Optimus Prime Cake

I knew I wanted to make this cake for my brother for his birthday for several months now! At first, I thought I might have been too ambitious but it wasn't as difficult as I imagined. I should've made the bottom tier 3 layers and I should've allowed the antennas to dry a few days earlier but all in all, I'm quite happy with the results.

The cake was made of 2 8-inch lemon cakes with raspberry buttercream frosting and 2 6-inch red velvet cakes with cheesecake mousse filling and vanilla buttercream frosting.  I used a mix of Duff brand buttercream fondant and homemade marshmallow fondant to cover and detail the cakes.  Adding tylose powder to the store bought fondant did not speed up the drying process.  It did work wonders on the homemade fondant though.


The toothpicks actually kept the antennas from bending over and by the evening, they were finally dry enough to stand up on their own. Tylo glue was my best friend.  It held up the pieces through the entire 45 mins drive without a hitch.

I couldn't make this cake without incorporating the autobot logo somewhere, so I attached it to the back.  I used the good ole pumpkin carving technique to get an exact replica of the image.

Shelf Stable Mousse Fillings

The carton of Pastry Pride that I picked up contained about 4 cups of liquid and I only used 1 cup for the filling on my last cake.  Because the carton said, once thawed, product keeps fresh 3 weeks in fridge and do not refreeze liquid, I had to do something soon.

Given that it's 90+ degrees in the Bay Area this week (I know, crazy, right?), I decided against turning on the oven and baking a bunch of cupcakes and cakes to fill.  Instead, I made the mousse fillings, sealed them up in plastic containers, and popped them in the freezer for a later time.  I assumed I could freeze it once whipped since it's suppose to be the non dairy, shelf stable version of Cool Whip.

I made oreo mousse filling, cheesecake mousse filling, and kahlua mousse filling.

Step 1: Empty the pudding mix into a small bowl


Step 2: Add 1-3 tablespoons of hot water to form a thick paste and set aside (Note: It should be thinner than as pictured because I ended up with "cheesecake" tasting bits in mine.)


Step 3: Whisk the thawed Pastry Pride in a mixer to stiff peaks
 

Step 4: Spoon a small amount, about 1/4 cup, of the whipped Pastry Pride into the bowl of pudding mixture and stir to lighten


Step 5: Scrape the mixture back into the bowl of whipped Pastry Pride


Step 6: Mix until combined