Intro: Brain CakeMaking a Brain cake is fun, cheap and great for Halloween parties or get-togethers. This is a basic instructable to show you how to make the details for this cake, the sizeand shape depends on your preferences. You can do similar designs for cupcakes or even flat cakes depending on what best fits your needs. This cake is made fromtwo 8 inch pan cakes that were cut and assembled together to make a more realistic brain cake. The gore is also optional, although it does make the cake look moregrusome and realistic.
step 1: IngredientsHere are the Basic Ingredients that you will need, however depending on what kind of cake mix or cake recipe you use it will vary.1. Cake Mix + necessary ingredients (follow the instructions on your recipe or box)2. Frosting (we bought ours but feel free to mix your own3. Mini Marshmallows (a whole package preferably)4.Powdered Sugar5. Cake dye, especially the colors green and red.6. Oil (to grease your hands with later)
step 2: Mix and bake the CakeFollow the directions on your box/ recipe and mix together the cake. We separated ours into two 8 inch round pans for this cake, but you can make any size or shape youwant. A good tip is to place the bottom of the pan on parchment paper and draw out the shape of it, then cut this out. Grease the pan as usual, and place the parchmentcut out on the bottom of the pan. Then grease the paper and pour the cake batter over it. Basically this guarantees that the cake will come out of the pan much moreeasily than normal.
Cut the cake to shape and cover it with a layer of frosting. The frosting will act as a glue and will hold the fondant onto the cake.
step 3: Melt MarshmellowsNow that the cake is done, its time to make the fondant. If you have fondant mix you can use that instead of making your own, or you can buy fondant from stores likeJoann's. My Marshmallow fondant is completely edible and basically tastes like super sweet marshmallow taffy.
1. Place a large amount of marshmallows into a microwavable bowl. (you will need a lot more than this for a large cake, I am just making a sample here)2. LIGHTLY sprinkle the marshmallows with water. Please do not add too much water. just lightly moisten the marshmallows with a little water so that they cook better.3. Melt the marshmellows in the microwave. I would put them in for 30 secs, stir and then place them in for another 30 seconds to completely melt them.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Brain-Cake/
step 4: Make the FondantOk this is kinda of difficult and involved but if you have ever made bread you might be familiar with some of the steps here.1. First sift the powdered sugar onto a large board and make a mound in the center. You really need to sift this stuff, it looks super fluffy but it has alot of little clumps thatyou normally do not notice. However these clumps are a major problem when making fondant because they make it bumpy and uneven.2. oil your hands with the cooking oil of your choice, you could also use butter, crisco or any type of grease for this job. Basically you are greasing your hands so that thesticky marshmallows do not stick to you.3. get a friend to scrape the melted marshmallows onto the mound of sugar, then dump lots of powdered sugar ontop of it. It should be completely covered.4. gently kneed in the sugar until it gets a thicker consistency. maksuge you keep it well covered in sugar and keep your hands well greased.5. Once it is thick enough to not run all over the place, kneed it much harder and you would for bread dough. Basically to kneed you use the bottom of your palms to pushthe dough forward and then use your fingers to pull it back to center. Do this over and over agian applying more sugar as it soaks it all up.6. when the sugar dough turns to the consistency of soft taffy then it is done.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Brain-Cake/
Image Notes1. this is still a little too loose, keep working in the sugar
http://www.instructables.com/id/Brain-Cake/
step 5: Color and shape fondantSeperate your fondant into small tennis ball shapes and then rip them open with your fingers. Add equal parts of green and pink to make a realistic brain color. kneed andmix the fondant until the colors evenly mix and are fully incorporated. You can also make some piles have more pink than green and others be grayer and darker.
roll the fondant into thin strips of various lengths and thicknesses.
Image Notes1. red and green are added together at the center.
Image Notes1. these colors vary slightly, which is good. Too drastic of a color change and theywill look fake. the very pale color makes it look more realistic.
Image Notes1. here is a sample of some strips. you will need alot more for a whole cake!
step 6: carefully place the fondant strips one at a time onto the cake. start with one end and then swirl the rest of the length around to create S and G shapes. each length offondant will create a little cluster of brain. add the next length right next to the cluster you have created and use the same technique to make more clusters. Do this untillthe entire cake is covered in clusters. You can also add a brain stem which is a oblong ball shape and is placed on the lower half of one side of the cake.
There will be small areas of white frosting in between the layers, this can optionally be covered with fake blood.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Brain-Cake/
Image Notes1. put different colors together to create a nice look.
Image Notes1. this is just one example of the shapes you can create
step 7: Fake bloodAdd dark corn syrup with red dye to create a blood mixture. here is a little sample I made to show you what the right color will look like. If you can only find clear cornsyrup add some blue or purple in to creake a darker color. You will need a lot more of this to cover a whole cake. Also you can add flavorings to this mixture if you like.
Use a spoon or butter knife to drip the blood into the cracks so that you can cover the white frosting up. You can also spread it onto the plate to give the cake a very goryappearance.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Brain-Cake/
step 8: Done!Please post your pictures! I will add some more of my own. I stuck in some knifes to make it look more scary.
Image Notes1. its kind of har to tell but here is the brain stem.2. You can optionally add a flat strip in the center to divide the two hemispheres
http://www.instructables.com/id/Brain-Cake/
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Comments25 comments Add Comment
isdiazd says: Oct 29, 2009. 4:34 AM REPLYLOL is such a great cake,man!!!!!
Void Schism says: Oct 29, 2009. 2:38 AM REPLYCake mix and a can of frosting... do people in America know how to bake real cake?
I suggest making cheam cheese frosting (http://www.cookuk.co.uk/cupcakes/cream-cheese-icing.htm), and I'm willing to bet flour, salt and raising agent ischeaper and tastier than a box of cake mix can make.
Love the look of this cake, tempting to make one (cake is always tempting?!)
karossii says: Oct 28, 2009. 6:00 PM REPLYit might be a good idea to slice the two 8" rounds in half, then place them so the curved side is facing up... making a rainbow or arch shaped cake. Let themfall slightly apart in the middle to separate the two hemispheres, and use fondant/icing to finish the shape...that way you have the same basic concept butwith less overall fondant/icing, making it more palatable/edible to the general populace...lol
kolowinter says: Oct 28, 2009. 1:48 PM REPLYBRILLIANT!!!! You should be very proud of having such a FANTASTIC idea! Thank you for taking the time to share this with us!!!
juanvi says: Oct 28, 2009. 5:15 AM REPLYnice...but I woudnlt do it with Marshmallows, i would find some thing as cream or something that would saty with the shape. That way maybe its softer...
if I have time to try it ill PM you the result!
BrindaMS says: Oct 27, 2009. 5:52 AM REPLY this is really aussome! we were going to make a cake that looked like pumpkin...now this one looks so fantastic...
SirBrittanicvs says: Oct 26, 2009. 8:32 PM REPLYLooks completely delicious. The idea of the marshmallow outside is great.
A nice idea might be to get some chunky (organic, something less colorful) strawberry preserves and put it in between the layers, maybe even some inbetween the squiggles.
MahavishnuMan says: Oct 25, 2009. 10:16 PM REPLYWow, that's even worse than the kitty litter cake that my sister-in-law made for a Halloween party.
atomiclizard says: Oct 26, 2009. 6:55 PM REPLYOMG I love kitty litter cake. And one thing that would really improve the gore of this cake is a bleeding-brain-cake. I've done a bleeding cake before and itwould be so simple to add to this build/bake.
hishealer says: Oct 26, 2009. 2:00 PM REPLYThat looks like the perfect halloween centerpiece! How thin can you make the fondant and still make it look good? I don't like the taste of fondant, especiallywhen it's thick. However, if it breaks or cracks, who cares on this one, right! It will just look like less "fresh" brains. Maybe use chocolate instead of the redfor older blood too... hmmmm.....
kiffakitty says: Oct 26, 2009. 5:11 PM REPLY no, dont make it too thin or flat, you want it to give your cake texture. The fondant I make just tastes like really sweet marshmallows but you can peel itoff while eating it. I usually peel off mine cause its too sweet for me, but some people really like sweets and actually like it.
deofthedead says: Oct 26, 2009. 4:39 PM REPLYsimply freakin' amazing. 5 stars, favorite, and dangit, I gotta see if I can get my other half to make this. XD (Ok, I could, but I'm not the one who -loves- tomake cakes...Hehe.)
amakerguy says: Oct 26, 2009. 1:22 PM REPLY wow that looks great! and sick! (in a good way :P) too bad my mom doesn't celebrate Halloween :(::...
bloomautomatic says: Oct 26, 2009. 9:06 AM REPLYVery cool. IF I have enough time I'd like to make this for my party.
Mr.Pug says: Oct 26, 2009. 12:35 AM REPLYMaking a Brain cake is fun, cheap and great for Halloween parties or get-togethers, IT IS ALsO DISTURBING AND SICK!!!
Nice
mnbouchet says: Oct 25, 2009. 4:22 PM REPLY NOMNOMNOM, BRAINS!:)
kcls says: Oct 25, 2009. 3:54 PM REPLYThat is the most disgustingly delicious cake ive ever seen! Good job!
mikeasaurus says: Oct 25, 2009. 10:08 AM REPLYbraaaaaaaaaiiiiins!
Doldrum says: Oct 25, 2009. 9:58 AM REPLY That would be perfect if you were a zombie for halloween! :P
didibemi says: Oct 25, 2009. 7:05 AM REPLYGood Idea...
But i think i couldn't eat it... It's disgusting
stofke says: Oct 25, 2009. 6:30 AM REPLY Excellent
Cat on my Lap says: Oct 25, 2009. 5:52 AM REPLY Excellent! I've been looking for something like this for a while.
Lerrinus says: Oct 25, 2009. 5:39 AM REPLYI had no idea a *cake* could be gross and cool at the same time!
