Life, Law, and a Library

My kids love Bluey, and if I am being honest.. my husband and I love it just as much. When I asked my youngest what kind of birthday cake he wanted this year he instantly said “BLUEY” and panic set in– as I was hoping for a vanilla and sprinkles kind of answer. I don’t allow my kids to have artificial coloring, so anything in a dark/non-pastel color is hard for me to do, but damn it I was going to make it happen!

I found a mix of really intense cakes, cake hacks, and set out to my Facebook groups about how to make bright blue icing and to tackle NAVY blue. Because I learned so much, I figured I would write a blog putting all of the how-to’s in one place for anyone else looking to make their kid’s Bluey dreams come true LOL!

The Cake: For the cake i just used a box vanilla cake. A friend found this Bluey Cake Hack on Instagram and I modified by making two think rounds, in large part because I needed to ice the first part of the cake the same night and the thin rounds would cool faster.

After stacking my thin rounds with icing to hold it together, I followed the cake hack, and cut the cakes into pieces like this:

After that I stuck on the nose and started icing the cake. For the icing I use a simple buttercream recipe — 2 sticks of UNSALTED butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, 2-4 tablespoons of milk (really just to thin it out), and a pinch of salt. The key is to have the butter softened prior to starting and to mix the butter with your mixer for about 2 minutes prior to adding all other ingredients.

Lighter Blue– To make the lighter blue icing I added the Blue Spirulina Powder. Once I got a good blue, I used the heating method — which is to heat the icing (I used the microwave but you can do stove or torch– I am not that brave) in 5 second increments until I got a blue I liked. I let the icing sit overnight (it does get a bit darker after sitting). I didn’t end up using number 4 in the picture below because it wasn’t the shade I was after.

Tan- I added some coco with a splash of the yellow Watkins Dye-Free Food Coloring.

Darker Blue – this was tough. I googled “how to make dark blue icing without artificial coloring” and several variations of that search. I added more powder and heated more. Then I added some Activated Charcoal Powder to the blue to make it even darker. I was really happy with the result!

Black- I used my leftover tan and just added activated charcoal– used the heating method and got a really rich black!

I started with the light blue and tan and I let that sit while I was at work (about 8 hours but it would probably set within an 30 minutes to an hour).

Here are the next phases of icing.

For the eyes I used a marshmallow (smaller than the kind in the cake hack video) and just a spot of black icing!

Side note- the blue spirulina and activated charcoal have other uses! The blue spirulina is actually a superfood and can be mixed into smoothies– what kid doesn’t like a blue drink, yogurt, and drinks. The activated charcoal is great for digestion and can be sprinkled on your toothpaste to help whiten and clean your teeth! I was asked a lot if it changes the flavor and the answer is no! My kids (and all of the adults) loved it!

I am debating trying Bingo for his party this weekend, if I do I will do a follow up blog on the Bingo version! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!