Rocket Ship Cake Recipes

ROCKET SHIP CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Line bottom with parchment or waxed paper; butter lining. Dust with flour; tap out excess. Set aside.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. Stir together milk and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside. Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar in a slow, steady stream; mix until pale and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, about 3 minutes.
• Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk mixture and beginning and ending with the flour (do not overmix). Set aside.
• Beat egg whites in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Fold one-third of whites into batter. Fold in remaining whites in 2 batches.
• Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake until cake is springy to the touch and a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Run a knife around sides of cake to loosen; invert onto wire rack. Reinvert cake; let cool completely, right-side up, before decorating. (Cooled cake can be frozen, wrapped in plastic wrap, up to 2 days.)
• With a serrated knife, trim top of cake to make it flat. Halve cake horizontally to make 2 layers. Spread 1 cup buttercream over bottom layer; place second layer back on top. Cut cake into components using template. Arrange on a platter or foil-covered board to form rocket shape. If desired, cut board slightly larger than assembled cake shape before wrapping in foil.
• Spread 1 1/4 cups buttercream in a thin layer over entire cake; refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare buttercream for decorating. Assemble 5 pastry bags with couplers. Tint 3/4 cup buttercream each red and blue, and 1/2 cup gray; transfer each to a pastry bag. Fill another bag with 1/4 cup each red, orange, and yellow buttercream; fit with an Ateco #233 multi-hole tip. Fill last bag with 1/2 cup plain buttercream.
• Frost cake with a smooth layer of buttercream. Fit gray bag with an Ateco #4 plain tip; outline rocket. Add designs: a filled-in nose, a round window, or the outline of a flag. Sprinkle rocket nose, bottom, and window with sanding sugar.
• Fit red, white, and blue bags with Ateco #18 star tips; pipe stripes. Use an Ateco #16 star tip for flag. Pipe a white star border around bottom edge of cake. For letters, use an Ateco #8 plain tip. Pipe "flames" out of bottom of rocket using bag of multicolored buttercream. If desired, attach figurine with licorice. Chill until ready to serve, up to 4 hours.

SPACESHIP CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan. Make and bake cake as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool 10 minutes; remove cake from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Refrigerate or freeze cake about 1 hour or until firm.
• Using serrated knife, cut rounded dome from top of cake to make flat surface; place cake cut side down. Cut cake as shown in diagram.
• Place cake piece 1 on tray. Arrange pieces 2, 3 and 4 as shown in diagram, trimming to fit, standing up piece 3 for top fin. Trim point of piece 2 for nose of ship. Attach each piece with a small amount of frosting.
• Spread thin layer of frosting on cake to seal in crumbs. Freeze 30 to 45 minutes to set frosting. Frost cake with remaining frosting. Let frosting set a few minutes. Carefully cover with paper towel and gently pat to give a fabric-like appearance; remove towel. Use fruit snack for strips as shown in photograph. Outline as desired with decorating gel. Store loosely covered.

ROCKET CAKE

Steps:

• Place ice cream roll vertically on a 10-in. plate. Frost top and sides. From blue construction paper, cut out four fins about 2-1/4-in. high and 1-1/2-in. deep. Insert fins along bottom edge of cake., For the nose cone, draw an 8-in. circle on red construction paper. With a pencil, mark eight equal sections. Cut out a three-eighths section and discard; tape cut sides together to form a cone. Place on top of cake. Serve immediately.

SPACE SHUTTLE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan. Make and bake cake as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool 10 minutes; remove cake from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Refrigerate or freeze cake 1 hour until firm.
• Using serrated knife, cut rounded dome from top of cake to make flat surface; place cake cut side down. Cut cake as shown in diagram (template can be found under the Tips below).
• On tray, place cake piece 1. Arrange pieces 2, 3 and 4 as shown in diagram, trimming to fit, standing up piece 3 for top fin. Trim point of piece 2 for nose of shuttle. Attach each piece with a small amount of frosting.
• Frost cake with a thin layer of frosting to seal in crumbs. Freeze 30 to 45 minutes to set frosting. Add final coat of frosting to cake, using up remaining frosting.
• Use licorice to make diagonal lines across nose of shuttle and to outline top fin. Use M&M's™ minis chocolate candies to outline tip, wings and back of shuttle. Add large and small stars to wings and back; add round candies to both sides of fin. Write "USA" or another message on top of fin with decorating gel. Insert candles at end of shuttle. If desired, just before serving, light candles for "liftoff." Store loosely covered.