This tools birthday cake is an easy idea for cake with tools. With handmade fondant hammers, pliers, nuts and bolts, spanner and ladder, this cake makes a perfect idea for boys and men!
This is a single tier square cake covered in butter icing. All the tools on the cake are handmade using fondant and individually painted with food coloring.
If you like this tool cake, check out this other tools birthday cake which is 2 tier cake decorated with similar tools. And for more cake ideas for men, check out this laptop cake, open book cake, easy football cake, soccer cupcakes, guitar cake and Nissan GTR car birthday cake and Nissan GTR car cupcakes.
🧾Supplies Required
- One 8 inch square cake – I baked this cake using my butter pound cake recipe. The cake itself was a single layer one.
- Buttercream & butter icing – I used buttercream to crumb coat the cake and used butter icing to cover the whole cake. I did not tint the icing, hence the natural ivory hue to it. In case you are wondering what the difference between buttercream and butter icing is, the only difference is in the consistency of the icing. Butter icing is much more to stiffer than buttercream and I prefer to work with it to cover cakes.
- Fondant – I used fondant to create all the tool toppers on the cake. Each and every tool on the cake were handmade and edible and I made them using my homemade fondant.
- Wilton Alphabet cutter – I used these cutters for the birthday message.
- Wilton
Food coloring in yellow, red, brown, and moss green.
- Edible silver dust
Food coloring in yellow, red, brown, and moss green.👩🍳How to Make
Step 1: Make the Fondant Tools
I started off by making the carpentry tools a few days in advance. All the tools were made of fondant. I chose to make them all in white fondant and paint them later once they were set.
There are closer images of all the tools on the cake, but if you can see them on the cake, I made ladders, screwdrivers, hammers, pliers, nuts and bolts and spanners. I hand molded these and then painted them.
Step 2: Bake and Frost the Birthday Cake
Once the tools were ready, assembling the birthday cake was quite straight forward.
I baked the cake in a square cake pan, like a sheet cake. I did not layer it any further and used it as a single layer cake. As soon as it was baked and has cooled down, I leveled the top and covered it with a thin layer of crumb coat.
After that, I covered the entire birthday cake with butter icing. Butter icing is the stiffer version of buttercream and is a lot easier to manage in hot and humid weather.
I used a spatula to smooth the butter icing on the top and sides of the cake.
Step 3: Make the Fondant Alphabets
Next, I cut out the wordings for the tools birthday cake using alphabet cutters in pink fondant. I arranged them on the cake in such a way that they are centered on the cake. Since the cake was covered in butter icing, attaching the fondant alphabets to the cake was easy. There was no need for any fondant glue or a brush of shortening to secure the alphabet letters on the cake.
Once the letters were all in place, I added the fondant tools. Before placing them on the cake, I roughly planned their position so that each tool is well spaced out on the cake.
Step 4: Attach the Fondant Cake Decorations
Again, attaching the fondant tools to the birthday cake was easy. There was no need for any special glue to hold them in place. I simply pressed them gently into the butter icing on the cake and that helped to secure them to the cake.
And that was pretty much how I made the tools birthday cake.
❤️More Cake Designs You Will Love
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📖Recipe
Tools Birthday Cake
Equipment
- Wilton Alphabet cutter
- Wilton Food coloring in yellow, red, brown, and moss green.
- Edible silver dust
- Lemon extract
For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.
Ingredients
- 300 g butter
- 300 g granulated sugar
- 300 g self-raising flour
- 5 eggs
- 75 ml milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Butter Icing
Instructions
Making the fondant tools
- Make the tools in advance to allow them time to set and harden.
- Shape each tool by hand in white fondant and then paint them.
- Set them aside for the paint to set before using on the cake.
Baking the cake
- Preheat oven to 170 °Celsius.
- Beat butter and sugar till soft and creamy for about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in the sifted ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with milk, starting and ending with flour.
- Finally, add in vanilla extract and combine well. Pour batter into a well greased and floured 8-inch square cake pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the top of the cake springs back when lightly pressed.
- The cake is done when a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out without any wet batter.
- Remove the cake from oven and let it cool completely before icing and decorating.
- After that, cover the entire birthday cake with butter icing. Butter icing is the stiffer version of buttercream and is a lot easier to manage in hot and humid weather. You can also use buttercream if you wish.
- Use a spatula to smooth the butter icing on the top and sides of the cake. Set the cake aside while you make the fondant alphabets.
Making the edible alphabets
- Roll some pink fondant thin.
- Cut the alphabets out with the alphabet cutters.
- Arrange them on the cake in such a way that they are centered on the cake. There is no need for any fondant glue to secure the alphabet letters on the cake. The butter from the icing is sufficient to hold them securely in place.
Attaching the fondant tools to the cake
- Once the letters are all in place, add the fondant tools. Before placing them on the cake, plan their position so that each tool is well spaced out on the cake.
- To attach the tools, press them gently into the butter icing on the cake and that will help to secure them to the cake.
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