5 Insane, Must-See Cakes Inspired by Pop Culture
Meet the bakers who won Season 1 of Cake Wars and see the unique creations that earned them $10,000 in prize money.
Cuteness Captured in Cake
Challenged with making a cake for Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival, and required to incorporate rainbows in some fashion, baker Viki Kane dove right into an imaginative world of Hello Kitty surrounded by her friends. Moving the cake was the biggest scare for the baker, but luckily the cake her team presented was structurally sound.
Calling All Friends to the Party
The cake featured Hello Kitty swinging from a tree with a prettily decorated multilayer cake revolving on a platform. Hello Kitty enthusiast and guest judge Katherine McNamara said it reminded her of a “quaint tea party in the middle of the woods.” Ron commended Viki for her good workmanship and enjoyed the banana cake with salted caramel buttercream and pecans. Viki’s cake ultimately earned her the $10,000 prize.
Get the Recipe: Nana’s Banana Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream
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Super Mario Cake
To honor a new Nintendo game featuring the iconic Mario, the cake bakers had to design their own game level in cake form. Baker Cory Pohlman (left) brought the characters to life, hoping her creation would capture “the feeling of being inside the cake.” Despite a mishap during the challenge, she presented a design that impressed the judges.
The Game Brought to Life
When it came to the cake’s red velvet interior, Ron called it moist and supple. “Your cake feels as if I went to a theme park and was part of the characters,” he said of Cory’s design. And Nintendo representative Krista Yang found it had “a lot of dimension and excitement.” Cory won the challenge and the $10,000 prize.
Get the Recipe: Southern Red Velvet Cake with Classic Cream Cheese Frosting
A Storied Engagement
In this episode the cake bakers had to create a wedding cake for couple Tyler and Samantha, winners of a dream wedding hosted by TheKnot.com. The bakers were tasked with taking the couple’s story — country boy meets city girl and gets engaged in Mexico — and turning it into a cake. Kristina Serfass did just that, creating a spectacular cake with layers for each aspect of their lives.
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Margarita Memories
Inspired by margaritas, Kristina presented a lime butter cake, soaked in tequila simple syrup with layers of lemon curd and salted lime cream filling. “If I close my eyes and eat it, I feel like I’m on the beach in Mexico drinking a margarita,” said judge Waylynn. Judge Ron agreed and called the decoration “absolutely charming.” The bride and groom chose Kristina’s cake as their favorite, earning her $10,000.
Get the Recipe: Salted Lime Margarita Cake
The Battle of Good vs. Evil
In this DC Comics episode, the bakers were given the challenge of creating a cake that visually played out the “ultimate story between superhero and super villain,” as host Jonathan described, and that featured competing flavors. Jennifer Duncan chose to show Poison Ivy luring Batman into a trap at the Gotham City clock tower, which she built using multiple stacked cakes.
Batman’s Time Is Over
“The story unfolds in a magical way,” Ron said of Jennifer’s cake. “I see a cover of one of our books,” said DC Comics executive Dan DiDio. The chocolate cake made with coffee buttercream and salted caramel earned Jennifer the $10,000 win and the chance to serve it at a celebration for the opening of the new DC Comics office in Burbank, Calif.
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel and White Chocolate Buttercream
Gravity-Defying Cake Decorating
Tasked with creating a cake inspired by an episode of The Simpsons, cake decorator Steve and his assistant, Stacy, chose to bring the Deep Space Homer episode to life. With just four hours, the team pulled off a cake that featured a giant doughnut, a planet, a spaceship and Homer floating in a spacesuit.
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Deep Space Homer Cake
“I just want to dive in and take a bite,” Waylynn said of the big pink doughnut in Steve’s cake. And Ron praised the almond cake with strawberry-and-cream-cheese filling. “It really captures the emotion and the feeling of that show,” says The Simpsons executive producer Matt Selman. Steve won the $10,000 and got the chance to serve his cake to the writers of the animated series.
Get the Recipe: Almond Cake with Cream Cheese, Ganache and Fresh Strawberry Filling, Vanilla Buttercream Icing and Pink Poured Fondant
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