Batman Cake: watch me create it easily for $20
ByadminApril 21, 2022
BAM! I took a $20 plain sheet Costco cake and transformed it into this magical Batman cake for my son.
Seriously. If you’re spending more than $100 on a fancy cake you should stop.
Lately, I’m over-breaking the bank on a cake.
To quote Batman himself, “It’s not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me.”
And under the plastic mask and enough sprinkles to choke a horse, is a moist vanilla cake that’s delicious and didn’t take me one teaspoon of effort to get… because it’s store-bought.
I’ve spent a lot on cakes in the past few years so I decided to explore upgrading the Costco sheet cake into something more fabulous. Costco cakes are tasty but they just don’t offer anything fancy when it comes to design so here’s how I made mine into Batman magic for my little boy.
The Batman cake I put together using a $20 Costco sheet cake. We were at my sister’s beautiful lake house for my son’s 4th birthday. It’s so lovely there!
How do you take a $20 store-bought dessert and make it into a fun Batman cake?
I’ll show you.
Let’s not reinvent the wheel here, if something is already good all it takes is a little effort to make it cute.
WATCH: See the brief video of the Batman cake transformation.
It was my first go at upgrading a store-bought cake and I think it turned out pretty cute for my first try.
We were at my sister’s lake house in Georgia so getting crafty when you’re away from home is always tricky because you don’t have your usual supplies. Luckily, the lake house was pretty well stocked and had pretty much what I needed.
My supplies – Costco sheet cake, Batman mask, stickers, scissors, black construction paper, thin wire, sprinkles, number 4 candle, Spiderman (duh), silly string, icing spatula, city stickers
Here are the items I used for upgrading my Batman cake (I tried to use what I already have)
Batman mask (already had one but didn’t like the idea of putting something “used” in a cake so I bought a new one. )
Fun black, blue, and white sprinkles
a number “4” candle
The cheapest part, and possibly the cutest, was the construction paper bats I cut out and glued to thin wire
bowl to trace and help with cutting the cake in a circle
icing spatula
silly sting
4-inch Spiderman toy
- City Cake border
1. Remove the icing to start your DIY Batman cake
I removed the icing that I could around the edges and put that in a bowl to save for later. Then I used slightly different-sized bowls to trace the shape I’d need to cut for the base of the Batman cake.
Scraping the icing off the edges of the cake as our dog, Manna, watches and licks her chops! She cracks me up!
Looking back, I’d either use more significantly different-sized bowls or the same size because once I got all the icing and sprinkles on there, you couldn’t tell they were any different.
2. Cut the Batman cake circles out
Next, I cut out the circles. I got rid of the extra cake and put it to the side. I put the smaller circle on top of the larger one.
Cutting the round cakes out of one big sheet cake for the Batman cake
3. Spread the remaining icing around the edge of the Batman cake
Then I spread the remaining icing around the edges of the cake and tried to make it as smooth as possible. I wasn’t super worried about this being perfect because I planned on adding sprinkles everywhere anyway. I ended up putting the remainder of the icing in a plastic Ziploc bag and trimming the tip of it to make my piping bag to more easily spread the icing.
I enlisted the cutest helper in town to ice the edges with me. She wanted to learn.
4. Cover the entire iced cake in sprinkles
I used a ton of sprinkles that I ordered online and I covered the cake in them. The sprinkles were ideal because they cover any imperfections in the icing. Sprinkles are forgiving and you can select whatever color you want. There’s a lot to choose from online.
5. Make little bats out of construction paper for your Batman-themed cake
The little bats were super cute and I freestyled their shapes and sizes and cut them out of black construction paper. I then glued them to some thin and transparent-looking wire. Using a hot glue gun would be faster but Elmer’s is all I had.
I glued little bats I cut out of construction paper onto clear wire I bought at Lowe’s. How fun is my webbed finger polish – a subtle nod to Spiderman!
6. Last, add the city cake border and Batman to the Batman cake
The last step is adding the city skyline cake border I bought online to the edges of the Batman cake. Also, press the Batman mask to the top of the cake. The entire upgrade maybe took an hour to do. It was easy and fun and my kids enjoyed getting involved as well. It’s way better than overspending on a cake at a fancy bakery.
The trickiest part was bringing the Batman cake in the car from the lake to my sister’s house without anything happening to it. I can be clumsy so the pressure here was high.
The trickiest part was bringing the Batman cake in the car from the lake to my sister’s house without anything happening to it. I can be clumsy so the pressure here was high. Luckily my husband is a good driver and I held it with the care you would for a newborn baby chick that had just hatched!
We just had a small family party and our big 4-year-old was thrilled. One of my favorite parts of the cake was the Spider-Man silly string addition where Spidey threw a web at the Batman cake.
The theme of the party was Batman vs. Spider-Man and I think the jury is still out on who would win in that battle. My son loves them both equally and when he couldn’t decide between the two we decided to incorporate them both into his special day.
My daughter helped me make the “city” using black poster board and yellow contraction paper. It’s supposed to be cartoonish right, so making it all perfect wasn’t the point. I had some spider web stuff left over from last Halloween and let me tell you, that stuff can stretch! I taped it between the two columns at my sister’s house and liked how it turned out.
I want to show last year’s cake for my son that I got from a darling bakery in my sister’s hometown in Georgia. Melissa is the owner of Melissa’s Bakery and my son was obsessed with the show Super Wings then so we did a Super Wings-themed cake. Melissa knocked it out of the park.
The beautiful cake that one of my sister’s dogs took a bite out of before the party!
Funny story though, one of her dogs, we’re not exactly sure which, took a huge bite out of the cake before the party. I had no idea her dogs could reach that high on the table. They’re small dogs! Anyway, at first we were panicked and then it. became funny. My sister took the cake back to the baker and they swiftly put a big old cloud where the missing chunk had been. Fixed for no additional charge Such a funny story though.
I try to make birthdays as special a possible for the kids without going overboard. I definitely don’t think the amount of money spent equates to a better time or more special memories.
Little Man showing us he’s the big “4” now!
I don’t think the amount of money spent equates to a better time or more special memories. I think what matters is making your child feel loved, important, and special and you can do that without spending any money at all. I try to tell our children daily how loved and special they are to me and their dad. I feel like we can’t tell our kids that enough.
Conclusion:
This was fun, easy, and a cheap way to make a Batman cake. If you’ve upgraded your store-bought cake or have fun Batman cakes you’ve come across I’d love to see them.
Hi I’m Erica! TV news anchor and mom to 4 littles. I’m obsessed with creating those “wow” moments in life through crafting at home, cool travel adventures and special celebrations with loved ones. Thanks for joining me on this adventure!
