Awesome Adulting: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Cake Tutorial

One of the ways I’m able to let out my creative side and feel like an Awesome Adult is in cake art. Recently I was asked to make a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Cake for a relative. Usually, I would create the cake and take a picture of the finished product. This time I thought it might be fun to take pictures during the process and post a tutorial. Here’s the step by step method for creating a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Cake.

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Bake two 8 inch cake layers and one 6 inch layer.

These are chocolate chip cakes. Torte (cut in half) each layer and fill with frosting. I used eggless cookie dough mixed with vanilla buttercream.

Level out the layers and sculpt out the face.

You may want to print out a face and size it to the scale of the cake to help with placement of the facial features.

Don’t forget to carve the cheeks on the side of the face.

Add a layer of frosting

Do this after putting the cake in the freezer for about an hour (this helps with crumb coating).

Cover the cake in green fondant.

Covering the cake was the hardest and most time-consuming step. Be patient and keep working with the fondant to get it smooth on all sides and the bottom of the cake.

Make the mouth and bandana

Cut out a piece of black fondant and work into the mouth. This may require a few “resizes” to get properly placed. Then cut out a long piece of orange fondant (if you’re making Michelangelo) and place on the eye sockets and around the head. Make sure to include the eyebrows. Add a ribbon of orange fondant for the ties of the bandana.

Make the eyes.

Roll out two small white balls of fondant. Using a bit of water or sugar glue, attach the eyeballs in the sockets. Cut out two small black ovals for the pupils and place on the eyeballs. Roll out two tiny white balls for the reflections of the eyes.

(or sometime in between the other steps) Make the manhole cover.

Using a cake board, cut out fondant for both sides and a small strip as a border. Cut out letters for the NYC Sewer and make small impressions to resemble a manhole cover.

“Spray Paint” the manhole cover.

Using an edible food spray, spray the manhole cover silver. This may take several light coats. Make sure and paint both sides of the manhole cover.

Attach the manhole cover

Attach the manhole cover to the back of the turtle head with royal icing.

Optional details for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Cake.

• The manhole is a 10-inch layer cake covered in gray fondant with impressions made to resemble brick.
• The tongue is a small piece of pink fondant sculpted into a heart-shape and glued into the mouth with royal icing.
• The fingers are pieces of rolled green fondant attached with royal icing.
• The pizza slice is a piece of light brown fondant cut into a triangle shape with the top turned down. The tomato sauce is red frosting, and the cheese is small yellow fondant rectangles.

Cowabunga Dude!

Have questions about the cake? Leave a comment, and I’ll get back to you.