Naruto and Gamakichi Cake

Naruto is a Japanese Manga and Anime character

created by Masashi Kishimoto. He is a young ninja who aspires to be a future Hokage (well, he is now). I don't even think that I need to go any further into details since I bet many of you already know who he is. The Naruto/ Naruto Shippuden series has been well received and loved by fans of all ages. In fact, I'm a huge fan myself. I grew up watching the series since my childhood through my adulthood. I have so many fun memories while watching the series so, making this instructable is very special to me. I decided to make a cake for myself since it's my birthday and I'm also a baker. I'd like to share this instructable to all the Naruto fans who would like to make this special cake with minimum materials and cost needed. You don't need to buy expensive equipment since I made this all from scratch. You just need to get the ingredients, a few things you can snag at the craft store and a lot of patience. So let’s get going!

Supplies

* Ball

Tools (extra small, small, medium; can be bought at craft store)

* Dresden Tool

* Bone Tool

* Scale Shaping Tool

* Bamboo Skewers and Toothpicks

* Craft Knife

* Pizza Cutter

* Cutting Mat

* Clean Paint Brushes

* Gel Food Coloring: Lemon Yellow, Red, Royal Blue (or ultramarine), Orange, Brown, Black, White (optional)

* Gin Tonic or Vodka (buy the cheapest but strongest)

* CMC Tylose powder (can be bought at baking supplies stores)

* Cornstarch for dusting

* Styrofoam or wooden base cut into 14" diameter circle

* Large Drinking straws

* Cobblestone impression mat (optional)

* Non-stick Rolling Pin

* Seam Ripper (small scissors)

Step 1: Making the Marshmallow Fondant (I Used 2 Batches of This Recipe for My Cake. You May Use Store Bought Fondant Too and Disregard This Process If Desire)

Ingredients:

· 700 grams Large White Marshmallows

· 1,400 grams confectioners’ sugar

· 5 -7 tbsps. shortening

· 5 tbsps. water

· Clear flavoring of your choice

Procedures:

· Weigh and sift your confectioners’ sugar. Place in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Set aside.

· Grease the inside part of large microwaveable bowl using the shortening. Make sure that it’s thickly coated. Now place the marshmallows inside the bowl together with the 5 tbsps. of water.

· Place your bowl of marshmallows in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes on the highest heat setting while stirring every 30 seconds. As soon as the marshmallows are fully melted and smooth. Remove it from the microwave and add flavoring if desired.

· Let cool for a while. Now while your melted marshmallows have still a bit of warmth in it, pour it over your confectioners’ sugar. Mix with a greased wooden or sturdy plastic mixing spoon until the sugar and marshmallow combines.

· Now while mixing with the spoon, as it starts to cool down, your fondant mixture also starts to toughen. So you will need to knead it with your hands.

· Wash your hands and wipe it dry before you start kneading and coat your hands with an ample amount of shortening so the fondant mixture won’t stick much in your hands.

· Keep kneading until your mixture is smooth and well combined. After that form fondant into a ball (you may divide it in 2 balls if it is too large for storage). And thinly grease the outer layer of the fondant ball. Now wrap it in cling wrap, making sure that there is no exposed part of your fondant. Rest fondant for atleast 12 - 24 hours before using.

Step 2: ​Making the Cobblestone Effect Cake Base

Procedures:

· If you are able to find a cobblestone impression mat, that would save you a lot of time. Just spray your cake base with water, create impressions on a rolled out fondant, and apply it ob the base like tiles.

· But if you don’t have that impression mat. Don’t fret, there’s another way. All you have to do is cut out drinking straws in various sizes (hole sizes) and slightly crumple the hole on each end to create a unique pattern.

· Cover your cake base with fondant and then place a plastic sheet on top, now stamp in your straws to make different stone patterns.

· After that, prepare a mixing plate with the colors, lemon yellow, brown, blue and black.

· Wet most of the base with your lemon yellow diluted in gin tonic or vodka this will prime the base and give it a watercolor effect later. Next, Brush in the color blue and dilute it with gin again. You can go back with the colors after the diluted wash to redefine a stronger and more pigmented base color/ and the just ad in the brown and black to make it stone-like and murky. After that, allow to base to dry.

Step 3: Making a Naruto Cake Topper

Procedure:

· For the head, I mixed a while fondant, with a tiny amount of yellow, brown and blue (in very little amounts) but you can buy a skin tone food color instead to save you from the trouble and then mix a little tylose powder.

· Form a compact ball, this will serve as the head. Gently pull the underside of the ball to make a chin, then press gently to make it defined and sharper.

· Press lightly the middle part of the face (horizontal)that will serve as a guide to where the eyes should be. Then press your fingers upwards vertically to create the nose line. Now define the nose, eyes and mouth using the small ball tools. Allow to harden for a bit the put a small fondant balls on the eye socket. Paint the eyes using food colors and gin tonic/ vodka and a fine brush. Allow to dry.

· Next make the torso and legs using an orange fondant mixed with tylose powder. Make a coil, the cut the center but not all the way through and create crease details using the bone tool. The same process goes for the upper part of the body. Allow the body to harden. Make the hands by rolling flesh tone ball with tylose, flatten it and cut fingers with the seam ripper, allow to harden the stick into the sleeves. Then make the shoes out of black fondant with tylose . Attach the head, and arms. And create other small details as shown in the progress photo. As for the headband and zipper, I painted it with silver dust. (food grade)

· As for the hair, make little raindrop shaped yellow fondant mixed with tylose and stick each one starting from the base of the head up to the top alternately.

Step 4: ​Chocolate Cake (or Any Dense Cake Base of Your Choice)

*you will need to make 2 batches of this recipe as well

Ingredients:

· 2 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 tsp baking powder

· 2 tsps. baking soda

· ¾ cups unsweetened cocoa powder

· 1 tsp salt

· 2 eggs

· 2 tsp vanilla extract

· 1 cup butter

· 2 cups white sugar

· 1 cup hot brewed strong coffee

· 1 cup buttermilk

Procedures:

· Preheat oven to 325 F

· Using a stand mixer and paddle attachment (or hand mixer), mix the butter and sugar until creamed. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue mixing.

· In a large bowl, sift all of the dry ingredients 3 times until well combined, set aside.

· Now a little at a time, incorporate the dry and liquid ingredients into the butter mixture until everything is dissolved and smooth. Do not overmix. Scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure that there are no chunks of dry ingredients left. Set aside.

· Prepare 4- 5 pieces of 8” diameter round pans. Grease the pans with shortening then dust with flour until the pan is coated evenly. Distribute the cake batter on each pan evenly.

· Bake the cake for about 30-35 mins. After that, let cool, refrigerate and level each cake.

· Refrigerate again. (Don’t forget to put a cake board under your cake so it will be easy to lift.

Step 5: ​Making the American Buttercream and Trimming the Cake

Ingredients:

· 1 cup of butter

· 2 ½ cups of confectioners’ sugar

· 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

· 1 tsp vanilla extract

· ½ tsp salt

Procedures:

· Mix the butter in the mixer until creamed. Add the rest of the ingredients a little at time. Mix until fluffy and smooth.

· Ice each layer of the cake and stack together. Freeze the Cake for 20-30 minutes

· Now you will need a serrated knife for carving and trimming the cake.

· Gently trim the cake until you get domed and slanted shape for Gamakichi’s body. Trim the cake slowly so you don’t remove too much. Keep the trimmings.

· Add a little buttercream to the trimmings and mash it with a spoon or with your hands to create somewhat of a cakepop mixture (please wear plastic gloves, for sanitation purposes). You can use the mixture to create the legs and add volume to parts where you might have took a little bit more than you should.

· Smoothen everything by gently pressing until the cakepop mixture becomes almost seamless.

· Freeze cake again for 20 minutes.

Step 6: Covering the Cake With Whipped Ganache

Ingredients:

· 500 grams Dark Chocolate compound grated or chopped finely

· ¼ - ½ cup warm but not boiling heavy cream

Procedure:

· Pour the warm heavy cream over the dark chocolate. Stir gently with a rubber spatula. When most of the chocolate is melted, using a stand mixer and a paddle attachment, whip the ganache until fluffy and light.

· Remove the cake from the freezer. And ice the cake with the whipped ganache using an offset spatula. If ever you’re wondering how I smooth out curved shaped cakes. I’m actually using a flexible cake smoother that I bought. I don’t recommend buying it since you can just making it at home. (just buy a thick plastic folder and cut it straight)

· After smoothing. Store in the refrigerator again.

Step 7: ​Making the Rice Cereal Treats for Gamakichi’s Head

Ingredients:

· 300 grams Rice cereals

· 2 ½ cups marshmallows

· 3 tbsps. butter

Procedures:

· Prepare your Gamakichi head template. Grease a cookie sheet lightly and set aside.

· Microwave marshmallows and butter in medium temperature until melted. Allow to cool for a little bit.

· Pour your melted marshmallow mixture into your rice cereals and mix with a cut and fold motion instead of stirring. Stirring will crush your and pulverize the rice cereals.

· With your clean hands, put a little shortening (or butter) in your hands. Mold an oval dome shape like the head of Gamakichi like the one on your template (use it as a reference pattern).You don’t have to use all the rice cereal treat that you made for the head. You just need to make a dome. Make sure to firmly squeeze inward to make your cereal treats compact and sturdy.

· At this stage since the marshmallow hasn’t set yet expect the cereal treat to be a bit crumbly and weak. Just allow it to set for 15 -20 minutes.

· Then continue to create the features. Gamakichi has prominent brow bones. You can use some of the leftover cereal treats to create those features. Allow to set again and prepare your royal Icing mixture.

Step 8: ​Coating Gamakichi’s Head With Royal Icing

Ingredients for the Royal Icing (egg white):

· ¼ cup Pasteurized egg white

· 2 cups powdered sugar

· 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

· 1-3 tsp water to adjust consistency

· lemon extract

OR Ingredients for the Royal Icing (no egg):

· 2 tsp meringue powder (egg powder)

· 2 cups powdered sugar

· ¼ (you may add more water to adjust consistency later) cups water to adjust consistency

· lemon extract

Procedures:

· Mix all the ingredients in the stand mixer with a whisk attachment until fluffy and firm. The ideal consistency is like a peanut butter. You may add a little water if the consistency is too thick.

· Using a palette knife or a small offset spatula, spread the royal icing on Gamakichi’s rice cereal head thinly and evenly. Don’t apply too thick of a layer. We just want to cover the holes to make a smoother appearance.

· At this stage, your application may not be smooth. So we will need a clean flat brush or filbert brush and dampen it with water. Run the brush over the still moist royal icing to smoothen the icing. Make sure that your brush is just damp and not soaking wet. Or it will make your rice cereal soggy. Once your icing is smooth. Allow to dry and set aside.

Step 9: ​Decorating Gamakichi’s Head

Procedure:

· You need to mix a reddish orange fondant for Gamakichi’s skin. Using that same color, take a 2” ball and add a pinch of tylose powder to stiffen it. Now roll it between the palms of your hands and make a coil. Cut the coil into pieces around 1 cm in length each.

· Moisten the Rice cereal head with a little water and stick the coil pieces into the pattern that creates the wart-like bumps on Gamakichi’s forehead. Now moisten the whole head including the coil pieces that you stuck in the head. Set aside for a while.

· Lightly dust the table with a little cornstarch and flatten your reddish orange fondant (add 1 tsp to the fondant just this time so you can have a firm fondant that will harden later) using your nonstick rolling pin. Try to roll it thinly so it won’t add much weight on your rice cereal treats. Place the rolled fondant on top of the head and massage gently to release air bubbles and to define the shape and textures that you made earlier on the head. Trim the excess fondant.

· You may use a ball tool to redefine the wart-like bump you created on the forehead. Add details on the nostrils using a dresden tool or a small ball tool.

· Roll out a blue fondant mixed with a few pinch of tylose powder. Roll it as thin as possible and let it set/ harden for 10 minutes. After that you may cut out the blue details for the eyes, lips and chest patterns using a sharp craft knife. Make sure the fondant is set or hard so it will be easier to cut shapes on the rolled fondant.

· As for the eyes, roll out 2 yellow balls in an oblong shaped and place a much flatter but slightly bigger red fondant underneath. The tympanum (circular membrane on a toad’s head) is a white rolled fondant cut out with a small circle cutter. Add the black linear details to both eyes and tympanum with a rolled out black fondant.

Step 10: ​Gamakichi’s Gold Pipe

Well here’s a tricky one, so I added a video clip for this process. This part is completely optional. You may disregard this step.

Procedure:

· Using a dark colored fondant (leftovers will do) add a few pinch of tylose powder to the fondant. Determine the size of the pipe head and make a thick fat coil around 2 ½ inches in length. Flatten the other side (where you will attach the rest of the scale-like pattern).

· As for the other side that will serve as the mouth. With your fingers, push it back to create a pug-like mouth. Using any knife tool, create the curve of the mouth and teeth details.

· Start making the shape of the head and ears by pushing a forehead and pinching upwards to make ears. Using the spun-like side of a Dresden tool, push it against the ears you made to widen and flatten the ears a little. Pinch upward to make brow bones and a nose. Using the Dresden tool and ball tools, create the details, for the eyes and nostrils.

· Pinch downwards the jaw area, to make a wider appearing jaw. And push upwards the chin to make a curved mouth opening.

· Make 2 pieces of flattened fondant and draw hair like strokes on it. After that using a seam ripper, cut spikes on the edges. Stick those on the sides of the dragon’s face using a little water (just enough to make it stick but not soaking wet). Then roll out a very thin coil for the whiskers/ moustache of the dragon. Glue it on the sides of the nose. Let dry.

· You will need to make 3 short coils that gets smaller with each piece of coil (we will be sticking that together later on). Take the larger coil and the second larger coil and using a knife tool, create a straight line crosswise to make it appear like a rim.

· Then using your scale shaping tool (small U shaped tool), make scaly patterns all over the coils. Make sure to alternate the pattern every row to make it look like scales.

· Then make slight ball and roll out the opposite side to make that side smaller than the other. Press a ball tool on top to make a hole for the pipe. Then pinch the edges to make it appear to have sharper edges. Glue that on top of the dragon head. Glue and attach all the together in a bamboo skewer and allow to dry.

· After it is dry. Brush it with a Gold highlighter. (they make ones that are nontoxic but inedible it looks more metallic; and they also make a fully edible one, it’s more of a shimmer and not as metallic, but it’s safe to eat.)

Step 11: ​Gamakichi’s Hands, Arms and Body

Procedures:

· For the arms; with the reddish orange fondant, mixed with 1 tbsp tylose powder, make a large coil and bend it in the middle. Pinch the elbow part outwards to create a more defined elbow. And line the elbow crease with a Dresden tool. With the smaller part of a bone tool, create small wart details on the arms. Stick some bamboo skewers for support and Allow to dry.

· Roll out a blue fondant sheet mixed with some tylose powder thinly and cover the underside of the arms. Then trim the excess.

· To make the hands, make 2 black fondant balls mixed with tylose powder and flatten. Now with your seam ripper, cut out the fingers. Smoothen the fingers by gently pressing and rolling each fingers. Set the fingers in any placement you like. Allow to harden, then glue it in the arm with a little water. Allow to harden and dry. Then, add the finishing glove details.

· As for the body, wet the cobblestone effect base so that it will stick to the cakeboard (only wet the part that would meet the cakeboard.)

· Place the cake with the cakeboard on the cobblestone base.

· Roll out the reddish orange fondant and cover the legs and the stomach area and add the blue marking details on the front. Then trim the excess. Now roll out a blue fondant and cover the back. You will also need to roll out 2 sheets of blue fondant (you may add tylose to strengthen it and this will serve as the front of Gamakichi’s Blazer.

· Attach the head on the cake by piercing the back with bamboo skewers.

· Using an ivory colored fondant, you can create the fur collar on Gamakichi’s blazer by rolling out a large coil and cutting spikes using the seam ripper. Glue it on the back of the head.

· Then, roll out some white fondant and place it on the parts where the cakeboard is showing. Using the bone tool again, create curves to make the white fondant look like smoke.

· Finally, attach the feet and arms to where it should be. Then place Naruto on top of Gamakichi’s head. (I did not attach the stick on Naruto on the rice cereal treat, but on the cake. I just concealed it by making more fur on the collar.)

· Add a ribbon on the rim of the base an you are finished with your creation!

**Note:

I was able to attach Gamakichi’s head by using only skewers because I was able to make it light enough for the cake to hold its weight. Now you can make a more sturdier frame by using pvc or metal pipes drilled in the wooden cakeboard