I started off by baking two Chocolate Madeira cakes (the large one was an 8″ and the small one was a 6″- I made double the recipe here and split it between the two tins)
The smaller cake was cut up so that I had two ‘L’ shaped cakes to create the steps. I think it’s probably a bit obvious where the two left over cake pieces went – yep straight onto my hips!
Check that the cakes sit nicely on top of each other. Too small and it will be hard to cover them, too big and the cake won’t be stepped enough.
Hopefully you will have covered your cake board with sugarpaste a week (or at least a few days) in advance.
Slice the large cake in two and fill with chocolate buttercream (the recipe for which is on this post). Cover the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream then position the green rolled out sugarpaste over the cake. Smooth until as flat as is possible. Remove the excess sugarpaste and secure the cake on the cake board with a little royal icing.
over both the ‘L’ shaped pieces of cake by coating first in buttercream then sugarpaste. Don’t try and slice it in half to put buttercream in the centre. It’s very fiddly and messy and doesn’t work on such a small piece. The buttercream used to coat the cake and make the sugarpaste stick will moisten the cake enough.
Smooth the sugarpaste with a cake smoother and use a spoon to get into those awkward internal corners.
Position the larger of the ‘L’s onto the cake with Royal icing. Then repeat with the second ‘L’ shape.
To make the individual pixels squares – roll out the three shades of sugarpaste. If you do all three at the same time they will be relatively the same thickness.
Use a square cutter to press out lots and lots of squares all the same size. These are going to be the floor.
Secure each square pixel to the floor by dampening it with a paintbrush. Don’t use too much water as it will stain the cake. Dry off the excess water from the brush on the side of the pot first.
Add pixels on each level where there is a floor till you have done all three.
I tried to make the model of Mini Josh for the cake look like him and also look pixelated at the same time. I cut out cubes and rectangles in sugarpaste with the relevant cutters and used tooth picks in his legs and into his body to hold him secure. This also meant that once he had been made I could stand him up and push the tooth picks into a polystyrene fake cake and left him there leaning against box to dry for a while. (A couple of days- it’s a good idea to make the model when you cover the cake board)
Use a little royal icing to secure the model to the cake. The toothpicks can only do so much.
Hey, Presto! One Minecraft cake!
enjoy!
Hi Emma the cake looks really great
Amazing! Great job!
Really great looking cake. I admire your patience with all the squares! Good idea to use layers to make it go further. GG
Brilliant! Many thanks XX
Hi Emma, I was hoping to have a go at making this for my son’s birthday! Can you tell me where I can buy the 3 shades of icing from and the cutter for the squares please?
Thanks, Cara
Hello,
I made the sugarpaste from one block of green sugarpaste (called Lincon green) and added white sugarpaste to make the lighter shades. I get my pre-coloured sugarpaste from my local cake decorating shop but you can get it on Amazon also.
Renshaw Professional Regalice – Lincoln Green 250g
The cutters are square metal ones and are a tiny set I’ve had for ages. You can get them on Amazon too. I also have plunger cutters that are square and they’re really easy to use.
Znu 3X Square Shape Stainless Steel Cookie Pastry Cake Cutter ,Color: Silver,Size: 0.4×0.4×0.6 1.6×1.6×0.6 2.36×2.36×0.6
PME Square Plunger Cutters Set of 3
I hope that helps
EmmaMT
Hi Emma,
Great thank you I shall get ordering off Amazon!
Appreciate the reply, Cara.
[…] we’ll decorate them all Star Warsy, roughly following these guidelines. But with more light […]
Brilliant!! I need to make a Minecraft themed cake for my son next week! Have been wondering how the heck I was going to pull it off, thank you x
So glad I could help. Let me know how you get on.
EmmaMT
It was a very good cake a I added some stuff but it was good thanks for the idea
What size cake board do I need. Going to attempt it for my grandsons 10th Birthday.
I always aim to have 1-2″ of board wider than my cakes. So an 8″ cake sits on a 10-12″ board. The more board the more space for extra wording.
EmmaMT
Hi – I am planning to attempt this cake for my son’s 10th birthday. I am quite good at individual cupcakes but thought I would try a ‘proper’ cake. I was wondering approximately how much of the green sugarpaste you need for the whole cake approximately? I see you used one block for the squares, but obviously the whole cake needs to be covered too. I have no idea of quantities as I am only used to making individual cakes! Thanks.
Hello,
I used 800g to cover the 8″ cake and 400g to cover the 6″ (which was cut into the steps). I then used what was left over to make the individual squares. Some was mixed with white and some squares were white. I bought just one 200g white sugarpaste.
I hope that helps
Have fun
EmmaMT
What size of square plunger cutter did you use on the Minecraft birthday cake? It looks exactly what I was looking for.
Hello,
I used the middle size from Cutters
” target=”_blank”>this set I bought about 4-5 years ago. It’s been one of my most used cutter sets. It’s really versatile. It measures around 2cm square
I hope that helps
EmmaMT
Hi there,
Thanks for your prompt reply, it was really useful info about cutters. It would have been even better if the link had worked.
Ruth
Hi Ruth. click on the word “cutters” and it will take you straight through to Amazon.
EmmaMT
Great blog – I loved the Minecraft style Josh, that’s real dedication. Your readers also might like to see the make at home Minecraft cakes at http://www.minecraftcakes.com
Thanks David, those cakes are fab. The Minecraft cake posts are some of my most popular ones here on CakesBakesAndCookies.com.
EmmaMT
Wow!! That looks so awesome. My son turns 9 this Saturday and is obsessed with minecraft at the momento. This is the perfect cake to make for him and his little friends. Thanks for the inspiration!
You’re more than welcome. Hope the cake was fun to make
EmmaMT