Guitar Cake with your top ten bands & artists
We asked what your favorite bands and artists were and after more than 6000 responses we’ve tallied up all the votes and the results are in. This was a fun cake to make. If you’re new to cake decorating, give yourself a couple of days to make it. One to bake the cakes, make the frosting, chocolate and the fondant details and the next day to assemble and decorate the cake.
To make this guitar cake you will need:
Fondant extruder ( you can get them online here )
1500g (52.91 ounces) white fondant
core flute board
fondant smoother
brown, yellow and black gel food coloring
vodka
paintbrush
rice paper printed with edible ink for band logo ‘stickers’ and chromatic tuner (optional)
480g (16.93 ounces) chocolate, tempered
Chocolate Cake
450g (15.87 ounces) of 70% cocoa dark chocolate
715g (25.22 ounces) or 3¼ cups margarine
18 eggs
5 cups or 1080g (38.1 ounces) caster sugar
2¾ cups or 440g (15.52 ounces) plain flour (use GF flour if coeliac, this recipe has been tested with gluten free flour and works well)
2/3 cup or 70g (2.47 ounces) cocoa powder (unsweetened)
3½ tsp baking powder
A double batch of my basic vanilla buttercream
Make some very fine snakes of fondant for the strings, this will be easiest if you use a fondant extruder. Then make some slightly wider ones for the frets. Line these up perfectly straight and leave to dry out.
For the cake, combine the cocoa powder, baking powder and flour using a whisk. Then whisk to aerate and remove any lumps.
Add the chocolate to the margarine and melt in the microwave.
Pour the chocolate mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar and the eggs. Whisk on high speed until smooth.
Turn to low speed and add in your flour, cocoa powder and baking powder mixture. Whisk until it is just combined and you can’t see any more flour.
Split that into three trays and bake until cooked through (15-20 minutes). My trays are 15in (38.1 centimetres) x 10in (25.4 centimetres).
Cut a cake board the shape of the body of the guitar.
Make a mold for the neck, head and support of the guitar using core flute (see the video for instructions).
Melt some chocolate and then temper it. If you haven’t tempered chocolate before please watch this first.
Once that is done pour the tempered chocolate into each mold and then tap it on the bench to smooth out the top. With the smallest box tilt it to one side and support it so that the chocolate sets on an angle.
Roll out some black fondant and using the template cut out the shape of the bridge. Then cut an extra strip of black, place it over the top and trim it to the right size.
Then cut a strip of white for the saddle and add that into place in the centre. Then using your template make indents where the strings go.
Now for the top of the tuners find cut out a circles of black fondant. Roll a snake of black then cut it into short strips. Using a little water add them to the centre of the discs.
For the underneath of the tuning mechanism, cut out a piece of black in the shape shown on the template. Use a piping tip to make an indent at the top and the bottom, then indent a line and another across so it looks like a screw.
Cut another circle of black and squash it slightly, then flatten it on each side to give the shape of the tuning pegs.
Now using a little water, join the base plate the the peg using a snake of fondant. Then take some gold luster dust and brush it all over the black pieces.
Once your cakes are cooled and levelled, cut out the guitar shape using the template.
Add some buttercream to the cake board so the cake doesn’t slip. Then slide the first layer of cake on top of the board. Cover that in a layer of jam spread out thinly, then add a layer of buttercream over the top.
Stack on the remaining two layers in the same manner. Then cover the whole thing in butter cream. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.
Take the chocolate out of the container and join the pieces together as shown in the video.
Position the body of the guitar on one end of a long cake board.
Cover the whole thing in fondant. Lift and smooth down the edges all the way around. Cut the excess fondant from around the base of the cake. Use a fondant smoother and your hands to sharpen the corners.
Also add a layer of white fondant and add it to the head of the guitar.
Paint with gel food colour diluted with vodka, brushing it on in long strokes from top to bottom. Then make the colour a bit deeper towards the edges. Then do the same on the sides and on the head of the guitar. While that is still damp add the posts on top.
Using your template mark where the bridge should go. Then add that on top.
Put the neck in place and add a strip of black fondant over the top. Use the template to mark where the sound chamber is and push your cutter down to cut a circle out of the fondant, take out the fondant and buttercream so that it dips down a level. Then add a circle of black. Paint the inside edge with the brown food colour so it looks like wood.
Place a slightly larger circle cutter on top and add a thin snake of cream colored fondant around the cutter. Then just remove the cutter. Add one more slightly bigger circle indent for decoration.
Add a strip of white just below the head and using your template add the indents for the strings. Then mark off where the frets go all the way down the neck. Trim the snake of fondant to the right length for the frets.
Using some chocolate add the tuning pegs into place on the underneath. Then very carefully add the strings into place and trim to length. Use some fresh white fondant to make loops around each peg.
Add your chromatic tuner to the side, then make some fondant details to add on top (see video).
Then finally add your rice paper stickers on top.
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Thanks for the video! I used most of the ideas around how to make the neck and overall look (using a thin layer of fondant over a thicker layer of butter icing was great!) when I made a full sized guitar cake last week and it came out well but was definitely quite a challenging cake to make overall, especially tempering the chocolate and generally managing attaching the neck to the guitar and keeping it in place. It weighed too much to be easily supported on sticks so I added a thick pillar of modelling paste around one of the sticks and that gave me sufficiently robust support.
Great work Lissa and brilliant problem solving as well!
Hello Ann, which margaring do you use for yout chocolate cake?
Hi Arusha, Ann uses standard margarine preferably unsaled or low salt.
Hi Ann, is there easy modification for standing guitar cake?
Hi Meghalaya. That would take more time as you would need to create it using horizontal layers and supports. Not impossible but there isn’t a simple adaptation.
Oven temperature please?
Hi Julia, Ann uses a moderate oven unless otherwise stated so about 160C for cooking in trays as suggeseted in the recipe.
Let’s say that I don’t have anything on here. How much do you think that everything, including the template, would cost?
Hi Kamarria, It would vary a lot from county to country.
Can I ask deep are the tins used to bake the cake ? Ie how thick is each layer.
Hi Fiona, the cake layers were baked in shallow trays. The layers would have each been about 2-3cm deep.
Hello just wondering how much vanilla buttercream will i need for the cake
Hi Renee, you will need a double batch of Ann’s vanilla buttercream. One batch makes around 2 and a half cups of frosting.
Sorry just realised I’ve asked this twice ? It’s been playing on my mind!
Amazing. I’m going to attempt for my sons birthday. Is there a brush you recommend for the strokes? I only have flat brushes or quite stiff. This looks a fluffy one
Hi Georgina, Use a reasonable quality brush. It doesn’t have to be fluffy or round. You could use a flat brush but you don’t want it as stiff as a board. Ann uses a brush with softly tapered edges. It needs to be totally clean and dry before use. Really Cheap brushes can lose their filaments and you don’t want that to happen on your cake, so it might be worth spending a couple of dollars on a new brush if the one you have has seen better days.
Hi Ann, I am going to make this cake
For a friend. How do I order rice stickers with band names on them?
Hi Alli, Ann printed hers with an a special printer, but you can order edible rice paper prints through some cake decorating stores. There are plenty around online, but you will need to select one in your country if you want a custom print.
Hi Ms. Reardon, I want to make this for my birthday, but I have sensitivities to chocolate cake. How would I make it a different flaver, and if I were to use commercial cake boxes, how many would I need?
Your cakes are truly amazing! God bless.
– Elie H.
Hi Elie, I can’t tell you how many commercial cake mixes you will need as every brand is a little different. If you can’t have chcolate cake. You could replace the cake recipe with a sponge or vanilla cake. Ann has great recipes for both.
Thanks so much!
How many servings is your cake for?
Hi Ammy, it will depend on the size of your serves, but it should provide 30 medium serves.
Hi Anne,
I was just wondering how long it took you to complete this cake. I’m going to make it for school and was just wondering the amount of time needed for me to complete it.
Thanks
Hi Bells, It will depend on your experience. Ann made most of this cake in 1 day.
Oh cool, thank you
Hey Ann, Do you have a template for the guitar? My english isn’t the best and I don’t find any…
Hi Jamila, you can purchase the template via the Buy it Now button or go to the shop page….
Hi Ann,
What else can we use in substitute of the core flute board?
Hi Anna, You can use any firm board or card that can handle the weight but be cut to the size and shape you want to use. Core flute is easy to cut, light weight but pretty strong.
can you give me please link of the Cake Template ??
Hi Chocob-d, the template can be purchased using the button provided on via the Shop page here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/shop/?orderby=date
Hey Anne, roughly how long is the main ‘wooden’ part of the guitar?
Hi Jade, All the dimensions can be found on the template.
Hi ann,
Do you need more followers cause I got the power to do dat. K
Hi, Ann I think if they have Zumbo’s just desserts again next year you should go on it. Zumbo’s just desserts is an Australian dessert making show and if you win you get 100000 dollars.
Hi Anne. I was just wondering what was the pentatonix song you played in the video? Loved this video???
Hi Will, ‘Daft Punk’ was the song.