Electric Guitar Cake

Prep Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes • Start to Finish: 5 Hours • 12 servings

Here is the perfect birthday party cake for a young music lover. Vary the colors and candies to suit your taste.

• Cake
• 1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist yellow or devil’s food cake mix
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• Tray or cardboard (19 x 11 inches), covered with wrapping paper and plastic food wrap or foil
• Frosting and Decorations
• 1¼ cups Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy chocolate frosting (from 1-lb container)
• Black food color
• 2¾ cups Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting (from 2 (1-lb) containers)
• Desired food color for guitar
• 4 pieces black licorice coil, uncoiled, or string licorice
• 4 small chewy fruit candies in desired color
• 6 chewy fruit-flavored gumdrops (not sugar coated) in desired color
• 2 candy-coated tropical fruit candies in desired color

1 Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom and sides of 13 x 9-inch pan. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan. Bake as directed on box for 13 x 9-inch pan. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Refrigerate or freeze cake 30 to 60 minutes or until firm.

2 Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix chocolate frosting and black food color to make black frosting. In small bowl, mix ⅓ cup of the vanilla frosting and enough black food color to make gray frosting. Place gray frosting and ⅔ cup white vanilla frosting in separate resealable food-storage plastic bags; seal bags. Cut small tip off 1 corner of each bag. In another medium bowl, mix remaining vanilla frosting and desired food color to make guitar color.

3 Using serrated knife, cut rounded top off cake to level surface; place cake cut side down on work surface. Cut cake as shown in diagram 1. Place cake pieces on tray as shown in diagram 2, attaching to tray with small amount of frosting.

4 Spread thin layer of guitar frosting over top and sides of guitar body to seal in crumbs. Spread thin layer of black frosting over top and sides of guitar neck and headstock. Refrigerate or freeze cake 30 to 60 minutes to set frosting.

5 Frost entire cake with same colors. If desired, place remaining black frosting in resealable food-storage plastic bag and cut small tip off 1 corner of bag to pipe frosting. To extend guitar neck 1 to 2 inches onto body of guitar, pipe and fill in neck with black frosting. With white vanilla frosting, pipe and fill in contrasting design on body of guitar. On white design, pipe black rectangle about 1 inch from end of neck to create pickup. With gray frosting, pipe on frets, bridge and any additional accents as desired. For strings, add black licorice. Add small fruit candies at ends of strings. For tuning pegs, add gumdrops. For buttons on body, add tropical fruit candies. Store loosely covered.

1 Serving (Cake and Frosting Only): Calories 460; Total Fat 19g (Saturated Fat 4.5g, Trans Fat 4g); Cholesterol 40mg; Sodium 380mg; Total Carbohydrate 68g (Dietary Fiber 0g); Protein 2g Exchanges: 1 Starch, 3½ Other Carbohydrate, 3½ Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 4½

Cutting and Assembling Electric Guitar Cake

1. Cut cake for body and neck.

2. Arrange pieces on tray for electric guitar.