Little Einsteins Rocket Birthday Cake
November 11, 2006 by Andrea 
Print This Post
Filed under Dessert
My husband’s family has a fun tradition for birthdays. His brothers make birthday cakes for their children, but they aren’t the average sheet cake with plastic decorations on top. The cakes are three dimensional creations and have included a flying Superman cake (yes, he really flew) and an R2D2 cake complete with a top that swiveled. So of course Michael wanted to join in the fun making cakes for our children.
When our first child turned one year old, Michael decided to start simple using an Elmo cake pan by Wilton. He learned how to make stars and how to use the different tools. For the second birthday, he made a Blue’s Clues cake using another Wilton pan. Elmo and Blue are now traditions for the first and second birthday for all of our boys.
By the third birthday, he was ready to design freestyle cakes, so last year he made an Island of Sodor cake complete with a train track made from fig newtons and pretzels, a mountain made from an ice cream cone, and a waterfall. Everything on the cake was completely edible, except for Thomas himself. The boys loved it!
Six months ago, Michael began planning for the fourth birthday cake. He knew that he wanted to do something from The Little Einsteins, and since he’s an aerospace engineer he thought making Rocket would be pretty fun. So last Friday the boys and I made the cakes and Michael spent that night building and decorating Rocket, and I think it turned out really cute.
For the cakes, we used two Wilton oval baking pans. As an alternate plan, you could use one 8-inch round pan and one 9×13 pan and then trim the cakes into an oval shape. Frankly, the oval pans performed well and saved us some work, and we’ll be able to use them again in our cake adventures, so we’re glad that we bought them. To build the engines (nacelles), Michael used cake ice cream cones and graham crackers. The finished engines were edible, but a bit soggy. He used Wilton gel colors and basic liquid food coloring for the buttercream frosting, both of which are widely available.
You can make the cakes, engines, and frosting a day ahead. Keep the frosting in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it, and then allow it to come to room temperature before attempting to decorate the cake. The frosting recipe is adapted from the Wilton website, and makes three cups. You’ll need to make two batches of it.
Notes About Red Frosting
The red frosting is difficult because it’s hard to make a really deep red, and you can go through an entire jar of Wilton Red for just one cup of frosting. Because you are making a large amount of frosting and need the red to be as deep as possible, you’ll want to use the No Taste Red which doesn’t have FD&C red #3, otherwise the frosting may take on a bitter flavor. Here are some tips on ways to deepen the color of your red frosting:
- Trying making pink frosting first, then start adding the red gel. You won’t need as much red as you would if you started from white frosting.
- Make and color the frosting a day ahead and let it sit. The colors deepen with time.
- If you have a cake and candy supply store near you, check and see if they have Ameri-color or Chefmaster Liquid Gel colors. These are more concentrated and take less gel to make a deep red.
- I’ve also seen tips for using maraschino cherry juice in the red frosting, but I have not tried this myself. It would add both color and flavor.
CAKES & FROSTING
Equipment
stand mixer with paddle attachment
oval baking pan, 7-3/4 x 5-5/8 inch, greased and floured
oval baking pan, 10-3/4 x 7-5/8 inch, greased and floured
wire rack
serrated bread knife
X-Acto craft knife (for building the engines)
cake plate or stand
3 small bowls
3 (1 quart) freezer bags
decorating tips (two #3 and one #12) and couplers
3 popsicle sticks
chopstick
2 spatulas or knives, for spreading frosting
a picture of Rocket to reference while working
Ingredients
8 cups cake batter, any flavor
graham crackers
6 cake ice cream cones
1 round red lollipop, top 2 inches of the stick colored red
FROSTING (You’ll need 2 batches of this.)
1/2 cup solid butter-flavored vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 pound)
2 tablespoons milk
COLORS
Wilton No Taste Red gel color
liquid red food coloring or Wilton Pink gel color
liquid blue food coloring or Wilton Sky Blue gel color
liquid yellow food coloring or Wilton Lemon Yellow gel color
Preparation
***All of these steps can be done one day before assembling and frosting the cake.***
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Pour 2-1/2 cups of cake batter into the small prepared cake pan and 5-1/2 cups of cake batter in the large prepared cake pan. The pans should be about 2/3 full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Test for doneness and remove pans from oven. Allow cakes to sit in pans for 10 minutes, then remove each and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Don’t try to frost or trim the cake while it’s hot, or it will disintegrate.
3. FROSTING (make 2 batches): Cream butter and shortening in the work bowl of the mixer. Add vanilla and mix for about 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep the frosting covered with a damp cloth so that it doesn’t dry out.
4. Prep the freezer bags for piping. Put the base of a coupler in the bottom corner of a bag and cut away the corner. Add a #3 or #12 tip and screw the coupler ring over the bag and tip. Fill with frosting, squeeze any extra air out of the bag, and twist the top.
5. Yellow Frosting: Put 2 tablespoons of frosting into a small bowl. Squeeze a few drops of yellow coloring into the frosting and stir with a popsicle stick. Start with a small amount of color and add more as needed until you have a bright yellow. Put all of the yellow into the freezer bag with the #12 tip.
6. Blue Frosting: Put 2 cups of frosting into a small bowl. Squeeze a few drops of blue coloring into the frosting and stir with a popsicle stick. Start with a small amount of color and add more as needed until you have sky blue. Put about 1/2 cup of the blue into a freezer bag with the #3 tip.
7. Red Frosting: Put the remaining frosting in another small bowl. Squirt 20 to 30 drops of the liquid red food coloring into the frosting and stir. This gives the color a good strong pink base to work from. Start adding the No Taste gel coloring a little at a time, stirring as you go until you have a deep bright red. Put about 1/2 cup of the red into a freezer bag with the #3 tip.
ASSEMBLY
1. The cakes: Level the tops of the cake as necessary using a serrated bread knife or a cake leveler. Place the large cake layer on the plate. Lay the small cake layer on top of the large layer with the ends of the ovals aligned. Position the end of the top layer approximately 1/2 inch away from the end of the bottom layer. This will be the back end of Rocket. Use the serrated bread knife to trim the back end of the top layer so that it slopes down toward the bottom layer. Trim the top edges of both layers to round them a little. Take the spare trimmings and lay it on top of the top layer. Shape with your hands and knife to make a rounded top.
2. The engines: Set aside 2 of the ice cream cones. Using the X-Acto knife, cut away the bottoms of the other 4 ice cream cones, saving the tops and 2 of the bottoms. If the cones have a flared top edge, cut that away on the two rings but not on the uncut cone. Set aside two of the cone bottoms. Take the four “rings” and cut a groove in each about the width of a graham cracker. Take 2 graham cracker squares and trim each so that it’s shaped like a fin. To assemble the engines, insert a bottom cone piece into an uncut cone leaving the bottom hanging out. Position two rings around the bottom of that cone with the cut grooves aligned, and then insert the graham cracker fin into the grooves.
3. Use a spatula to cover the top and sides of the bottom layer with the red frosting.
4. Cover the sides of the middle layer with the blue frosting.
5. Cover the rounded top layer with red frosting.
6. To make the headlights, pipe some yellow frosting into two small circles on the front of the bottom layer.
7. Pipe the red frames on the blue windows and detail lines around all edges on each layer. Pipe 5 vertical lines on the bottom layer, one in the front center, and two more on each side, evenly spaced around the cake. Pipe one line on the top layer from front to back. Pipe a circle of frosting on the very top of the cake and then insert the lollipop, leaving about 1 inch of stick visible.
8. Frost the engines using red on the top fin, the outsides of the engines , and on the front part of the engine that sticks out. Pipe some blue frosting in the cavity between the outside edges and the inside cone. Pipe some blue frosting on the back of the engine (the exhaust). Pipe red detail lines on the sides and around the base of the fins.
9. Adding the engines: To finish the cake, lay the frosted engines on the plate next to the back of the cake and connect them using a chopstick that runs through the cake. Find the approximate horizontal center of the engine and use the X-Acto knife to drill a hole through it about the diameter of the chopstick. Insert the chopstick through the back of the cake, running one side to the other. Gently push each engine onto the chopstick through the holes you drilled. Pipe some red frosting onto the chopstick to fill in the area between the cake and the engine.
360° Views of the Finished Cake
Resources
OMG!!! Thank you for the detailed instructions. My daughter is in love with the Little Einsteins, so my husband and I are attempting this cake for her 2nd b-day. We have about 50 people coming, so we will probably do the big ovals, and make cupcakes to coordinate. The cake pan conversion chart is a great resource. We will let you know how it goes.
The cake idea is awesome, I’m definitely going to try it for my son’s second birthday! Thanks so much for sharing.
Wow! We did a trial run for this cake this weekend–it worked great! Excellent instructions and pictures. Only an aerospace engineer could have created this one! Thank you so much. My soon-to-be three-year-old son loved it and I’m sure the next one will be hit at his birthday party in a few weeks! Maybe I’ll try to send some pictures if I can. Ra ra ra for Rocket!
Wanda & Tawanna, I hope your cakes turn out well! Good luck!
Shannon, we’re glad to hear that your trial run was a success! Do let us know how the party goes.
Awesome cake! My son is turning 3 and LOVES the Little Einsteins. I even had to figure out how to make special curtains for his Little Einstein room. He is going to love this!
I LOVE this cake. my husband and i are going to make it for my son’s 1st b-day next week. he loves the little einsteins.
we are wondering how many people does this cake serve. let us know. thanks!
Great job!
B & L
Hi Becky. For the size pans we used (see Equipment), I think the cake would serve 15 to 20 people depending on how large you cut the pieces.
thanks for posting such clear instructions. My son will be 2 in 3 weeks and I am heading out to get supplies for the cake today. He is so obsessed with the little einsteins that this is exactly what we were looking for. Thanks for the post!!!
I’m going to try this for my son’s 3rd birthday party in a few weeks. I don’t have oval pans, but will try making round or rectangle cakes and cutting them to size. Will also try making the cake engines as someone suggested. Can’t wait to try this!
This is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for posting this wonderful information. You husband did an incredible job on that cake. I hope to make something close for my son’s third birthday this spring! Thanks again, what a huge help this will be!
This is so wonderful. I have been searching for several months for a LE cake and keep coming back to this one. I’m not the best cake decorater in the wrld, but I think with some help from my mom, we can knock this out. Jace will be four at the end of March and LOVES Little Einsteins. I already have the LE decorations on order so this all we need to complete the theme. I can’t wait to try this!!! Thanks so much, you did an excellent job!
Hi, I made this cake for a friend for her daughter’s 3rd birthday. I normally don’t “build” things out of cakes… I do a lot of sheet cakes, and tiered cakes, so this style is really not something I’ve ever done ~ It was a challenge no doubt, even for me and I do a lot of cakes!
Anyhow, it was fun to try. Very time consuming ~ but well worth it because the birthday girl was more than thrilled with her Rocket cake.
Very cool way of making the little engines, I was so impressed.
Anyhow, I have a picture posted of my finished product in my cakes photo album on myspace, I am not sure if I am allowed to post links, or if it would even work, but I will post this, and if it’s not allowed, you can delete, and I apologize.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=146544494&albumID=2366993&imageID=16827620
One thing I did different, I used an airbrush and painted the cake red so as to get the deep red color without the icky taste that too much food coloring can leave sometimes. You’ll see the bit of overspray on the board. I also piped the frosting on the blue windshield, rather than spreading it, and I used yellow chocolate circles I made for the headlights.
Tell your husband I am seriously impressed with his talents! Very cool, thanks for the idea.
I started looking at this cake a couple of months ago for my son’s 2nd birthday party. He is adopted and has taken interest in LE. I’m going to make this cake, starting tomorrow, for Saturday. Thank you Michael for your efforts!! I may try the twinkies with the GC’s so that they can be eaten too.
I hope I can find the oval pans and the tastless food coloring. I am defiantely going to get pink icing to start with. ;o)
I made this cake for my son’s 2nd birthday yesterday. Just a little time saving tip for anyone that lives where a Publix Supermarket is (the south
, you can go to their bakery and they will make just the frosting for you. I took them a picture and they made it to match exactly. They can’t make the cake since it is Disney copyright but they will make their yummy frosting! It is $4 a pound which averages out to about what you would spend purchasing enough red to make your own!
Julie, I wish that I could have seen the photos, but I don’t have a MySpace account. I’m sure it turned out great!
Tami, I hope your cake turned out well!
Jennifer, great tip for the frosting!
YOU ROCK! My son is turning 3 on Sunday and this will be a hit. Thanks for doing all the hard work and making it easier for me!
I made it for my son and it turned out awesome. THANKS AGAIN!
I made this cake for my son’s 2nd birthday a couple weeks ago and it was a huge hit!! He actually wanted to play with the cake as a “toy”!!! He was so excited that only he got to eat it. It was almost like it was his first birthday all over again as he wouldn’t let anyone else have any cake!! He just kept saying “my rocket cake”. Luckily I planned on having another cake for everyone else in anticipation of him not wanting to share!!! Thanks for the detailed instructions on the cake, it really made my son’s (and my) day!!!! His excitement was priceless!!!
Thanks for the awesome instructions. I made this for my nephew and he flipped. We used sugar free cherry koolaid in the frosting to make it more red & add some punch and it worked out really well. You made his day!
Dene, Crystal, Robin, I’m so glad your cakes turned out well! Thanks for coming back and letting us know.
im making the rockets engines right now and cant wait to see my finished project. thanks for the instructions!
Thanks,for making a GREAT cake. My son’s birthday is next week, and I was looking for ideas on the rocket. So glad I found you. Great job!
WOW that is truley amzaing i am going to get someone else to make it for me haha THANKS SOOOOO MUCH
Thank you sooooo much for this post! My son’s going to turn one on April 4th and I’ve been searching everywhere for an idea on how to make a special cake for his big day. He loves watching the Little Einsteins (it’s the only thing that keeps him entertained) and I wanted to use that as his theme. Again, thank you so much.
I passed this along to my mother in law. She makes all the cakes in the family. To say my son loves Little Einsteins is like saying we like to breath. When Little Einsteins is on he becomes a zombie. He carries around his rocket and Leo stuffed dolls everywhere. He’ll be two this summer and I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees his rocket cake. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with families across the world. Its a way to make our celebrations a little bit more special.
Kelly
My son is a HUGE little einstein fan like all the kids on your blog. The books, DVDs, music, clothes and toys are like furniture in our home. So, I have been looking for a rocket design for my son for his third birthday, and although I didn’t want a 3D design, this looks so easy so will give it a try. My son will love it, and I will enjoy doing it. Thanks for the simple and easy directions and the photos really help … I am very grateful!!!! Thank you
Thanks so much for sharing your cake baking talents with other families. We think birthday’s wouldn’t be the same without a homemade cake. My son is turning four next month and LOVES the Little Einsteins. He keeps telling me all he wants is a Little Einstein cake (with a hot wheels candle). I am going to make an attempt at this “work of art.” I am very impressed with the thought your husband put into making it. Thanks for being so detailed on the instructions. It is impressive!
Thanks so much for the directions on “Rocket”. We made the cake for my son’s 3rd birthday on the weekend and he loved it. Wouldn’t let any body touch it. Not many people in Australia have heard of Little Einsteins so it was really great that we found your site. You made a 3 year old very happy.
Thanks again for the Rocket cake. My son’s birthday was on Jan. 20 and he still talks about the cake. We even gave him a picture to look at! Anyway, my friends’ sons’ 5th birthday is this weekend and I’ve made him a transformer cake in the shape of Optimus Prime as a semi truck, but of course everyone asks me–”Does it transform?” No, I’m not an aerospace engineer!!! (he he)
So my question is, would your husband ever consider designing a transforming Transformer cake?!!! You did mention his family did a flying superman cake. Just an idea for a fun challenge…
My daughter is a huge fan and just LOVED the cake! I never decorated a cake before so this was an ambitous project, but it turned out GREAT! Thank you so much for posting the pictures and clear directions. I can’t wait to hear about your next adventure.
Wow! This cake is amazing! I just got done making one for my 3 year old little boy. I used a 10 inch and 8 inch rounds and froze them and cut them into the shapes of ovals. I didn’t it was going to turn out the way I wanted but it turned out amazing! Thanks so much! My little boy will be so excited!
Really nice job!!!
I was wondering have you considered making it with fondant as well? I have done a lot of cakes myself and the 3D cakes “look like real” ( as my kids say) if you cover them with it ( the fondant). The structure you have is awesome and I think it has a lot of potential !
Thanks for sharing
Hi Tandoori! The cake would certainly look more professional and polished with fondant, but none of us like the taste of it! We’ve tried various homemade recipes, including marshmallow fondant, and it just doesn’t appeal to us. It seems like a waste to make all that fondant then not eat it, so we stick with buttercream in all our cakes with occasional pieces of fondant for effect.
I have to tell you that I have someone in my family that doesn’t like the taste too
, so I use almond marzipan in their cakes instead. It is miles away from the fondant taste, but it has the look too.
Anyway, your cake is really nice the way it is as well! It was just a suggestion!
Have a nice day!
Hi there,
I found your image of a creative, beautiful birthday cake on an image search that led me to your blog. I was hoping to use the photo in an hour-long design exercise I am running to inspire people to make creative, unusual, and highly personalized birthday cakes. Would it be alright to use that one image for that one purpose?
thanks!
austina
Crossing my fingers. The cakes are baking now. I forgot to buy the lollipop, cupcakes and graham crackers so it will be back to the store first thing tomorrow. I’ve done some tiered cakes and some basic cakes but this involves a little sculpting and that scares me to death!
I am excited to try this cake. My little girl will turn 3 in a few days. I am wondering if this cake is time consuming? Could someone let me know how long it took to make? THANKS!
HI Savannah’s Mom! It took my husband several hours to decorate, but he was creating and experimenting as he went and did not have instructions to follow. You do need to make the cakes ahead so they have time to cool completely before decorating, so factor in that time as well.
I am very nervous about trying this, but I’m gonna give it the ole college try and see what happens. I SERIOUSLY doubt it will be the masterpiece yours was, but I’ll try anyway! I scored the oval pans on ebay for a fraction of the list price on Wilton. My son’s big day is next month, and I’m sure I’ll have many a blog post on my attempt to bring Rocket to life! Thanks for the recipe!
Oh wow, Michael and Andrea!
You have made a mommy one happy person! I was looking for something to do for Lex’s big 2, and you did it! He’s a total mockingbird when LE comes on. He sings with them, talks to them, and kisses the tv when they come on. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Hi Andrea-I’m going to make this cake for our 3yrs old party. Have you ever used whip cream for the frosting?
I have not used a whipped cream frosting for this cake. If you want to go that route, the frosting for Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake is really yummy. You can vary the flavors, of course.
I was just wondering what type of cake you used for this. Would a box cake mix work? I just think it might be too soft, let me know what you think.
Thanks
Hi Joe! We make scratch cakes with butter because the texture is still moist and rich, but also firm enough to stand up to carving. Here are the two cake recipes we use most often for birthdays:
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Yellow Butter Cake
Thanks so much, this will be lots of fun.
hi, my question is i am having a party for my 14yr old , we have 50 people coming. the theme she wants is hawaiin. i wanted to know how much is it going to take to make a cake for 50 people. thank you
Thank you so much for posting this! I have been wondering how in the world I was going to make a Little Einstein cake for my daughters 3rd birthday! Last year I made her the Elmo cake with the Wilton cake pan and it looked amazing. I’m excited to tackle this challenge! I know she is going to love it!
Oh my goodness! I’ve been searching and searching for a rocket shaped cake mold – but this one – this one is incredible! I hope I have enough patience and time to make it for my soon to be three year old son!! Thanks for the instructions, tips and wonderful pictures!!
I’m hoping to make this cake for my son’s 2nd birthday. Do you have any experience with food color spray? I used it on a fire truck cake I made and it made things very easy. Thanks!
Hi, I am going to try this for my 3 year old’s birthday in a few weeks, thanks for the detailed instructions! I have a few questions (never having made a cake from scratch before!) I pulled up the choc birthday cake recipe you cited above…is one of those recipes enough to make this cake? And, if I make the cake on a thursday and put it in the fridge should it still be ok for a saturday party? Thanks!