In the great words of Tina Turner:
Ain't no mountain high enough/ Ain't no valley low enough/ Ain't no river wide enough/ Ain't no cake crazy enough.
And so, with the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll's lyrics ringing in our ears (😉), we embarked on a journey to turn a classic vanilla cake into an ode to Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. And by we, I mean our go-to bakers extraordinaire at Caked Up Café in New City, NY. Lest you forget—they're the geniuses behind these cakes inspired by Dunkin', Starbucks, and McDonald's.
This cake was all about intricate fondant work. (For those who aren't familiar, fondant is a malleable sugar paste that bakers use to decorate cakes.) The bowl was made from Rice Krispies then covered in white fondant and topped with dozens of fondant noodles. To make those noodles—that are freakishly identical to the ones that come in a box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese—the fondant was dyed yellow, rolled into a thin rope, curved to resemble pasta, then indented on both ends to appear hollow inside.
The cheese sauce is actually made from royal icing, and—forgive the pun—is truly the icing on the cake. The drips down the side of the bowl make it seem like a six-year-old mac-and-cheese lover attacked the meal seconds earlier. And that box floating on top? It's a trick the geniuses at Caked Up Café employ a lot (like with the chicken nuggets on the McDonald's cake); they refer to it as a gravity defying feature. This is the secret: A skewer is holding up the box, and it's hidden behind royal icing and more noodles.
And so there you have it—literally all the tricks and tips to building this cake. Do you think you could master it at home? We'll go ahead and say it with you: Probably not. Seems like a trip to Caked Up Café is in your future...
