Got a child who is a superhero fan? This simple Avengers birthday cake idea is a great way to make his or her day extra special. We’ve even included the best party supplies to help make it easy for you.
Our youngest son (who we call “C2” here on the blog) is currently going through a big-time superhero phase. He loves all the Marvel Avenger characters including Spider Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man and Thor. Surprisingly he’s never seen any of the Avenger movies and didn’t even have a clue that the new Avengers: Infinity War movie was coming out this spring.
Our son’s love for the characters came purely through books we’ve read to him and maybe a few apps on his electronic tablet. C2 even dressed as Iron Man last year for Halloween. So it came as no surprise to us when he chose an Avengers birthday cake for his 5th birthday. He talked about it for months and months leading up to the big day.
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I frequently use plastic toys to decorate birthday cakes as I find it works well to think of the birthday cake as a back drop or stage. For example, I put a small toy tractor moving a pile of chocolate cookie crumbs on his John Deere tractor cake for his second birthday. Or last year I created an entire Jurassic scene on top of his dinosaur birthday cake.
Apparently this idea of using toys on cakes has become ingrained in my son’s mind because he nearly leaped out of the cart when he spotted a set of five Avenger action figures on the shelf one day at Costco. Once we got it home and I finally let him open the box several weeks later, he immediately started arranging the action heroes on the counter. “THIS is how I want them to stand on my cake!” he exclaimed:
While you can use any flavor of cake mix as the base for your Avengers cake, C2 was insistent that he really wanted a blue camouflage birthday cake. So in today’s Avengers birthday cake tutorial I’ll also show you how to make a blue camouflage cake using a single white cake mix.
How to Make an Avengers Birthday Cake
Making an Avengers birthday cake is very easy. You just need a cake mix, some frosting, sprinkles, and action figures of your child’s favorite characters from Avengers.
What You Need
- White cake mix
- Blue food coloring
- 3 mixing bowls
- 9 x 13″ baking pan
- 2 cans of white frosting
- A knife or spatula for frosting
- Cake decorating tips
- Disposable cake decorating bags
- Red, white and blue sprinkles
- Avengers 6″ action figures:
NOTE: We found it was more cost effective to get all of the figurines we needed for the cake from one toy set. The same set we used can be found on Amazon. However, it was only 1/2 of the cost when we bought it at Costco last fall. This set of 4 Marvel Avengers is similar.
Instructions:
1. How to Make a Camouflage Cake.
As promised, first I’ll show how to make a blue camouflage cake easily using just one cake mix:
- To start, prepare the white cake mix in a large mixing bowl according to the directions on the package.
- Next, divide the cake mix into three separate mixing bowls.
- Add blue food coloring to two of the cake mix batter bowls and stir until one is dark blue and one is light blue. (To make a green camouflage birthday cake, you could do the same thing with green food coloring. Instead of leaving one bowl white, I would mix a little green food coloring with powdered hot cocoa mix to make one of the batter bowls a darker olive green color).
- Carefully spoon heaps of cake batter from each of the three bowls into a lightly greased 9 x 13″ baking pan. DO NOT pour the entire bowl into the cake pan at one time. Instead you’re just going to fill the baking pan slowly with only 2-4 spoons of batter from each bowl.
- Alternate evenly between the three colors of batter over and over again until the entire pan is full.
2. Bake the camouflage birthday cake.
Follow the directions on the cake mix box using the time and temperature for a 9 x 13″ cake. Watch it closely toward the end of the time. Bake the camouflage birthday cake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Tip: To keep the top of your cake flat while it bakes, wrap your cake pan with a long strip of an old terrycloth bath towel. Before you wrap the towel around your cake pan run it under cold water and wring it out with your hands. Use a safety pin to keep the towel securely in place. As you can see in the photo below from the chocolate Muppet Birthday Cake I made a few years ago, doing this helps the cake to cook more evenly. Otherwise the outer edges cook first causing the batter to rise in the center.
3. Frost the Avengers Birthday Cake.
Once the cake has cooled completely, carefully flip it over on to a flat surface. We used a cake carrier with a lid so we could easily store the leftover cake later. C2 really wanted red, white and blue frosting like Captain America. I find red frosting is typically very bitter tasting so I talked him into using red, white and blue sprinkles on his cake instead. Here’s how I frosted the Avengers birthday cake:
- In a small bowl, I combined a can and a half of white frosting with blue food coloring.
- Then I used a spatula to apply it evenly on the top and sides of the Avengers cake.
- Next, I cut the tip off a cake decorating bag, inserted a star cake decorating tip and filled the bag with white frosting. Then I piped a scalloped edge around the base of the cake.
- After that, I filled a second decorating bag with a basic cake decorating tip and white frosting. I used it to carefully write Happy Birthday on the top of the cake and to create a swirly frame around the top edges.
- I also used this same decorating tip to create the three stars you see in the photo below. The raised edges of the stars were created by going around and around the star shape repeatedly.
- Last I filled the center star with the red, white and blue sprinkles and also spread sprinkles along the outer edges of the other two stars.
4. Position the Avengers figurines.
Next place the Avengers action figures where you want them on the birthday cake to create a scene. You may have to press them down firmly into the cake in order for them to stand up well.
If the toys have small holes in the bottom of the feet from the injection molding process, I recommend covering the hole with a small piece of clear tape before you put the toys on the cake. Otherwise, it’s a pain to get the frosting out of the holes later!
In the box for our Avengers toy set, the action figures were standing in front of a city scene with high rise buildings and skyscrapers. We just pulled that cardboard piece out and used packing tape to attach it to the back of the same box. The box was thick enough that it was able to stand up on its own as the backdrop for the Avengers birthday cake.
If your action figures don’t come like that, you could create a similar back drop. Just search for “city scene clip art” or “skyline clip art” on Google, then print one on card stock using your home computer. Mount it to a thin but sturdy box about the length of the cake.
Other Avengers Birthday Party Supplies
We had a small party with family to celebrate C2’s birthday. Thankfully, I was able to find lots of fun Avengers party supplies to go with the theme:
- Avengers Dessert Plates
- Avengers Napkins (NOTE: The “Age of Ultron napkins I used are no longer available, but these are very similar.)
- Avengers Foil Balloons
C2 also wanted to use this theme for his school birthday treat. So we put together Avengers party favors using small notebooks and stickers we found at the grocery store and our favorite dollar store. I designed the tags we used on the party favors myself.
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What’s Next?
While you’re here be sure to check out other birthday ideas on Kenarry: Ideas for the Home:
- Star Wars Birthday Cake Idea and Party Supplies
- Minions Birthday Cake: Easy Despicable Me Party Idea
- Angry Birds Cake: An Easy Birthday Party Idea
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Carrie is the chief writer, crafter and cook here at Kenarry: Ideas for the Home. She’s an optimist by nature and enjoys sharing recipes, trying new craft ideas, planning for parties and events as well as organizing and decorating. When she’s not blogging, preparing meals or picking up around the house, you’re bound to find her hidden away in a castle under the stairs reading to her two young boys. Whether you’re cooking, crafting or creating for your family, follow Carrie on Etsy, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram to get inspiring ideas for your home.
