Buttercream Bulbasaur Cake

Let's make this cute buttercream Bulbasaur cake without fondant. The only special tools you'll need are parchment or wax paper and some straws.

Bake the Bulbasaur cake layers

Of course, the first step is to bake your cakes. You'll need a 4 inch cake and two 8 inch cakes to make this Bulbasaur cake. I baked both vanilla and chocolate to offer different flavours for the top and bottom half of the cake. The recipes are at the end of this tutorial.

If you're not going to serve the cake on the same day I really recommend using simple syrup. To make simple syrup, pour half a cup of water and half a cup of white sugar into a pan. Bring to a simmer so that the sugar dissolves. After the syrup cools, drizzle it with a squeezy bottle or use a pastry brush.

Wrap the layers in cling film or Saran Wrap and chill them before assembling your cake. You can put them in the fridge for an hour or the freezer for 30 minutes. If you choose to bake your cake layers in advance and freeze them, check out this tutorial on how to freeze cakes.

For the filling and frosting I'm using my 4 Minute Buttercream. The recipes for all of these are at the bottom of this tutorial.

Make a template for your Bulbasaur cake

Before assembling and carving the Bulbasaur cake you'll need a template. I like to do this by setting up a fake cake using the pans I baked my cake layers in. I've used a bowl to prop up a pan the pile is the same height as the cake will be.

This Bulbasaur cake will be about 8 inches wide and 11 inches high. This is almost the same as a piece of printer paper, plus the green plant bulb on the back. To sketch Bulbasaur I'm using pictures from a Google search as references. Choose images of different angles to show you what each side of Bulbasaur looks like. When you sketch Bulbasaur, the body should fit within the piece paper. The green plant bulb doesn't need to because that will be made from the little 4 inch cake.

Draw the outline from three angles: the front, the side, and the top of the head. Measure the head by tracing the width and depth on your front and side view drawings.

These sketches don't have to be super accurate because they're just guidelines to use when you're carving. Once you have your sketches it's time to stack the cakes.

Assemble the bottom cake

To support the weight of the Bulbasaur cake you'll need a cake drum, which is a thick cake board. Choose one at least 14 inches wide. If you don't have one you can glue together four cardboard cake boards to make a thicker board. Take your cake layers out of the fridge or freezer and stack the 8 inch cakes on the board. Slide them off-center to make space for the 4 inch cake behind. Now pipe or spread a dot of buttercream in the middle of where the 8 inch layers will go. Press your first 8 inch cake layer down onto it.

Then pipe or spread buttercream to cover the first layer and repeat with the rest of the 8 inch vanilla cake layers. You're stacking the bottom half of the Bulbasaur cake, which will be the body.

Instead of buttercream filling you can use any other filling. You should still pipe the outer ring of buttercream, which will act as a wall to hold in runny fillings like jam or caramel.

Next add the 4 inch layers, which are the beginning of the plant bulb on Bulbasaur's back. Attach the first 4 inch layer with a dot of buttercream on the cakeboard. Add another dot against the 8 inch layer to stick the body and the bulb to each other. Repeat with the rest of your 4 inch layers. The rest of the bulb will be made with the cake carved off the body and head later.

Carve Bulbasaur’s body

To carve the cake so far, hold up the sketch of the front view. It's easiest to cut along the outline first, to take away the rest of the paper.

Cut diagonally down from the top of each side to trim off two chunks of cake. This will create the approximate shape of Bulbasaur's body. Save these cut-offs for later! Do the same for the side view, carving to make a slope down the top of the back.

Then cut out smaller pieces to create the details. I cut two triangles for the gaps between the outsides of the arms. A third triangle created the gap in between the arms.

When you've made the general shape of the body, trim around any angular parts to make them curved or rounded. Now the body will start to come into being.

For the legs you'll use the first two chunks you cut off at the beginning. Pipe or spread buttercream where they're going to go and then press the chunks of cakes into that buttercream, which will act as glue to attach them.

For the feet, pipe a bit more buttercream onto the front of each leg. Then choose a triangular-shaped piece for each foot. If you don't have a piece the right size you can attach two pieces, stuck together with more buttercream.

When you cover the body with buttercream, the frosting will give the body a more precise, accurate shape.

Before creating the bulb at the back you'll need to carve the head so that you can use those carvings to build up the bulb.

Add supports to the Bulbasaur cake

You'll need a 6 or 7 inch cardboard cake board and some boba straws for this next part. Cut the board to be the size and shape of the top of the body. The head will sit on this board. Boba straws will act as supports to hold the board up. Boba straws are wider and stronger than regular straws.

Position a straw about an inch from the edge of the top of the cake. Push all the way down into the cake until you feel it hit the cake drum at the bottom. Then pinch it where it sticks out of the cake and pull it up and cut it there. Now it's exactly the same height as the cake.

Hold this straw against the other three straws and use it to measure and cut them the same height. These straws will prop up the cake board with the head on top so it doesn't sink down into the body.

Push the first straw back into the cake where it was before and then push the other three in. As you push, check the straw from different angles to make sure it's straight and not at an angle. A straight support is much stronger than a leaning one. Make a square formation of straws with each one about an inch from the edge of the cake. Pipe or spread a dot of buttercream over each straw.

Optionally, cut a hole about half an inch wide in the middle of the board by poking a scissor blade through it. This is a good idea if the cake is going to be driven anywhere. I'll show you what to do with this hole later. Then press down the cake board that you cut. Pick the Bulbasaur cake up and put it into the fridge to chill before you add the head. When the cake is cold it will be firmer and sturdier.

Assemble Bulbasaur’s head

Bulbasaur's head will be made out of chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream. To make chocolate buttercream, add melted chocolate to two cups of the buttercream. Also add cocoa powder mixed with just enough water to make a thin paste. This will make the buttercream super chocolatey.

While the bottom half of the cake is still in the fridge, stack the chocolate layers. This cake will become the head. Alternate cake layers with the chocolate buttercream as filling or use whatever other filling you like.

Carve Bulbasaur's head

Use the sketch of the top view of Bulbasaur's head to carve this cake. Push the sketch to one side of the cake instead of placing it in the middle. Cut around it to give you the shape of the head at its widest part. You'll trim it to shape it later.

Take Bulbasaur's body out of the fridge when you're ready to stack the head on top. If you're going to transport the cake, push a wooden dowel through the hole you cut in the cake board. Measure the height of the cake and cut it just a tiny bit shorter. This will stop the top of the cake sliding around in the car. You can buy the dowels from cake decorating or craft stores. If the cake isn't going anywhere skip the dowel.

Spread some chocolate buttercream on top of the cakeboard to act as glue to attach the head. Then lower the chocolate cake down onto the dowel to center it on top of the board.

Now it's time to carve the head, which is much simpler than the body. Cut a diagonal chunk off the top of each side of the first layer, carving down and inwards. Then cut diagonally upwards from the bottom of the middle layer up to the top layer.

Then use little sawing motions to make the head curve around at the top and the bottom.

Shape the bulb and ears

Next you'll need the rest of the chocolate cake that you cut off when you trimmed around the sketch of the top of the head. Let's call it the chocolate cake leftovers, so that you know what I'm talking about later. Make two cuts to divide it into three pieces, which you'll use to make the bulb shape. Start with the two outer pieces, attaching those onto each side of the 4 inch cake. Use buttercream as glue to attach them.

Then cut the middle section of the chocolate cake leftovers in half. Attach each of those pieces (using buttercream) next to the body to fill out the bulb shape.

For the tip of the bulb and the pointed ears, crumble up the rest of the cake carvings. Mix them with just enough buttercream to hold the crumbs together. The mixture should feel like Play-Doh. Push the mixture onto the top of the bulb to make it rounded with its tip pointing up at the back. Then use little sawing motions to carve the cake layers of the bulb so it's not so angular.

For the ears, pipe or spread a dot of buttercream where you want each one to go. Roll two balls of the cake and frosting mixture a little bigger than a golf ball. Press them into the head and mold them with your fingers to make the ears. When the buttercream sets it will hold the ears in place so that they're sturdy enough to frost.

Put the Bulbasaur cake back into the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to set the buttercream. When the cake gets cold, it will firm up before you frost it.

Crumb coat the Bulbasaur cake

You'll need about 5 cups of buttercream or 1.2 kg for the crumb coat. The crumb coat is much easier with a thin consistency of buttercream rather than when it's stiff. Add some milk until you can stir the buttercream easily and it looks smooth. Use a small offset spatula or palette knife to spread the buttercream all over the cake.

You need to completely cover the cake so there's no naked cake exposed. This layer of frosting is going to trap any crumbs that come off the cake. After this layer sets, those crumbs won't be able to get into the next layer of frosting.

The crumb coat doesn't need to be perfectly smooth because it's going to be covered up soon. But you don't want any big bumps or bulges of buttercream because those could poke through the final layer of frosting. Try to get the crumb coat fairly smooth, which you can do a few different ways. You can use a small offset spatula or cut a small piece of acetate.

Prepare your materials

Put the Bulbasaur cake back into the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to set the crumb coat. Meanwhile, set aside one cup of buttercream and tint the rest turquoise for the body. You'll use the leftovers to tint darker for the teal markings on the body and also for the green bulb.

For turquoise you can use turquoise gel or sky blue with a tiny bit of green. I like to add a small amount of avocado green or brown to make it less bright.

With the cup of white buttercream you set aside, get two little bowls and put about 2 tablespoons into each. To one of the bowls add a tiny drop of red to make pink for Bulbasaur's mouth. Add a few drops of red to the other bowl to make red for the eyes.

Draw a triangle onto parchment or wax paper for Bulbasaur's eye. Cut out two of these and also the pink part of Bulbasaur's mouth. Then take your cake out of the fridge.

Add some details to Bulbasaur

Spread pink frosting where you want the mouth to go and white frosting where you want the eyes to go. You might be able to see dark coloured cake crumbs through the white frosting and if you can, spread on another layer until it covers up the cake underneath.

Then press the parchment eyes and mouth onto the patches of frosting. My 5-year-old made sure he told me me that I made Bulbasaur's eyes too close together! Chill the cake for about 30 minutes to set this frosting and then peel the parchment eyes off.

Use another two pieces of parchment cut in a curve shape as stencils to cover up the outer halves of the eyes. These will stay white and the rest will be red. Also cut two little ellipses or pointed ovals to be the reflections within the red eyes. Now spread the red buttercream over the eyes and peel the curved parchment off.

Then cover the entire eye with the parchment triangle you cut out earlier. You'll peel the ellipses or pointed ovals off later. Scrape away any white or red or pink buttercream that's sticking out around the parchment eyes and mouth.

Frost the Bulbasaur cake

Frost the body and head of the Bulbasaur cake with your turquoise buttercream. The buttercream eyes and mouth will be firm because they're on top of cold buttercream and cake. You can spread over them without damaging those details.

The next part is definitely the most time consuming stage! Smooth this turquoise buttercream. You can use your offset spatula, which will smooth the frosting that the blade scrapes over. But it will leave a trail of texture along both edges of the blade. The other option is to use a small piece of acetate. This works really well for sculpted or carved cakes because it curves around the cake. The acetate will create smooth, rounded shapes. Since it's so thin it doesn't leave the trails of texture that an offset spatula does.

Acetate will pick up buttercream as you smooth, which you'll have to scrape off into your bowl of frosting. Wipe the acetate clean before using it again. This process is slower with acetate than with an offset spatula. I think the quickest smoothing technique with the neatest results is to use an offset spatula first and then acetate.

Get the frosting as smooth as you can with the spatula and then use the acetate to get it even smoother. Since the frosting is already quite smooth, the acetate won't pull off as much buttercream so you won't need to clean it as often compared to skipping the offset spatula stage and going straight in with the acetate.

Just to set your expectations, spreading and smoothing this turquoise buttercream took me 49 minutes. Make sure you give yourself enough time for this part!

Frost Bulbasaur's bulb

Chill the Bulbasaur cake again in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes to set this turquoise frosting. Then to get the parchment off the eyes, use a toothpick to scrape gently from the middle of the eye outwards. You'll feel the smooth, firm surface of the parchment underneath your toothpick. When that surface changes, you've come to the edge of the parchment. Use your toothpick to pry up the edge of the parchment. Then pinch it and peel it away from the cake. Do the same for the mouth and also for the white reflections within the eyes.

Set aside about a 1/4 of a cup of turquoise buttercream for the teal skin markings. Tint the rest to be a bright green, which you'll use to frost the bulb. But first, use strips of parchment to cover up the turquoise body along the join of the body and the bulb. This will keep the green frosting off the body so that it only covers the plant bulb. Smooth this using you offset spatula or acetate or both.

To create the curves of the bulb, use an offset spatula dipped in warm water to mark out the different sections. Or to make deeper grooves, spread the buttercream more thickly and then use acetate to carve it out between each section.

Pinch the edge of each parchment strip and peel it away from the cake.

To get the frosting even smoother, put the Bulbasaur cake back into the fridge for 30 minutes to set the frosting. Then press a piece of parchment paper over any texture and rub against it with your fingers. You'll flatten the buttercream underneath to leave it smooth.

Add more details to the Bulbasaur cake

For the final details, add more blue and green gel to the little bowl of turquoise frosting you set aside. You're aiming for a teal that's darker than the body. Use a few small pieces of parchment paper to cut out the markings on Bulbasaur's face and body. One by one, press them against the cake and spread the teal buttercream over them. Scrape a few times with your offset spatula to take off the excess frosting, leaving a thin, smooth layer behind.

For the line details on the face, tint about 2 tablespoons of the leftover green buttercream using black gel. Put it into a piping bag with a small round piping tip like a #3. Pipe the eyebrows and the nostrils and also outline the mouth to make a smile or other expression. If you're new to piping, check out my tutorial on 15 piping hacks!

Finally, use the leftover white buttercream in a piping bag with a medium round tip like a #8. Pipe the nails or claws on the feet and hands and also the teeth.

How to store and transport this Bulbasaur cake

Keep this Bulbasaur cake in the fridge to keep the cake and buttercream firm and stable. Take it out just before you transport it, if you're taking it somewhere else to serve. For transportation it's really important to keep this Bulbasaur cake on a flat surface. The flat surface combined with the central dowel and the buttercream you spread on the cake board will prevent the cake from sliding around.

This is a Cake Safe, which comes with a central dowel that I didn't use because I'd already added one.

Place the cake somewhere flat in the car, ideally in the boot or trunk. Another option is the footwell in front of the passenger seat. If you're not taking the cake anywhere, take it out of the fridge about 2 hours before you serve it. This gives the cake and buttercream time to come to room temperature, when it tastes the best.

How to serve a sculpted cake

Serving this cake is really straightforward. Start at the top, cutting down into the head and you'll feel the knife hit the cakeboard under the head. Slide your cake slicer or server in there just above the cakeboard to lift the slice out. Serve the whole top half of the cake like this.

When you've sliced all of that, lift up the cake board that was in the middle of the cake. Now serve the bottom half of the cake.

You can serve about 60 people with this cake. We cut up the leftovers and kept them in a tupperware in the fridge to enjoy for the next week. You could freeze them for up to two months.

So, that's it! Everything you need to know to make a buttercream Bulbasaur cake with no fondant. Ask me any questions in the comments or tell me which character you'd like to see next! And visit my cake school to learn hundreds more cake decorating techniques!

Buttercream Bulbasaur Cake

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• Author: Emily
• Yield: 60 servings 1x

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Description

Make this buttercream Bulbasaur cake without fondant and with no fancy tools!

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

For the vanilla cakes:

• 1 3/4 cups unsalted butter
• 2 1/3 cups white sugar (granulated sugar)
• 7 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 cups plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the chocolate cake:

• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 1/3 cups plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the buttercream:

• 3 3/4 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 lb powdered sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup cream or milk

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Instructions

To make the vanilla cakes:

1. Using a mixer with a beater/paddle attachment, beat room temperature butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down to the bottom of the bowl once during mixing to make sure no butter or sugar is stuck at the bottom.
2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on the lowest speed after each addition for 30 seconds. Scrape down to the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated before adding the next egg.
3. Add vanilla and mix for about 30 seconds to combine.
4. In a small bowl or measuring jug, mix room temperature buttermilk and oil. Add half to the butter mixture and mix on lowest speed to incorporate.
5. In a bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl and mix on lowest speed to incorporate, scraping down to the bottom of the mixing bowl to check that batter is evenly mixed. Repeat with the remaining buttermilk mixture and then finish with the remaining flour mixture.
6. Grease three 8" baking pans and three 4" pans with non-stick oil spray or butter. Divide batter between the cake pans.
7. Bake at 160ºC or 325ºF. The 8 inch layers will take 38 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. The 4 inch layers will take 21 minutes.
8. Leave cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to loosen the cakes from the edges of the pans and then turn onto a wire cooling rack. Leave to cool completely and then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To make the chocolate cake:

1. In a bowl, whisk together warm water and cocoa powder until the cocoa has dissolved. Set aside to come to room temperature.
2. In a mixer with a beater/paddle attachment, mix butter with sugar on medium speed until pale and creamy, about two minutes. Scrape down to the bottom of the bowl once during mixing to make sure no butter is stuck at the bottom.
3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on the lowest speed after each addition until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
4. Add vanilla and mix on lowest speed for about 30 seconds to combine.
5. In a bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add a third of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl and mix on lowest speed to incorporate.
6. Add half of the cocoa mixture to the mixing bowl and mix on lowest speed to incorporate. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture, then the remaining cocoa powder mixture, and then the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
7. Grease the inside (base and sides) of three 8" pans with non-stick spray, butter or oil. Divide batter between the cake pans.
8. Bake at 175ºC or 350ºF for 38 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
9. Let cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to loosen cake from the edges of the cake pan and then turn onto a wire cooling rack. Leave to cool completely and then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To make the buttercream:

1. Sift the sugar to remove any lumps and check that the butter is at room temperature - you should be able to slice through it easily with a spatula.
2. In a mixer with a beater/paddle attachment, mix butter for a few seconds until smooth. Add a quarterof the powdered sugar and salt and mix on the lowest speed until incorporated, about one minute.
3. Scrape down to the bottom of the mixing bowl with a spatula to loosen any butter and sugar and add the next quarter of powdered sugar and mix for another minute on low.
4. Scrape down to the bottom of the bowl, add another quarter of the powdered sugar, mix for one minute on low, scrape, and add the final quarter of the powdered sugar. Mix for one more minute on low, adding the vanilla once everything is mixed together and continuing to mix until it's incorporated.
5. Add the milk or cream and mix for about 30 seconds until it's combined with the buttercream. Check the consistency and add more milk or cream a tablespoon at a time until the buttercream is smooth and easily stirred.
6. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap e.g. cling film/Saran Wrap.

To assemble, carve and frost the cake:

• Please refer to the detailed tutorial above! You'll find step by step instructions along with photos of each step. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below!

To store, transport and serve the cake:

• Store the cake in the fridge until transporting or until 2 hours before serving.
• If transporting, place the cake on a flat surface like the boot or trunk, or in the footwell of the passenger seat.
• To serve the cake, slice the head first. You'll feel the knife hit the cake board in the middle of the cake. Slide your knife or a cake slice or cake server into the cake just above the board to remove each slice of cake. After serving the head, lift up the cake board from the middle of the cake and serve the bottom half of the cake.

You can also watch a video of this tutorial on how to make a buttercream Bulbasaur cake without fondant: