Radar requested a Pac-Man cake for his birthday party. Child of the 80's that I am, I was happy to oblige. Making a homemade birthday cake is not hard at all, and it can be a lot of fun if you don't worry about getting professional results. So, here is my step-by step tutorial for a cute Pac-Man birthday cake!
First, you will need to prepare two round cake layers and a pan of small cupcakes. Here is where I tell you that IT IS OKAY TO USE CAKE MIX AND CANNED FROSTING. If you are going to the trouble to prepare and decorate a cake for your child, you are already wonderful. Don't feel you have to be a martyr by also forcing yourself to prepare it all from scratch, mmmkay?
Put one of the round cake layers on a prepared cake board. I like to put strips of wax paper under the edges of the cake so that the frosting does not get on the board. Now, trim the top of one of the cake layers with a large serrated knife so that it is level. Frost the top with white frosting.
Carefully put the other round layer on top.
Next, use a knife to lightly score the cutting line for Pac-Man's mouth, a wedge of about 1/6 of the cake. This way you can eyeball it to make sure it looks right before cutting it out.
Next, cut out the wedge. Hide it from the rest of the family and enjoy it with a glass of wine later. I mean offer it to your husband as a treat for working so hard all day. Use a pastry brush to brush away crumbs.
Now, VERY CAREFULLY frost the inside of the mouth with yellow frosting, and then frost the top and sides also.
Hopefully it looks something like this:
Now get out your mini-cupcakes. I recommend having one cupcake per birthday party guest, because the little darlings will of course want a piece of cake AND a cupcake.
Frost the tops of the mini-cupcakes white. These will be the "dots" that Pac-Man munches on. Arrange the dots, remove the wax paper strips from underneath Pac-Man, and you're all set. Be sure to remind your child that he/she has the best Mom EVER!