How to Make an Anti-Gravity Cake

I can’t resist a good prank, joke or pun. When April Fool’s Day rolls around, I love seeing what fake creations Google’s touting, what faux posts Emily Schuman has crafted at Cupcakes and Cashmere, but especially, what fakeout foods people have cooked up.

Remember when Family Fun showed you how to make fake chicken drumsticks and ice cream mashed potatoes? Or the slime cakes from Nickelodeon Magazine? (A moment of silence, please, for Nick Mag. RIP.)

I thought about writing a satirical post, or something entirely off the wall, but then I realized I needed a throwback to the wild-eyed glee I’d get at the thought of making my very own faux food.

YES, PEOPLE WILL FALL FOR THESE CUPCAKE CHEESEBURGERS!

Deep down, I knew they wouldn’t, but there’s something undeniably entertaining in the ridiculousness of food that’s masquerading as something it’s not. This year, I had to create my own.

It was time to create an Anti-Gravity Cake.

Nope, not astronaut, dehydrated-gasps-of-flavor desserts. I’m talking about a cake that looks as if part of it floats from midair. I started watching YouTube and Craftsy tutorials, sketching out ideas and looking for ways to radically simplify the process. By jove, I think I’ve found it, too.

How to Make An Anti-Gravity Cake (Step-by-Step)

 

Ingredients:

• 1 box cake mix (and the eggs/oil/etc the package requires)
• Cooking spray (or butter and flour, to grease the pan
• 1 can cream cheese or buttercream frosting
• 1 pound white fondant
• 1 jar of green gel food coloring (or whatever color you want the bowl to be; use the gel kind so you don’t water down the fondant)
• 1 box of cereal

Tools Required:

• Electric mixer (or whisk/bowl)
• Spoonula
• 1 oven-safe bowl, approximately 1.5 quarts
• Rolling pin
• 1 steak knife (or paring knife)
• 1 butter knife (or 1 small, offset spatula for frosting cake)
• 1 package balloon sticks (12 inches long)
• 1 empty pint of milk, cleaned out

Bake the cake:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the cake according to the package’s instructions, pouring the batter into an oven-safe bowl. (Make sure the bowl is sprayed with cooking spray so it comes out easily.) Cook for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs on it.

Let it cool for at least an hour before attempting to remove the cake from the bowl. Slide a butter knife around the edge to help loosen it.

Assemble the cake:

Trim the top of the cake to level it, so you have an even surface to work on. Then, carefully cut the cake in half, creating two round layers.

Frost between these two layers, then reassemble the cake. Lightly frost — or “crumb coat” — the outside of the cake, avoiding the top and bottom. Stick it in the freezer for 45 minutes or more, just to let it firm up.

Create the fondant bowl of the cake:

Divide the fondant into 2/3s and 1/3. Wrap the 1/3 portion back up, sealing it in plastic wrap. Knead the larger portion until it’s soft, twisting in a few drops of food coloring at a time, until the fondant is the color you’d like. Roll out the fondant into a long rectangle that’s slightly wider than the side of the cake.

Roll the cake around the fondant, trimming it to the size you need. Use your hands to mold it around the cake. The fondant should be a little taller than the cake itself. Trim it if you need to (as you can see above, I had way too much.) Leave a little extra that you can curl down, forming the lip of the bowl (that way the rim of the bowl is taller than the cake itself, giving you a well to fill with frosting and delicious cereal).

Insert three balloon sticks into the center of the cake, right next to each other.

Frost the top of the cake with a nice, thick coating.

Create the stream of milk: 

Unwrap the remaining 1/3 of fondant, which should still be white. Roll it out, creating a long, narrow strip to cover the three sticks. Trim the fondant so it’s just a bit longer than the sticks, then wrap it around them. Mold the excess fondant into little droplets pointing upward, so it looks like the milk is splashing as it hits the cereal (see photo below). Adorn with cereal.

The finishing touch:

Balance the milk container on the stream of milk. Stand back and gawk at your creation.

Oh, and be sure to tag us in any photos you Instagram (@LifeBetweenWeekends), so we can revel in your marvelous creation as well.

Happy April Fool’s Day!