Neil Patrick Harris Cake

The "How I Met Your Mother" Neil Patrick Harris Cake: A Beginner's Guide

This guide will walk you through creating a fun and delicious cake inspired by the famous "How I Met Your Mother" gag involving Neil Patrick Harris' face on a cake. This is a beginner-friendly project that focuses on recreating the visual gag, not necessarily achieving perfect bakery-level artistry. Embrace the humor and have fun!

Prerequisites:

• Basic Baking Skills: You should be comfortable baking a cake from scratch or using a boxed mix.
• Patience: This project involves multiple steps and requires a bit of patience, especially when working with frosting.
• Sense of Humor: Remember, the goal is to create a humorous cake, not a perfect portrait!

Tools and Ingredients:

• Cake:

* Your favorite cake recipe or a boxed cake mix (yellow or vanilla works best)
* Ingredients as required by your cake recipe or boxed mix
* One 9-inch round cake pan
* Cooking spray or parchment paper

• Frosting:

* Vanilla frosting (canned or homemade) – at least 2 containers (16oz each)
* Gel food coloring: Black, brown, red, and yellow (gel is preferred for richer color and less watery consistency)
* Optional: White fondant for the eyes (small amount)

• Decoration:

* Printed image of Neil Patrick Harris' face (find a clear, high-resolution image online – a smiling or slightly mischievous expression works best)
* Wax paper
* Piping bags (at least 3)
* Piping tips: Round tip (size 3 or 4), star tip (small to medium), and a small writing tip (optional)
* Serrated knife or cake leveler
* Offset spatula
* Toothpicks
* Scissors
* Cutting board
* Mixing bowls (at least 4)
* Spoons

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Bake the Cake:

• Preparation: Preheat your oven according to your cake recipe or boxed mix instructions. Grease and flour your 9-inch round cake pan, or line the bottom with parchment paper.
• Mixing: Prepare the cake batter according to the recipe or box instructions.
• Baking: Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for the recommended time. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center; if it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
• Cooling: Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely. This is crucial to prevent the cake from crumbling when frosting.

2. Prepare the Frosting:

• Divide the Frosting: Divide the vanilla frosting into four separate bowls.
• Coloring:

* Bowl 1: Leave white for the base coat.
* Bowl 2: Add a small amount of yellow gel food coloring to create a light skin tone. Start with a tiny drop and mix well, adding more until you achieve the desired shade.
* Bowl 3: Add brown gel food coloring to create a darker brown color for the hair and eyebrows.
* Bowl 4: Add a tiny amount of red and black gel food coloring to create a pinkish color for the lips. You can adjust the ratio of red and black to get the perfect lip color. A very small amount of brown can also be added for a more natural tone.

• Adjust as Needed: If any of the colors are too intense, add a little more white frosting to dilute them.

3. Level and Crumb Coat the Cake:

• Leveling: Use a serrated knife or cake leveler to level the top of the cake, creating a flat surface for frosting. This ensures even frosting and prevents the cake from tilting.
• Crumb Coat: Apply a thin layer of white frosting all over the cake. This seals in the crumbs and provides a smooth surface for the final frosting layer.
• Chill: Place the crumb-coated cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow the frosting to set.

4. Final Frosting and Image Transfer:

• Apply the Skin Tone Frosting: Remove the cake from the refrigerator and apply the yellow-tinted frosting evenly over the entire surface, creating the "skin" of the cake. Use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting as much as possible.
• Print and Prepare the Image: Print your chosen image of Neil Patrick Harris' face in a size that fits comfortably on the cake. Place a sheet of wax paper over the printed image.
• Trace the Outlines: Using a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (size 3 or 4) filled with the brown frosting, carefully trace the key features of Neil Patrick Harris' face onto the wax paper: the eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, and any prominent wrinkles or facial contours.
• Chill the Transfer: Place the wax paper with the traced image in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. This will harden the frosting and make it easier to transfer.

5. Decorate the Cake:

• Transfer the Image: Carefully remove the wax paper from the freezer and gently flip it over onto the frosted cake. Position the image where you want Neil Patrick Harris' face to appear. Press gently onto the wax paper to transfer the outline of the frosting onto the cake.
• Peel Away the Wax Paper: Slowly and carefully peel away the wax paper, leaving behind the frosted outline of the face.
• Fill in the Details:

* Using the brown frosting and a small star tip, pipe the hair around the face.
* Fill in the eyebrows with the brown frosting.
* Pipe the lips with the pinkish frosting.
* For the eyes, you can either pipe them with white frosting using a small round tip or use small pieces of white fondant shaped into eyeballs. Add a small dot of black frosting for the pupils.
* Use the brown frosting and a small writing tip (optional) to add details like wrinkles around the eyes and mouth.

• Clean Up: Use a toothpick to clean up any smudges or imperfections in the frosting.

6. Final Touches:

• Optional: Add a border around the base of the cake using the white frosting and a star tip.
• Refrigerate: Place the finished cake in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow the frosting to set completely.

Troubleshooting Tips:

• Cake Crumbling: Make sure the cake is completely cool before frosting. A crumb coat is essential to prevent crumbs from getting into the final frosting layer.
• Frosting Too Thin: Add powdered sugar to thicken the frosting.
• Frosting Too Thick: Add a small amount of milk or water to thin the frosting.
• Image Transfer Difficult: Make sure the frosting on the wax paper is frozen solid before transferring.
• Coloring Not Working: Use gel food coloring for richer, more concentrated colors. Add color gradually to avoid over-coloring.

Summary:

This "How I Met Your Mother" Neil Patrick Harris cake is a fun and relatively simple project that allows you to recreate a memorable comedic gag. By baking a simple cake, creating colored frosting, and carefully transferring a traced image, you can create a unique and hilarious dessert that's sure to be a conversation starter. Don't worry about perfection; embrace the humor and enjoy the process! The key is to have fun and create a cake that's both delicious and memorable. Remember, it's legen...wait for it...dary!

Joni Lamb
Sex Scandal Cases In The Philippines
Jessica Dube Injury Pictures

• David Harper From The Waltons

Details

Kami Cotler

Details

Taking A Look At 'The Waltons' Cast, Then And Now

Details

The Waltons Mountain Memories - David Harper, best known for his work