Ladybug Cake2006 CAKE DESIGN CONTEST FIRST PRIZE WINNER:  Karen McCuiston & daughter Lainey Soddy Daisy, TN
~ Ladybug Cake ~ Karen's Ladybug Cake Design Instructions: Since our daughter's name is Lainey and we have so fondly nicknamed her "Lainey-bug the Lady-bug" we decided there was no other choice for a theme for her first birthday party except for a ladybug party. After purchasing a ladybug cake mold for $14.00 I decided I was smarter than that pan and I could come up with a better way to make my daughter's first birthday cake. I have seen the pans for making the Barbie type cakes and thought, "Humm, I could use a mixing bowl for a pan." First, being a busy first mom, I opted to use a prepared a boxed white cake mix. I mixed it according to the directions on the box. I took a medium metalmixing bowl (one that had a very rounded bottom and tall sides) and greased/floured it well. Next, I poured the batter into the mixing bowl and spun the bowl making the batter press out to the sides (I learned this in aclass I took. It helps make the bottom of the cake flatter when it is inverted). Next, not knowing how long it would take to bake the cake in a different type of pan I went ahead and went with the recommended baking time on the box of cake mix. When the time was expired, I checked the cake center to see if it was ready. Well...it wasn't. Because of the thick center I ended up cooking the cake a total of 40 minutes longer than the box called for (by theway it was still a moist cake - remarkably). Once the cake was taken out of the oven, I inverted it onto a clear serving platter. When the cake was completely cooled I used a star tip and red icing (which takes A LOT more food coloring to achieve a good red than I expected) to cover the ladybug's body except a star-tip width down the middle of the ladybug's back. Next I used black icing (which also takes A LOT more food coloring than I anticipated) and covered the face area of the ladybug and down the middle of the back to separate the ladybug's two wings. See below for further instructions....
~ Ladybug Cake ~  Ladybug Costume Now was the fun part- trying to be creative for the spots, eyes and antennae. For the spots, I used three black sandwich type cookies on each wing. I simply pushed each cookie where I wanted it into the icing and gave it a slight twist to snuggle it into place. For the eyes, I started out using white chocolate drops turned upside down but changed my mind at the last minute and used two white mints with holes in the middle. Once I wiggled them into place the black icing naturally came through the hole of the mint and made it look like the pupil...PERFECT!! Lastly, for the antennae I took two lollipops, used a black non-toxic marker and colored the sticks black. Then using the same star tip with black icing I covered the lollipops with icing and stuck them into the cake for antennae. Since there was no room to write on the cake I iced out my message on the clear serving platter. For an extra touch, I made baby-bug cupcakes as well. Each baby-bug was "starred" in the same colors as the cake but I used semi-sweet chocolate morsels upside down for the spots, white chocolate morsels upside down for the eyes. I melted a couple of chocolate morsels in the microwave and used a toothpick to draw on the pupils. These baby-bugs didn't have antennae but small pieces of black licorice would work. The ladybugs were all eaten up and my mind began to think "What will I do for next year's theme?"
~ Ladybug Cake ~
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