Easter Marshmallow Peep Cake

Remember how I said Easter isn't a huge cooking/baking holiday for me?  Apparently I'm a big fat liar.  Oops.

The good news?  MARSHMALLOW PEEP CAKE!  Let me take you on a little journey...


Here I am, minding my own business, laying on the couch, grumbling at the dog (she wouldn't stop licking my feet.  These feet are NOT made for lickin'!), leafing through the April issue of Food Network Magazine.  Of course  it's all Easter-y.  Meh.  Enough of that.  It went in the trash (much to the chagrin of media buyers that think magazines have longevity - in my house, they couldn't be more wrong.  No clutter, please!).


Welllllllll the trash needed to go out.  Badly.  I decided maybe I could take the dog and the trash out in one fell swoop (maybe even to the exact same place? damn dog).  You're right, this story has nothing to do with Easter cooking and baking.

The magazine fell off the top off the trash as I was going to tie the bag.  How that happens, I don't know.  I can drop anything (except eggs - I have good luck with eggs. *knocking on wood*), so I dropped it.   It was one of those "meant to be" movie moments, really.  It fell open-side-down to a page.  I picked it up by its binding, was tossing it in the trash again, and saw what had to have been a veritable sign from marshmallow heaven.

YOU GUYS, IT WAS A 10-INCH-TALL PEEP.  A MONSTER PEEP.  A DESCENDANT-OF-DINOSAURS-SIZED PEEP!!!!  

Okay.  Okay.  It was a cake.  IT WAS A PEEP CAKE! A BIG OL' EASTER PEEP CAKE!!  Like this:

Photo: FoodNetwork.com

For the recipe, detailed instructions, and more Food Network goodness, you can check it out here.  Me?  I'm here to give you the cliff's notes.

First of all, they mention in the directions that you need two glass bowls to bake cakes in (along with a regular 13x9 cake pan).  If you've never heard of this, it may sound weird.  Just check that your glass bowls are oven-safe.  Many are.

Butter and flour your cake pan and glass bowls before pouring in cake batter.

Heed the baking time recommended in the directions!  While my baking times weren't exactly the same as the recipe stated (I just took them out when my toothpick came out clean),  All three cakes took different lengths of time to cook.

Be sure to let the cakes cool on cooling racks for the recommended time (in the original recipe).  If you don't, they may crumble a bit when you go to trim them.  You don't want them all crummy, do you?!  I let them cool for a couple hours, actually, while I went and did other things.  Next, you're gonna have to trim them.  You can't just pile them up and expect them to look like a Peep Cake!  First, trim the corners off your 13x9 cake.

Let cake cool before trimming.

Trim all 4 corners as shown - keep the extra pieces!

Now would be a good time to put the base of your cake on your serving platter of choice, or whatever you're going to store the cake on or in.  This is a good time to share one of my favorite tips with you.  Ever wonder how people get the cake they're decorating perfectly situated on their cake plate or serving platter without getting any frosting or decorations on said platter?

Take long strips of wax paper and just BARELY wedge them under the base of your cake - so they're easy to pull out when you're finished.  This way you'll get the frosting (and sugar) on the wax paper, and it will go away with the wax paper when you pull it out.

Place multiple long wax paper strips just under the edge of the cake, all the way around.

Here is where you'll be glad you saved all the little corner pieces.  Take two of them that are relatively the same size and shape and prop them up on the skinnier end of the base cake.  These will eventually become the tail of your marshmallow peep cake when you get it frosted.  Use toothpicks to secure the tail pieces in place.

Your Peep Cake has a tail!

What's a tail with no head and face, you ask?  Well, it's... not appropriate for this blog post.  So take both of your bowl cakes and trim off the flat side so it's actually flat and not sorta rounded from baking. After you get 'em trimmed up, stack them (flat side down) with the bigger one on the bottom, like the pictures show. 

Put the larger bowl cake on the bottom.

Put the smaller bowl cake on top.

You want the body of the Peep Cake to be as sturdy as the rest.  But toothpicks aren't gonna cut it here.  As picture-happy as I am, you'd think I'd take pictures of my skewers?  I'm a terrible person.  Sorry!  But you want to take a couple of wooden skewers (or thin chopsticks) and trim them to the same height as your cake.  Then, just push them straight down through all three layers of cake to help reinforce the structure of the body.  MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THEM OUT AS YOU'RE CUTTING THE CAKE AND EATING (same goes for the toothpicks)!!

Speaking of toothpicks, taking one of your remaining two corners of cake and attach it to the small round cake to make the base of the nose.  Secure it with a couple of toothpicks.

If you don't like how 'square' the top of the nose is, trim it down a little to round it out.

Awesome.  There you have it - a life-sized Peep!  Okay, so it looks a little funny without any frosting or sugar.  Here's the cool thing.  The frosting you're going to make is *actually* marshmallow frosting.  Same method.  

Freshly homemade marshmallow frosting.

Obviously Peeps aren't white, so you'll need to follow the directions for coloring your frosting.  When it's finished, it will be a slightly lighter yellow than the final Peep Cake will be.  That's okay, because you're going to cover it with yellow sugar.

I love the Spring feeling of the light yellow frosting!

This is the fun part.  Slop that frosting all over the cake!  Okay, do it carefully.  A little careful, anyway.  It will look like you have WAY too much frosting for the amount of cake, but don't fret - you don't.  Keep in mind what a Peep looks like.  You'll have to cover some parts of the cake with more frosting than other parts to get the right shape.  You could definitely take the time to smooth out the frosting with a spatula (offset or regular) so that when it's finished it looks like a nice, smooth Peep.  I definitely did not do that (I have no patience when I've got homework waiting in the wings).

You would think this next part would be the most fun part.  It's a sugar party, basically.  I'll tell you the truth: it is not fun.  It's not fun IF you don't like coating your entire work space/kitchen/dining room/dog with colored sugar, anyway.  There's no real great way to sprinkle the cake with sugar.  If there is a great way, I don't know what it is.  If you do know, please PLEASE leave it in the comments for me.  Otherwise, let the sugar throwing commence.

It's a sugar party!

Once you've got your giant Peep sugared to your liking (it took me a while, if we're being honest), put it in the fridge as the recipe recommends.  The frosting won't completely stiffen up like a buttercream might, but it will firm up a little.

Chill out, peep!!

Remember how I said you'd make your cake presentation prettier and easier with the wax paper?  Here's the big reveal.  Take the cake out of the fridge and put it on a flat surface.  When you pull the wax strips out, pull them one by one.  And pull them slowly and firmly, straight out from underneath the Peep cake.  You won't leave anything behind that way.

Pull the wax paper out carefully.

With all the wax paper and sugar out of the way, you should have a perfectly clean cake and board.  If you don't, take a moistened paper towel and carefully wipe off the remaining sugar.  Just be super careful not to touch the cake.  Why?  Think of what happens to a marshmallow when you get it wet.  Yeah, we don't want ooey gooey cake.  

Iced and sugared Peep Cake

You're almost finished! Don't forget to give your little (big) guy his eyes.  Push them directly into the frosting - they'll hold.  

This is the best part! The big reveal!  After your guy has his eyes, you're ready to deliver him.  Or you're ready to just dig in.  I vote DIG IN!  Enjoy your Easter. :)

Happy Easter from my Peep (Cake) to you and your peeps!