By Cake

I’m a little behind, but for the second week in our Month of Mickey, I decided to feature one of Mickey’s most famous roles. As part of Fantasia, Mickey  portrays the sorcerer’s apprentice. In his red robes, Mickey borrows the sparkling blue sorcerer’s hat and animates brooms to help him finish his chores. Besides being an iconic role for Mickey, it also has a special place in my heart, as this version of Mickey is my dad’s favorite.

When thinking about how to bring this role to life in a cake, I knew I wanted it to be just as colorful as Mickey in the film and so I decided to make a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting decorated to look like the sorcerer’s hat. I always found red velvet to be a unique cake. It’s decidedly not vanilla, but also not really chocolate and so it was never one of my favorites. However, I really loved how this one turned out. The cake was moist and tasted great with the cream cheese frosting, and I loved how all of the colors brought Sorcerer Mickey to life.

red velvet mickey shaped cake with blue frosting and white stars and moon

For all of the cakes this month, I decided to make them in the shape of Mickey Mouse. To do this, I used two 6-inch cake pans, one 9-inch cake pan, and a 3-inch round cutter. To make the head, I stacked the 6-inch cakes on top of each other to make two layers. For the ears, I cut four 3-inch circles out of the 9-inch cake and stacked them on top of each other to make two layers and then placed them at the top of the 6-inch cakes.

Once the cakes are cooked and cooled completely, make sure to trim them so the tops are flat and the heights are the same. While you can make up some space with the frosting, the cakes themselves should be close to the same height so that the ears and head are level when they are stacked and placed next to each other.

cutaway view showing the red velvet cake, yellow inside icing, and blue frosting with white moon and stars.

For me, the cake really came to life one I started decorating it. Since the cake is already red, like Mickey’s robe, I decided to make the frosting inside the cake, between the layers, a golden yellow, similar to the rope around the robe. For the outside, I used blue frosting to make it look like the sorcerer’s hat. To get the right shade of blue, I used a little bit of regular blue food coloring mixed with a little bit of navy blue food coloring. I then topped the cake with white stars and a half moon.

slice of red velvet cake with yellow icing layer, blue frosting and white star on top

I’m so excited about how this cake turned out and I hope you enjoy it too!

Print

Sorcerer’s Apprentice Cake

A magically colorful cake inspired by one of Mickey's most iconic roles!

Course Dessert
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

Red Velvet Cake

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • red food coloring

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1.5 cups unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • blue food coloring
  • yellow food coloring

Equipment

  • 2 6-inch cake pans
  • 1 9-inch cake pan
  • 1 3-in round cutter
  • 1 Piping bag with round tip

Instructions

Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and line pans with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat butter and add in sugar. Mix until combined.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add in vanilla and desired amount of red food coloring. Mix until combined and add in cocoa powder.
  5. Add vinegar to the buttermilk.
  6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Add in the buttermilk and mix until combined.
  7. Pour batter into prepared pans, making sure to only fill halfway.
  8. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool 5-10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

  1. Cream the butter and beat in the cream cheese, vanilla, and salt.
  2. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and mix until combined.
  3. Place a few scoops of the frosting into a separate bowl and mix in the yellow food coloring.
  4. Place a small amount of white frosting into a piping bag to make the stars.
  5. Dye the remaining frosting blue.

Assembly

  1. Once cakes have cooled completely, trim tops so they are even and flat.
  2. Using the 3-inch cutter, cut 4 circles out of the 9-inch cake.
  3. Place one 6-inch cake onto a piece of parchment paper on top of a cutting board or plate. Frost the top of the cake with the yellow frosting and then place the second 6-inch cake on top of it. Frost both of these cakes with the blue frosting, making sure the edges are smooth.
  4. Place two of the 3-inch cakes at the top to make Mickey’s ears. Frost the tops with yellow frosting, and place a second 3-inch cake on top of each ear. Frost both cakes completely with the blue frosting. If the ears are not level with the head, either trim the cakes before frosting or add a bit of frosting to make up the difference.
  5. Using the white frosting, pipe a half moon and stars on top of the cake.

Recipe Notes

red velvet cake adapted from Preppy Kitchen

FantasiaRed VelvetSorcerer Mickey