Here we are, my daughter is 2 years old today. Last year, I was still free to do what I wanted for her birthday cake but this year she is the one who decides … After Peppa Pig, Hello Kitty and Little Brown Bear, for her birthday, she asked “mommy T’Choupi cake” (the French name for Charley and Mimmo). Since Charley has a round head, the design was easily found. It was also a good opportunity to test an easy design transfer technique. Watch the video, this is super easy and once you’ve got used to the piping technique, you get a stunning result worthy of the greatest American cake designers!
You can print the Charley template right here: Template-Charley-cake. The result is t really cute, I love it! And I can not tell you the state of my when she discovered her Charley and Mimmo cake.
– How old are you darling?
– 2 yearzzz!
Serves 6 to 8 children
- a 20cm diameter cake (it doesn't need to be high, but be sure to line your tin well so that the cake has sharp edges)
- 1 small star tip Wilton #16
- 1 small plain round tip Wilton #3 or #4
- small piping bags
- a 20cm diameter template of Charley and Mimmo, printed on heavy paper (to print, click HERE )
- 500g icing sugar, sifted
- 160g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 5cl whole milk
- a few drops of liquid vanilla extract or other flavouring of your choice (colourless if possible)
- black and orange food colouring gel
- Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, beat the icing sugar and butter together on low speed until the mixture is smooth and takes a sandy consistency.
- Mix the milk and vanilla in a separate bowl, then add them to the butter mixture by pouring a few tablespoons at a time. Once all the milk has been incorporated, increase the speed and continue to beat for at least 5 minutes until the icing becomes light and fluffy. The more you beat the buttercream, the softer and fluffier it will be.
- Take your cake out of the tin and place it on a serving platter, flat surface up. Spread a thin layer of buttercream icing on top of cake, stoping at the edges. Keep in the fridge while you cut out the white part of Charley's face from the template. Cut out his eyes, mouth and other facial details using a cutter.
- Then lay the stencil on the icing and draw the outline and details of the face with a toothpick or skewer. No need to press too much, the outline just has to be visible on the surface of the icing.
- Colour the icing in the different colours as you go. Put the rest of the buttercream icing covered with cling film in the fridge so that it stays firm throughout the icing process.
- Take 1 large tablespoon of icing and colour it black. To get an intense black it takes a lot of colouring, so add a little icing sugar if the icing becomes too soft. Put that black icing in a piping bag fitted with a small diameter plain round tip and follow the lines you have drawn in icing to form Charley's face. Fill in the eyes. Draw as a circle around the hedge of the cake to outline Charleyi's head.
- Colour 1 large tablespoon of icing in orange and put it in a piping bag fitted with a small star tip. Draw small orange stars very close to each other to fill Charley's nose.
- To draw a star: Place your piping bag perpendicular to the surface of the cake, about 2mm above the cake. Press the bag to create a small star then release the pression before lifting the bag.
- Colour 3 large tablespoons of icing in grey (use black colouring but start with a small amount until you are satisfied with the shade of grey). Put that grey in a piping bag fitted with a small star tip and put the rest of the white icing in a piping bag. Fill Charley's forehead with grey stars and the rest of his face with white stars.
- Put back in the fridge 20 minutes to firm before serving.
Leave a Reply