Hyperrealistic Brain Cake

You have probably seen hyperrealistic cakes on the internet from creators such as Sideserf, How To Cake It etc. If you ever wanted to try making one, this might be the easiest project to start with. I simplified the process wherever I could and put together this guide to help you in that. This brain cake goes well with scary themed parties, Halloween etc.

Ingredients

For the filling:

1. 1 cup heavy cream
2. 8 ounces/225 g mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
3. 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the top layer:

1. 1 large pack of sugar paste: 1 kg/2.2 lbs (I used about ¾ of it, but it's good to have a little extra)
2. Red food coloring (If you buy pink sugar paste then you don't need this)

For the rest:

1. 8 ounces strawberry sauce, jam or jelly. Just make sure it's smooth and doesn't contain strawberry chunks.
2. Ready-made sponge cake or cake layers. I used 2 sponge cakes that were around 10 in/25 cm in diameter and 3 in/7.5 cm tall. I used cinnamon flavor but others such as plain or chocolate are also great.

If you want to make everything from scratch, there are great recipes for sponge cake on Instructables, for example this.

Equipment

1. Hand mixer or kitchen aid mixer
2. Measuring cups and spoons
3. Bread knife
4. Bench scraper: optional, but it helps to handle the sugar paste
5. Kitchen brush
6. Rubber gloves
7. Tray

First, let's make the filling. Add the mascarpone or cream cheese into the mixing bowl and whip if for a minute. Add the heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Continue whipping until everything is mixed and firm consistency is reached. You can tell it's done when soft peaks start to form.

Next, cut the sponge cake into 1 to 1 1/2 thick slices and start layering them with cake filling in between. Form a large circle and a smaller semicircle adjacent to it like shown in the pictures.

Now we need to carve it into shape. I used a bread knife to cut off the small pieces until it reached the 'brain shape'. First, I looked at it from top view and cut the perimeter. Then from a side view I carved the top to have the correct slopes. When I was happy with the shape I finished by adding a groove in the middle.

Let's cover the whole cake with filling. This will fill any gaps and provide a good surface for the top layer. When it's done, place the cake in the freezer for about half an hour. It doesn't need to freeze, but the surface should be sufficiently cold to cool down the top layer which we apply in the next step. This will help for the cake to hold its shape. If you eat the cake on the same day and you're in a hurry you can skip this step, but if it's for another day it's highly recommended.

In the meantime you can munch on the cake pieces you cut off in the previous step. For quality control purposes of course. :)

At room temperature sugar paste is quite firm. So start by removing the sugar paste from the packaging, putting it into a bowl and microwaving it in 30 second intervals until it becomes soft enough to work with. To color it add just a single drop of food coloring (you can add more later if needed) and mix it in thoroughly. In concentrated form food coloring can also color your hand so I recommend using a rubber glove for mixing.

Make long noodles of the sugar paste with a diameter of 1/2 to 3/4 in (1 to 2 cm) as if you're making Paydoh snakes. Place it on the cake and form turns every now and then. It looks best when the right and left sides are mostly symmetrical.

Tip: Mix the entire bag of sugar paste with food coloring at once, so you don't need to worry about color matching later.

The last step is to brush the whole cake with strawberry sauce to simulate blood. This is when it really starts to look realistic. Afterward put the cake in the fridge until the guests come.

And there you have it, your hyperrealistic cake is ready. I hope you found this description useful. :)