The Art of Cake Decorating: A Journey Through Super Mario 64

As I began my cake decorating journey, I knew that I wanted to create something truly special. Something that would transport me back to the nostalgia of my childhood and the excitement of exploring the Mushroom Kingdom. And so, I set out to create a cake inspired by one of my favorite games: Super Mario 64.

To start, I began by baking six six-inch cakes and one large cake for the bottom half. I knew that I would need these as the base of my cake, and that they would serve as the foundation for the rest of my design. While those were chilling in the fridge to firm up, I moved on to the next step: creating a crumb coat. This is called the crumb coat because it basically seals away any errant crumbs that might otherwise ruin my frosting.

I applied a small amount of white frosting to the cakes and hit the top with a small amount of brown frosting, which I sealed with the crumb coat. This was an important step in the process, as it would help prevent any crumbs from getting stuck in my final layer of frosting. Once the crumb coat was applied, I rinsed and repeated the process on a smaller scale for the six-inch cakes.

The next step was to create the white crumb coat all around the bottom half of the cake. This would act as a sealant to prevent any crumbs from getting stuck in my final layer of frosting. Meanwhile, I began working on a small thank you chocolate bar using candy melts. These were like if Easter chocolate was a little worse - easy to work with and forgiving.

I melted the candy melts in the microwave and spread them thinly over a rectangular cutter as quickly as possible, pressing into it as soon as they cooled slightly. This created a thin layer of chocolate that would be perfect for writing my message on. I practiced piping thank you in white chocolate several times, but unfortunately, I couldn't do it effectively.

So, I decided to cut a sort of stencil out of acetate and use it like a stencil, taping it taut over the chocolate rectangle and spreading the white chocolate thinly over top. This may not have looked as precise as my original attempt, but it was still satisfying to peel off the acetate once it had dried.

With our crumb coats applied, it was time to start decorating in earnest. I began by loading up the bottom half with buttercream and spreading it evenly down the sides. The perfect sort of draping that you see in video games like Super Mario 64 is probably best achieved with fondant, but I found that this was my best buttercream approximation.

I applied the remaining layers of frosting to the cake, starting with the top half. This time, I tried to round the edges more smoothly, but unfortunately, I ended up with a bevel instead. The result was still geometrically sophisticated and, in its own way, beautiful.

Next, I had eight very finest strawberries that I brushed down with simple syrup to make them glisten. I grabbed five large boba straws and inserted them all the way through the cake evenly to act as a platform. Pulling them up ever so slightly, snipping off the tops, and pressing them back down created a support system for the top layer of my cake.

The layers were placed, and so began the process of piping. First, some decorative drapery around the bottom half, a supportive strip upon which we could perch our placard. I cooled it with the alliteration starting now. Pipe a ring around the cardboard so as to hide it, and begin placing seven florets evenly around the cake's shelf, crowning with eight simple sort of dabs around the top.

These would act as mounts for my fruit, which I had drained on paper towel to prevent them from going all over the place. I was pretty sure that those were fresh cherries on top, but they were out of season, so all I could find were maraschino cherries. Precariously place our power star (or Mario and Peach figurine cake toppers), and there you have it - the thank you cake from Super Mario 64.

As I took my first bite of this masterpiece, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. It tasted like vanilla cake with meringue frosting, which was exactly what I had been aiming for all along. And yes, it was definitely a bit above my pay grade to create that beautiful peach filling from scratch, but Kendall, Steve, and Nico came up with a brilliant solution - just pile more on top.

I should have told someone over at Great British Baking Show about this method, because it's way easier than putting the peach filling inside the cake. In fact, it was so easy that I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. Thank you guys for watching, and while I've got you here, just a reminder to pre-order my next cake decorating kit, because I'm hooked.

With this cake, I felt like I had captured the essence of Super Mario 64 - the nostalgia, the excitement, and the sense of adventure that comes with exploring the Mushroom Kingdom. And so, as I sit here with my fork in hand, ready to take another bite of this masterpiece, I am reminded of why I love cake decorating in the first place: it's not just about creating something beautiful; it's also about capturing a moment in time and sharing it with others.

And for me, that moment was inspired by one of my favorite games - Super Mario 64.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Listen, everybody.Let's bake a delicious cake for Mario.(humming)♪ I don't remember howthe rest of this goes ♪♪ But there's music and it'scopyrighted so I can't use it ♪Hey, what's up guys?Welcome back to Binging with Babish,where this week, we're taking a lookat the thank you cakefrom the end of Mario 64,which as I'm saying it,I'm realizing is thoroughlywithin Arcade with Alvin territory.But the movie just came out,and I grew up playing this game,and I've always wanted tomake a proper tiered cake,and other reasons thatI'm making an exception.First, let's start with the filling,and I think it's fittingto make it peach filling.I got a 32 ounce pack of frozen peachesthat I'm placing in my 12-inchwide high-walled saute pan,along with six ounces of waterand seven ounces of light brown sugar.We're bringing this mixture to the simmerand cooking it for seven to 10 minutesuntil the peaches are completely tender,utilizing a potato masherto mash the peachesin place of potatoes.Then we're whisking togetherone ounce of corn starchwith two ounces of water andslowly splashing the slurryinto the peaches whilekeeping them moving,continuing to cook over medium low heatuntil it's practically pie filling.We're then chilling this mixture entirely,at least a few hours, up to overnight,during which time we can consider cake.Our structurally-soundsponge starts with 625 gramsof all-purpose flour witha teaspoon of kosher salt,regular-sized whisk until homogenous,and mixing about a teaspoon,or however much that was,vanilla extract to two cups of milk.Lastly, into the bowl of astand mixer goes four sticks,or 450 grams, of unsalted butter,with 525 grams of granulated sugar,and one tablespoon of baking powder.Then we're hooking itinto the stand mixer,slowly ramping it up to high speedand creaming for two to three minutes,until the butter has lightened in colorand could be accuratelydescribed as fluffy.Then it's time to give our bowl the firstof many thorough scrapingsbefore starting to add 400grams of eggs, one at a time,beating thoroughly for about 30 seconds,and studiously scraping thebowl after each edition.Then we're adding our drystuff and milk and stages.First, a third of our salty flour,mix just enough so thatno dry patches remain,followed by half of ourvanilla-spiked milk.Then another third of theflour, the rest of the milk,and then the last third of flour,scraping the bowl between each addition.Toward the end, your battermight start looking curdled,but don't worry afterthe final flour stage,it should come togetherinto something instantlyrecognizable as cake batter,smooth, thick, and borderline unpourable.This recipe is gonna filltwo 10-inch cake pans,which we're gonna prepby spraying evenly with non-stick sprayand lining with a roundof parchment paper.Add half the cake batter,gently spread it around evenly,and tap it with greatvigor, both to even it outand to release any trapped air bubbles.For the smaller six-inch top layers,we're doing a third recipe,all the amounts for whichwill be in the recipe on the website.And then depending on whichsize cake you're baking,these are headed into a350 degree Fahrenheit ovenfor anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes,until they clock 200 degrees Fahrenheitand spring back when poked.Next up, we're makingSwiss meringue buttercream,a very stable frostingthat firms when chilled.First combining 14 large egg whiteswith 900 grams of granulated sugar,regular size whisking untilhomogenous and snotty,and then bringing it over to the stove topwhere we have a shallow pan ofsimmering water at the ready.We're placing our heatproof bowl over top,far away from the water,whisking constantlyuntil the mixture reaches145 degrees Fahrenheit.Then immediately off the heat,we're dumping that straightinto the bowl of a stand mixer,slowly cranking it up to high speedand keeping it there for aninordinate 10 to 15 minutes,enough time so that itnearly triples in volumeand achieves the verystiffest of stiff peaks.In other words, when youpull out the wire whipand invert it, it should look like this.Now, at this juncture, themixer may still be quite warm,so if it feels at all toastyto the inside of your wrist,just keep it going atyour mixer's lowest speeduntil the temperature ofthe outside of the bowlmatches that of the human body.Now at this point,we're gonna start addingan astounding amount of unsalted butter,six sticks, or 675 grams,at room temperature,one little piece at a time,while the mixer is runningon medium high speed.Now, if the buttercream startsto look runny like this,don't be afraid to take the whole bowland throw it in the fridgefor 15 to 20 minutes.You just want the butterto incorporate, not melt.This process will eventuallyre-thicken the buttercreaminto something that lives up to its name.Swiss meringue buttercreamis rich, eggy, thick,and wildly smooth, and nowit's going to become the mortarwith which we build our cakey house.First, I'm placing about aquarter of it in a piping bagfor assorted reasons,and then I'm placing oneof our completely cooled12-inch cake roundson a cake board on a cake stand.Then using my verylongest knife, I'm cuttingand occasionally rotatingto trim off the rounded top.Once you've popped off the initial cap,don't be afraid to makelots of minor adjustments,and to eat them, all of them.The more level your cake rounds are,the more anchored and groundedyour final cake will appear.Now, I'm gonna pipe asolid half-inch thick ringaround the outer perimeterof this cake round.This is gonna act as asort of filling barrier,preventing our peaches from swooshing outas they become load-bearing peaches.Go ahead and spoon a bunchon there and level it outuntil it's the same heightas the buttercream ring.Rinse and repeat the beheadingand leveling process withthe second cake round,this time leaving it naked on topas it's going to serve asour uppermost lower layer,if that makes any sense at all.Let's see if this helps.Just put it on top ofthe peaches and stuff.Very gently and as accurately as possible,lay it on top of the first layer,reinforcing the buttercreamring if necessary,so that it's flush withthe outside of the cake.Now, in the game, it lookedlike the cake was nakedunderneath the draped white frosting,but I want a comprehensive crumb coat,so I'm going to tint a smallamount of the buttercreamwhat I will very generouslycall a cake-like brown,and hit the top with asmall amount of the white.This is called the crumb coat,and it basically sealsaway any errant crumbsthat might otherwise ruin our frosting.This guy's headed intothe fridge to firm upwhile we rinse and repeat the process,albeit on a smaller scale.Same exact deal for the six-inch cakes,but we're doing a whitecrumb coat all around.While those are chilling,I'm gonna make the littlethank you chocolate bar.I don't feel like tempering chocolate,so I'm gonna use candy melts,which are like if Easterchocolate was a little worse.Basically just microwave theseguys until they're melted,and that's it, it's very forgiving.So I'm spreading out a very,very thin, smooth layerof the chocolate and pressinginto it a rectangular cutteras quickly as possiblebecause this stuffhardens almost instantlywhen it's this thin.Now, as for the writing, Ipracticed piping thank youin white chocolate several plus times,and I could not do it effectively.So I decided to cut a sortof stencil out of acetateand use it sort of like a stencil,taping it taut overthe chocolate rectangleand spreading the whitechocolate thinly over top.Now, while this was very,very satisfying to peel off,it looked a little sloppy,but it's the best chocolatewriting I'm gonna pull offat this juncture, sothere it is, thank you.It's the thought thatcounts, not the handwriting.So with our crumb coats applied,it's time to start decorating in earnest.I got our bottom half,which I'm gonna load up with buttercream,spread it evenly andpress it down the sides.The perfect sort of draping that you seein the video game isprobably best achievedwith fondant, but fondant is gross,so this is my bestbuttercream approximation.We're putting everything in the fridgeso that it firms up after application.Busting out the top halfand this time evenlyapplying the buttercream.I tried to round the edges,but definitely ended upwith more of a bevel,which is at leastgeometrically sophisticated.Next up, I've got eight ofmy very finest strawberriesthat I'm gonna brushdown with simple syrupto make 'em glisten.Grab our cake bottom andfetch five large boba strawsthat I'm gonna insert all theway through the cake evenlyto act as a platform, pullingthem up ever so slightly,snipping off the tops, andpressing them back down.This, for our top layer, is gonna actas something we can allreally use, a support system,giving a level, sturdy surfaceon which we can gently slide our cake top.All the layers are placed,and so begins the process of piping.First, some decorative draperyaround the bottom half,a supportive strip upon whichwe can perch our placard.I'm gonna cool it with thealliteration starting now.Pipe a ring around thecardboard so as to hide it,and begin placing seven floretsevenly around the cake's shelf,crowning with eight much more simplesort of dabs around the top.These, of course, are gonna act as mountsupon which our fruit can perch,strawberries on the florets,which as you can see, I'vedrained on paper towelsto prevent them fromgooing all over the place,and I'm pretty sure thosewere fresh cherries on top,but they're out of season,so all I could find were maraschino.Precariously place our powerstar, sorry, last time,followed by our non-denominational Marioand Peach figurine cake toppers.Crank on the power star,and there you have it,the thank you cake from Super Mario 64.Oop, get this outta here.Oop, got a little frosting there.So let's excise ourself a sliceand see how our layers look and taste.I'm heating my knife in hotwater for nice clean slices.As you can see, it looksvery clean and neat.I wish I had cut the cakes in halfand done triple layers of the peach stuff,but I could only charitablycall myself a baker.That stuff's a littlebit above my pay grade.I mean, if that weren't already obvious.And it tastes pretty good,at the end of the day,it's a vanilla cakewith meringue frosting,hence my desire for more peach filling.But Kendall, Steve, and Nico came upwith rather a brilliantsolution, just pile more on top.It's way easier thanputting it inside the cake.I should have told somebodyover at Great British Baking Show.Thank you guys for watching,and while I've got you here,I just wanted to remindyou that you can pre-orderthe \"Basics with Babish\" cookbook now,ensuring that you get a copywhen it's released October 17th.Check out the links inthe video description.(relaxed music)\n"