A themed birthday party has to have a themed cake. Although quarantine shifted our plans, I still wanted to tackle this cake. Our son’s second birthday was themed Two the Moon, so what better cake than to have a moon cake!
I never met a boxed cake I didn’t like. In the off chance I have, it was 100% the baker’s fault :). When it comes to planning a party, the cake is something I’d rather spend more time decorating than baking. If I’m anticipating a time crunch, I’ll let a professional make the cake. Even still, there are only about 2-3 places I trust to bake a moist cake.
Before our son turned one, I taste-tested cakes with him for allergies and overall likeability. The goal was to find a frosting-sponge combination he loved. We landed on a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. When it was time to eat the cake, he was uninterested.
How to make a Moon Cake
Underneath the gray frosting is a funfetti sponge. One of my regrets on this one is not getting a picture of that moist, colorful interior. I used a half-sphere to bake the cake. It took two boxes of cake to fill the sphere. Once it was out and cooled, I divided the cake into three layers. I use Wilton gels to color my frosting (shhh the frosting’s store-bought, too). The smallest drop of black will create this beautiful gray hue.
Once the frosting had enough time to sit and saturate, I frosted between the layers and stacked the cake back into a half-sphere. At this point, I was looking at a naked cake. Using a spoon I carved out varying sized holes around the cake–these are the craters. Then I finished frosting the cake. I know the American flag should be bleached white due to sitting in the unfiltered sunlight for decades, but you get the point.
Our son loved the cake. He couldn’t stop eating the frosting. A win-win under quarantine.
