Baking a Pokemon Birthday
We celebrated my son’s 6th birthday yesterday. He and his older brother are both obsessed with all things Pokemon, especially the new Pokemon Black & White. They have a Wii game, a DS game and lots of books, but neither of them had many Pokemon toys, so this was the year all of those little creatures descended upon our house.
A multitude of Pokeballs. This was my challenge.
As is the norm nowadays, moms bring in cupcakes for the birthday boy to school on his day. My big boy wanted Pokemon cupcakes, of course, so I started looking online for ideas. I first came across the typical red and white Pokeball cupcakes that just about every professional baker offers.
My son has a classmate, however, with a “no red food dye” allergy, so no dyed icing could be used on his cupcakes. Plus, my son had recently discovered that Pokeballs come in a huge variety of designs now, so he wanted cupcakes like the “Great Ball,” the “Premier Ball,” the “Friend Ball,” and so on.
So I hit the baking aisle and the candy aisle of the grocery store to see what I could find. I came home with colored sugar crystals, M&Ms, and Twizzlers Pull & Peel candy.
I covered the cupcakes in regular icing (this was Duncan Hines Fluffy White) and got to work.
I pulled and peeled the Twizzlers apart to make the lines across the center. Then I measured a length to encircle an M&M, cut it and squeezed the ends together to make the circle shape stick. The circle went down first, then the M&M in the middle, then the two shorter lengths of Twizzler for the rest of the line.
I grabbed an index card and held it above half of the cupcake to keep it white, then used the colored sugar crystals to shake color on the other half. Not bad for a first try (not that I ever forsee making these particular cupcakes again)!
He also gets a “real” birthday cake at home that night. The day before his birthday, he told us he wanted a Pikachu cake. And he was certain he saw one at the store. He’s six, so of course he doesn’t know which store. Now, to me, cupcakes are easy. I figure I can experiment and mess one up if necessary. All it takes is a swipe to clear it off and some extra icing to start over and I’m in business again. But I’m intimidated by whole cakes. So my kids get homemade cupcakes, but store-bought birthday cakes.
I raced around to five different grocery stores in search of this Pikachu cake. No one had one, and no one could make one on less than 48 hours notice. So I thought of the small 9 inch round cakes at the first store I had seen. While there was no Pikachu, there was a Spongebob. If they can decorate a Spongebob, they should be able to do the same cake, but leave it plain yellow, right? Success!
This is what I brought home. My husband laughed at me. “It’s a big yellow blob,” he teased. “What is it supposed to be?”
I explained that, since I couldn’t find a Pikachu cake, I figured we’d make it an activity and let the birthday boy help decorate it to look like Pikachu. I brought home chocolate sprinkles, M&Ms, and multi-colored gummy worms. We’d wing it.
Thankfully, my husband (who has a much better artistic eye than I have) stepped in to save the day. He put our birthday boy up on a stool and gave me permission to leave the kitchen. (Hooray!)
Finished Pikachu Cake
They dug into the leftover Halloween candy and used what was on hand.
My very creative duo used Hershey’s kisses for the eyes, and bubblegum for the mouth and cheeks. My husband used yellow Starburst candies smooshed and wrapped around toothpicks for the ears. He stuck them in the freezer in wax paper for a few minutes to set the shape, then dipped the ends in chocolate sprinkles. (note: The left ear is a true yellow lemon Starburst, but the right was a pineapple one from the Tropical flavors pack. He wasn’t happy with the color, but we used what we had.)
I don’t know about you, but I think the end result was pretty amazing.
Happy Birthday to my Pokemon boy!
(Note: For another Pokemon themed birthday cake idea, check out Thank God for Round Birthday Cakes, complete with photos!)
From Grind to Whine 
So great, Stacey! He’ll remember this forever!
So fun and creative! Love the cupcakes and the cake and I think it is awesome that the birthday boy was involved in creating the final product. What a great memory this birthday will be for Dad and son (and you)!
You did an outstanding job11 my son is turning 6 on Monday and also wants a Pikachu cake. I thought it was impossible … but now you have given me hope! Wish me luck
The pikachu cakes looks amazing! And your cupcakes came out great. I just checked a package of Twizzlers I have around the house – you know they contain red dye, right? Did you just leave the Twizzlers off one cupcake? If not, the kid was probably fine just picking it off.
Be glad you and your kids don’t have allergies – it’s such a hassle!
I am grateful, indeed. And yes, I sent a couple of plain white ones with just the M&M (a chocolate brown one) just in case.
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