the 6 inch cakes a little off center towards the back of the 12 inch cake (which was off center towards the back of the cake board) to give room for my snowmen and other items.  I crumb coated the cakes and let the icing set.  Then I iced the cakes and the cake board with white buttercream purposely going in different directions leaving visible lines and some peaks to give it that snowy look.

 

 

All the figures and other items on the cake I made of fondant ahead of time.  I found all the different snowmen Calvin had made in the comics and then let Caleb choose several that he wanted.  I had him put them in the order he wanted from most to least in case I couldn't get to them all.  I think I was able to get all but one done, the snowman swimming away from the snow sharks.  Well, the one holding his head out in front of him I decided not to do for the logistics of it and the time it would take to make it work.



Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip by Bill Watterson





Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip by Bill Watterson





Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip by Bill Watterson



 

I had the pictures of the snowmen (and multiple pictures of Calvin and Hobbes) right next to me and constantly referenced to them as I was making all the figures to try and get them to look just like they did in the comics.  The bodies of the snowmen are made with white fondant shaped for how each particular snowman looked.  For the mouths that were open I made using a fondant tool to shape them.  I made the little carrot noses out of orange fondant, let them dry a just little bit, and attached them to the snowmen using a dab of water.  The arms are made of brown fondant.  I let the arms dry so they would hold their shape when they were on the snowmen.  When I attached them I made a small hole in the snowman's body with a toothpick and then inserted the arms.  I made a couple extra in case any of them broke.  I used a black food coloring marker for the eyes, mouths, and buttons (and the words on the sign).  The two hats on the snowmen are made from fondant as well as the sled the little snowman is on.  The snow shovel and sign are made of fondant except for the sticks which are toothpicks.  For the tiny snowmen I forget if I pinch their arms out from the bodies or if I attached a little pinch of fondant to the bodies.  I think it might have been the first way.  Whichever way it was they were painted with a dab of brown food coloring. 

Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip by Bill Watterson

Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip by Bill Watterson



Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip by Bill Watterson

I made Hobbes and his scarf out of fondant with his eyes and stripes drawn on with a black food coloring marker.  I set his arms aside to dry before attaching them because I wanted them to stay how I put them once I attached them.  When I went to attach them they didn't sit against the body exactly right and I had to work with them a bit to get them attached and looking okay.  So, I didn't get them positioned exactly how I had wanted.  Looking at him after he was together, I would have wanted his arms to be a little more relaxed looking and his head to be looking down towards the snowman, but I was still very happy with Hobbes' overall look.

Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip by Bill Watterson

 

All the elements of Calvin were also made with fondant with his eyes and mouth drawn on with a black food coloring marker.  I did let his arms dry some also, but I didn't wait as much as I did with Hobbes' so I could have a little more give in the body and arms when attaching them.

Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip by Bill Watterson

 

After I iced the cake I got some more icing and put a blob of it on the cake board to look like a mound of snow.  Then I put the fondant sled I'd made sticking out of the snow to look like Calvin and Hobbes had crashed it in the snow.  Then I started at the top cake layer and made a furrow in the icing down the side of the cake and on the top of the bottom cake layer to make it look like they had sledded down the cake before they crashed.

 

Next I placed my fondant snow fort and pile of snowballs on the bottom cake.  I had some extra snowballs that I didn't need for the snowball pile so I decided to use them to make an 11 on the side of the top cake like they had thrown them there.

 

Then I started placing the snowmen and Calvin and Hobbes on the cakes and cake board.  After I placed the little snowman on the sled and the snowman it sledded through I made a little furrow in the icing following after the sled.  I knew I had made my little sled too short, but I didn't notice until after that the little snowman's sled in the comic is really long and extends all the way past the other side of the snowman he sledded through.  Grr...

I also made a 6 inch 'Calvin striped' cake with the leftover batter that I had.  I used that 6 inch cake and the top from leveling it as well as the tops from the leveled 6 inch tiger cakes to make a 'snowball' cake for extra cake at the party.

 

I was super excited and so pleased with how the cake turned out.  I thought it really captured the characters well and the spirit of Calvin and Hobbes.  I loved how the inside of the cake came out as well.  Everyone thought the tiger stripes were really cool.  Caleb absolutely loved the cake and was really excited about it as well.  :)  The kids and adults at the party thought it was awesome, especially those familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, they really thought it was great.  :)

(I created my animated name at this site.)