Powerpuff Girls Birthday Cakes

My 7 year old likes Dairy Queen ice cream cakes so I haven't had to bake for her too often (I'm not very fond of baking), but this year we had the party at the movie theater and there was no where to keep an ice cream cake.  (er, and Tasha seemed rather enthralled by the Blue's Clues cake we did for her little sister and wanted to help make one for her party).

Here's a different alternative for PPG cakes.

Materials:
bulletone or two cake mixes, depending on whether you want an extra round cake - it doesn't matter what flavour... we actually mixed chocolate and white so people had their pick.  We needed an extra round cake for the party with the family later in the day.
bullettwo containers of white icing (or you can make your favorite kind)
bulleta round pan (and another pan if you decide to make a second cake mix.  The second cake can be whatever shape you want)
bulletfood color drops (red, yellow and blue)  You can also use paste for more vibrant colors
bulletchocolate cake sprinkles and/or black licorice strings (if you like them)
  
I originally made a bubbles cake.  I received a note from a viewer who's daughter's favorite PPG is Blossom.  You can see her cake to the right.  Here's what she had to say:

Just a quick note to thank you for the great web site! I use it quite a bit, and was delighted to find the Powerpuff Girl section! My daughter had a Powerpuff Girl theme for her 5th birthday. Her favorite character is Blossom, so I altered the Bubbles birthday cake
to make Blossom. She loved it! Instead of dark sprinkles to outline I used a small tube of black gel frosting from the store, it worked great. I used red sugar for the hair bow as I can't find any red frosting that's actually edible. Thanks so much for your great ideas! See the attached picture for the finished product.

Nicki  

bulletBake your cake according to package directions
Kimberly adds the following tip:  "P.S.  I found it easier to remove the cake in one piece from the pan when I buttered the bottom of the pan and sprinkled on flour before putting the batter in."
   
bulletLet cool (I did this the night before and didn't really let it cool enough... it really should be completely cool before you start)
bulletIf your cake has a bulging center, trim it a bit so it's flat on top 
  
bulletTurn the cake out onto a piece of tinfoil.  (or cake board)
  
bulletIf you have time to leave it sit for 24 hours at this point, that's your best bet (it's less crumby if you do).  
  
bulletcut out the template pieces 
    
bulletPut the ponytail piece on the spare cake (either the extra rectangle or the second round cake)
  
bulletCarefully cut around the pieces with a sharp knife
  
bulletYou'll need to flip the ponytail piece over to make the second one.
  
bulletRemove the template from the cake
     
bulletRemove all the scraps and put them aside (try not to rip the cake when you're removing the scraps).  You may want to use some of the scraps at the end to make mini heart or bubble cakes... we'll talk about that in a bit.
  
bulletArrange the cake on a covered board (we used our cutting board and just covered it with tinfoil).  Make sure all the pieces are touching properly.
  
bulletThe ponytails may not be exactly the same height as the face... that's OK!  It just adds to the 3D look.
  
bulletNotice that I've used the "scrap" piece of template from under the hair to guide where I put on the yellow icing.
  
bulletMix some yellow icing.  You never want too little icing as it'll be tough to match the color if you have to mix a second batch, so err on the side of caution.  We made 1/2 of one icing container yellow.  Julieanne adds that if you add 1 to 2 Tbsp of corn syrup to the icing it will spread much better and you won't get as many crumbs!
  
bulletSpread yellow icing onto the bangs (using the template to give you a nice edge) and onto the ponytails.  I just used a butter knife for spreading. 
  
bulletIf you get crumbs on your knife, get a new knife (it sounds simple, but it took me awhile to realize how helpful it would be to switch knives when they got crumby)

bulletPut the top part of the hair template over top of the yellow bangs.  Cut out two eye templates (two get the second eye, just trace the one I provided onto a piece of paper to make a second one).  Arrange them on the cake.  They look BIG but powerpuff girls have big eyes so don't worry.
    
bulletSpread some skin colored icing onto the face.  To make skin color take white icing and mix in a little red and a little yellow (very little or you'll end up with orange instead of skin color).  You can use left over yellow icing, mix it with white icing and a drop of red food coloring so you don't waste any icing.
bulletRemove the template pieces.
  
bulletPipe a circle of white icing around the "hole" left for the eyes
  
bullet I use ziploc bags with an end snipped to pipe icing, but if you bake more than I do you likely have the proper tools for this.
  
bulletNow mix some blue icing and pipe that in to FILL the rest of the hole (I realize she has dark centers, but we're going to handle that with sprinkles).
  
bulletSprinkle chocolate sprinkles in a circle in the center.  You can use the template piece to help or you can do it free hand.
  
bulletPut a dot of white icing in the middle of the chocolate sprinkles.
  
bulletMix some pink icing and pipe on a smile (or use red string licorice).
  
bulletIf you (or your child *grin*) is patient, you can outline some of the edges with chocolate sprinkles or black string licorice
  
bulletWe weren't sure the cake would be large enough for all the kids we had coming so we cut around a heart shaped cookie cutter to make three extra mini heart cakes (single serving size).  You could also make round "mini bubble" cakes (just ice them blue and call them bubbles)

  

Template:  black & white

Different computers work a bit differently in terms of how they print.  If the first template does not work for you, try this one instead:

Template:  black & white 

I know for sure that WEB TV users will need to use this version