Mission: Space

     When my son decided he wanted a space party for his 4th birthday, I knew my mission was to make him and awesome space shuttle cake.


     This was actually a pretty simple cake to construct. After mixing up the batter, I poured it into a jelly roll pan. I’m not sure of the exact size of the pan, but I know it’s a little bigger than my 11x15 sheet pans. The great thing about using sheet pans for making cakes is that the baking time is significantly reduced; it usually takes me about 20-25 minutes. The pans I use for this are found in the restaurant supply section of many Costco stores, they look like big, rimmed cookie sheets. I love these pans and I use them for tons of stuff! They look something like this:

     After I baked and cooled the cake, I cut it into identical rectangles using a template cut out of cardboard. I filled the cake with peanut butter butter cream and mini chocolate chips and then put it in the fridge to chill for a bit. The great thing about making a space shuttle cake is that there’s not much carving involved since it’s pretty rectangular. I contoured the top edges a little bit and carved the nose then crumb coated it all. The cake went back into the fridge to chill for a bit before I put fondant on.

     After I applied the fondant, all I had to do was make some lines on the cake and then use black fondant for windows, accents, etc. I cut out the wings and stabilizer the night before the party and placed them on a cookie sheet line with wax paper. I left them in a cool oven with the light on overnight. (I was surprised at how warm that light can make the oven!) I put these pieces on right before the party. I also used food markers to do some of the accents. I really wish there was some way to make it easier to write on a cake; my handwriting on the side is my least favorite part of this cake!

     I was pleasantly surprised by the final result even though there were some things I wish I had done differently. I just wish I’d gotten a better picture of the cake, but with all the party craziness going on, I guess I’m lucky I managed to get any pictures at all!