When I heard that my best friend would be visiting me from out-of-state during her son's birthday, I knew it was time to acquire my second character cake pan - an Elmo face! Wilton makes two Elmo pans, this one and full Elmo holding birthday accessories. Sadly, the second one is out of print and can only be found used. However, the cake above was a beautifully simple one to decorate.
The inside is funfetti - just add rainbow sprinkles to your favorite vanilla cake recipe before baking! For the frosting, I used a shortening/butter combination to make an American buttercream. American buttercream is packed with sugar and tends to be a bit too sweet for my taste, but it holds color and shape well on a cake, and it is a favorite of children. I liked how the #18 star piping made his face look furry, just like in real life.
Our greatest difficulty was deciding where to place the candle. There is really no logical location on Elmo's face, so we just stuck it on his cheek in the end. The baby loved the cake and made many attempts to hug Elmo when we sat him near the cake to take a few photos.
