I was commissioned to make a cake that resembled 8-bit Mario. Maybe I should say someone ordered a cake from me but I like commissioned because I pretend that my cakes are more of a work of art than food.

This cake was very challenging and fun to make at the same time. I built my diagram in MS Excel (pictured on the left). The diagram gave me a bigger picture of how many pieces I needed of each color. My first concept design was to cut out 2 inch squares but then after drawing it out it would have been a 2 by 3 foot cake. My second concept was to shape the cake before decorating. This didn’t work out well because of the small corners.

After baking and icing the cake part, I covered it in white fondant. Then I began cutting out my squares and placing them on the cake.

After cleaning up, I found some extra fondant and decided to throw in some extras. Here are the extras:

1-Up and Grow Mushroom are made completely out of fondant. The cake and the mushrooms were a hit at the party. I’m not sure if I’ll ever make one like this again, but I am inspired to make the 8-bit title screen.

Here’s my recipe for chocolate cake, by Hershey’s

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.  10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

Enjoy!

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