How To Make A Batman Cake That Kids Will Love

Batman may have made his first appearance in 1939, but he remains one of the most popular comic book characters of all time.

The caped crusader is still beloved by kids around the world. It's not that surprising, really; you can't beat that epic costume and black and yellow logo.

If you have a birthday party or special day coming up, we have the perfect Batman cake recipe for your little superheroes. The best part is it's adaptable, so we'll provide plenty of different suggestions you can swap in and out depending on how much time you have and what ingredients you can get hold of.

For extra birthday treats, you could even consider a video message from Batman himself (well, sort of), or get the kids to create their own superhero identities.

But for now, follow this recipe, and you'll have easy but impressive cakes before you know it.

For The Sponge:

375g self-raising flour

375g unsalted butter at room temp

375g caster sugar

6 large eggs

2tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp milk

Yellow food colouring

For The Frosting:

Black buttercream - buy it ready-made, or make it by combining:

600g icing sugar

300g unsalted butter at room temp

1 part blue food colouring with 2.5 parts green and 3 parts red (to create black icing)

For The Decorations

Black fondant icing

Yellow fondant icing

Any decorative Batman themed items

Large mixing bowl, wooden spoon, rolling pin, three 18-20cm cake tins, baking paper, palette knife, cake tray or board (for presentation), printer/paper/pen OR a Batman logo shape cutter.

We estimate it will take around 2.5-3 hours to prep your ingredients, bake the cake, leave it to cool, decorate it and clear up. It will serve 8-10 people. Kids aged 4 to 12 and above can help you bake and decorate.

No matter what fancy decorations go on top of a cake, they start with a simple sponge base (this could be vanilla, chocolate, fruit, etc.)

For this recipe, we recommend making a three-layer, vivid yellow vanilla sponge with black frosting to reflect the iconic Batman colours. There's also nothing wrong with using a pre-made cake mix for your base. For an especially easy Batman cake, why not buy the base and just decorate the top?

But if you do want to DIY, here's what to do.

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Use butter and baking paper to line three round cake tins.

2) Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, stir in the vanilla, then fold in the flour and mix in the milk.

3) Add a few drops of yellow food colouring, until the mix noticeably changes colour.

4) Divide your cake mix between the three tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

5) Leave to cool for 10 minutes, transfer to a wire rack and cool for another 5 minutes.

6) While the cakes are cooling, make your black buttercream frosting

7) If the tops of the cakes are uneven, use a knife to cut them so they are flat. Then smear your black buttercream over two of the cakes, and stack them to create three tiers.

8) Use your palette knife to smooth the buttercream all over the top layer and sides of the cake. This is known as the "crumb coat", and will help fondant to stick to the cake.

1) Roll out your black fondant icing on a clean surface. A little icing sugar will prevent it from sticking. Don't roll it too thin as you want it to form a nice smooth layer without any gaps.

2) Drape the fondant over the entire cake and smooth it down with your hands to remove any air pockets. Use a knife to cut off any excess, and smooth any gaps.  

3) Now's the time to get creative with toppings. Your best friend here will be a Batman logo cookie cutter, which can be ordered online (make sure the size will be big enough to fill the top of your cake). You want a black logo on a yellow background. For this, print out an oval shape that's bigger than your cookie cutter. Cut it out, place it on rolled-out yellow fondant, and cut around it with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. You can then place this and your logo on top of the cake.

4) Finish off by piping a personalised message in yellow icing underneath the logo - if you're not confident in your piping skills, buy ready-made letters to place on instead.

This cake deserves a bit of height, so a raised cake stand is ideal. A yellow ribbon around the base will look really cool against the black fondant.

The cake will keep at room temperature for 3 days, though you should cover it with a Tupperware container. Any longer and you should refrigerate it uncovered for 15 minutes so the icing begins to harden, then cover it in clingfilm.

The sponge base will freeze for three months, but it's best not to freeze the icing and toppings as they might get damaged.

• Use a piping bag of yellow icing to create a circle all around the outer top of your cake, then cover it with small Batman figurines.
• Use a Batman logo cookie cutter to make actual cookies.
• A Batman birthday cake with a logo on would also look really cool with the child's name written across the logo (again, you could ice this yourself or use pre-bought letters).
• Make a batch of cupcakes and place edible icing sheets with different Batman characters on them.