This year Snuggles (who desperately needs a new blog nickname – perhaps Cowboy or Ranger?) requested a “Lone Ranger” themed birthday party for his 6th Birthday! I had all sorts of plans and had hoped to decorate a two-tiered mountain cake (similar to my Camping Cake) complete with a homemade candy horse for Silver (I even bought the mold)… Then, between camping last week, golf camp this week, and coming down with another bad cold, I had to simplify.
Thursday afternoon I was searching online for ideas and considered trying to make a Gold Mine themed cake (which probably would have been just as difficult as my first idea) and considered just going to the bakery when I ran across lots of variations of Pillsbury’s Campfire Cake and decided it would be perfect! After dinner on Thursday night I ran to town for the supplies and to search for a white cowboy hat… Even though it was definitely one of the easiest birthday cakes I’ve made, I didn’t get started on it until after 11pm. I was roasting scorching marshmallows over my kitchen stove around 2am, and didn’t get to bed until about 3, but it was totally worth it just to see the birthday boy’s smiles in the morning!
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| The Lone Ranger (Little Golden Book from 1956) was just re-published last month! |
Supplies:
- 2 – 9″ Round Cakes
- 1 16-oz can Betty Crocker Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Frosting
- 1 bag of Marshmallows (approx. 24 – optional)
- 6-7 Chocolate Fudge Crème Filled Pirouettes, cut in half
- 5 individually wrapped red cinnamon hard candy disks, unwrapped
- 5 individually wrapped yellow butterscotch hard candy disks, unwrapped
- Baking Spray
- Aluminum Foil
Directions:
Prepare and bake cakes according to directions. Cool.
Meanwhile, line 15x10x1 inch baking pan with foil. Spray with non-stick baking spray. Place red and yellow candies in a plastic bag. Finely crush the candies with the flat side of a meat mallet or hammer. Sprinkle the crushed candies onto the sprayed foil-lined pan in a thin layer. Bake at 350˚ for 6 to 8 minutes or until candies are completely melted. Cool the melted candy completely before handling.
Cover a cake platter or large round plate with foil. Place 1 cake layer bottom side up on the platter and spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with the second cake layer, bottom side down. Spread a very thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of the cake to seal crumbs. (Opt: place in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. This make spreading the final coat of frosting so much easier.) Spread remaining frosting evenly over the sides and top of the cake.
Arrange Piroettes in a circle on the top of the cake to resemble campfire logs. Break the cooled sheet of melted red and yellow candies into pointed shards. Insert the candy pieces into the top center of the cake and around the “logs” to resemble flames.
Roast Marshmallows over a flame and arrange around the base of the cake.
Preparation time: Approximately 50 minutes. Ready in 2-3 hours.
Makes 12 Servings.
YOU MAKE CAKES AT 2:00 IN THE MORNING?!?!?!
Sorry, didn't mean to tell. It's a pretty awesome cake!
Not intentionally! I usually try to be all finished with the birthday cakes by midnight! 😉 My kids all love waking up to discover their decorated cake on their birthdays, just like my husband remembers loving as a child.
I usually try and have the cakes baked and ready to decorate after the kids go to bed, but that didn't happen this week, since I didn't get back from town until 10:30… It really has been too busy around here lately! 🙂
WOw, love this!!!
Awesome idea!! I made one similar that I'd love to share with you — for my son's Hunger Games bday party:
http://campfiresandcleats.blogspot.com/2013/01/panem-et-circenses.html
I LOVE what you did to make the flames!!! I took the easy way out by using wrap. I bought red and yellow cello wrap, ripped slivers off and stuck them into the top of the cake.
Your idea is awesome. I LOVE making themed cakes.
Thanks for sharing!
God bless;)
Thanks for posting how to make the cake. I saw the picture on your last post and thought how neat it was! So many of your cakes are SOOOO beautiful!
Making themed cakes really is lots of fun! Thanks for sharing the link to you cake, I'll click on over and check it out. 🙂
Thank you, Rosie! 🙂
You could names Snuggles "Duke" after John Wayne! 🙂 I do like Ranger. Of course there are all sort of nicknames like "Slim", "Curly", "Ace", "Black Jack", "Kid", "Wild Bill", etc, etc….. Using a characteristic of the person that is memorable….
Can't wait to hear what you come up with! Maybe put up a post and get other folk's ideas?????
Awesome cake! My kiddos are not cake fans, so we're usually pie, brownie, pie, people!
I love how you put the toasted marshmallows around the cake!! We did the same cake for my daughter's 7th b-day party the end of May (her b-day is June 1)!
http://makemeasaint.blogspot.com/2013/05/campfire-birthday-party.html
Happy birthday "Lone Ranger"!!
(I think he'll always be "Snuggles" to me!)
Wow!!
You make us look bad…lol… I made one cake out of 4 birthdays so far. The rest were store bought!
I would probably die of exhaustion if I tried to stay up past midnight…ever!
I really love your cakes, especially this one! That is a really neat idea to surprise your kids in the morning with their birthday cake! They are going to have the BEST memories from their childhood!
I think Ranger would be a great blog nickname.
How incredibly clever! I could not work out how you did the flames…genius! That is a great treat for a birthday. What about 'Sport' for a nickname? It's a good Aussie nickname for an all round good bloke. Happy birthday. Julie
Thanks for posting your party! We are using some of these ideas for our son's 4th party tomorrow–making the cake now!
Thanks so much for sharing your ideas! We copied your cake idea, except I just melted granulated sugar over the stove and colored it with some red and yellow sugar sprinkles. The 7-year-old loved his Lone Ranger party and his cake!
Can i use wax paper instead of foil for the candies?
My 9 year old daughter picked this cake to make by herself for a girl scout challenge, oh boy lol. Thank you for posting this and making it simple enough that she will be able to do it on her own.
Thanks so much for sharing this idea and instructions, I made this for my son's birthday and it turned out great!
This is a fun and beautiful cake Jessica! Thanks for the inspiration as I made a "firepit" cake and cupcakes for my son's 13th birthday party last night and used your post for ideas. Here's the post if you want to check it out 🙂 http://asliceofsmithlife.blogspot.com/2014/10/firepit-party-cake-and-cupcakes_26.html
We are camphosts and are having a potluck in a couple weeks. Thanks, because now I know what I am going to take. This is awesome!
Great cake! I'm making it for a father & son cake contest for Boy Scouts!
This cake is a winner, I just entered it into a talent show for a charity, they said it is one of the best cakes they have ever seen;)
I just made this cake for my son's 14th birthday this week! He loved it! I told him I'll make it again for his Eagle banquet or a Boy Scout Court of Honor.
How bout the name "Scout" for snuggles? 🙂
Thanks for the awesome idea and helpful instructions! Found you via pintrest and made it for my son's 6th birthday this weekend, and it turned out INCREDIBLE! He was thrilled and it made his camping/superhero party so special <3
Sounds like a fun party! So glad to hear the cake turned out well! Happy belated birthday to your 6 year old!
Wow I love that tradition!