This easy turkey cake has a sugar cookie base and vanilla buttercream frosting that everyone will love. Follow this simple tutorial to make the most adorable Thanksgiving dessert.
How to Make a Show-Stopping Cake that Looks Like a Turkey for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is right around the corner which means it’s time to start planning the menu! While the centerpiece is always the turkey this year take your turkey to the next level by making a cake shaped and decorated like one. A turkey cake is sure to impress your guests and become the talk of the dinner table.
In this article you’ll learn how to make a fun humorous and creative turkey cake that allows you to show off your baking and decorating skills. The element of surprise makes this the perfect festive dessert for a holiday all about overindulging. Just be prepared for everyone to take pictures before digging in!
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make a turkey cake, from baking and shaping to decorating and presentation. With strategic techniques and decorating tips, your turkey cake will look positively plump and realistic.
Cake Baking and Shaping
To form the domed shape of a plump turkey body, bake two 8 or 9-inch round cakes for the body, and a cupcake or mini loaf pan for the head. Spice cake, pumpkin cake, chocolate cake or yellow cake all work wonderfully.
Once cooled, use a serrated knife to carve and shape the stacked cakes into an oval shape resembling a turkey’s body. Place the cupcake or mini loaf at an angle to create the tilted turkey head.
If needed, attach pieces together with frosting before crumb coating and chilling to firm up the cake. Refrigerating helps frosting details hold their shape better.
Frosting and Decorating
Cover the entire shaped cake in a crumb coat of frosting before chilling again. Then apply a smooth layer of buttercream or cream cheese frosting. Frosting is also used to create wings, tail, feet, wattle, beard and other features.
Use tip piping bags to decorate. Wilton tips like #2, #12, #349, #352 work well. Use frosting to make distinct feathers, especially the tail. Add dimension with darker brown frosting.
Decorate with candy like candy corn for beak and feet, chocolate chips or nuts for eyes, and coconut for feathers. Licorice, cookies and gumdrops add fun details too!
Refrigerate again before serving to set frosting. Insert feathers into the top and decorate the cake stand or platter with fall elements like leaves, acorns and cranberries.
Helpful Decorating Tips
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Draw a turkey template ahead to map out decorating
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Use chocolate frosting for dark feather tips
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Make bold lines and big dots for the longest wing and tail feathers
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Add shading and textures with crumpled plastic wrap
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Outline key features like beard, wattle, feet and feathers
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Insert toothpicks to attach candy decorations
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Use brown and black food coloring gel
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Vary feather textures with grass, leaf, petal and star tips
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Refrigerate repeatedly to firm up frosting as you decorate
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Highlight and define shape with chocolate ganache
Have Fun with Cake and Frosting Flavors
While vanilla and chocolate suit a turkey cake, consider using flavor combinations like:
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Spice cake with vanilla buttercream
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Pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese frosting
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Carrot cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting
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Red velvet with brown sugar cream cheese frosting
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Lemon cake with raspberry frosting
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Marble cake with salted caramel buttercream
The options are endless when it comes to cake and frosting flavors! Choose what sounds tastiest to you.
Presentation Ideas
Once decorated, properly present your turkey cake masterpiece:
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Display on a pedestal cake stand or decorative platter
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Insert feathers into the top
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Surround with fall garnishes like mini pumpkins, maple leaves, nuts
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Use a cake drum or wood slice to transfer
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Tie an autumnal ribbon around the base
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Scatter chocolate acorns, corn kernels or berries around the bottom
No matter how you present it, your decorative turkey cake will wow as the centerpiece dessert!
Carve Up This Fun Treat
Provide guests with a knife to slice into the impressive turkey cake so everyone can enjoy a slice of your creation. Make sure to snap lots of pictures before devouring this unique treat!
A turkey cake makes for a memorable, decadent and humorous spin on classic Thanksgiving desserts. Your guests will gobble up this delicious showstopper.
Summary
A cake shaped and decorated like a plump turkey is the perfect fun, festive dessert this Thanksgiving. Use this guide to bake, carve, frost and embellish a turkey cake your guests will rave about. With some strategic baking techniques and creative decorating skills, you’ll have a mouthwatering masterpiece to display.
So what are you waiting for? Pre-heat that oven and get baking for a scene-stealing turkey cake that will become your next Thanksgiving tradition!
How to Decorate a Turkey Cake
Because I am terrible at making sure things are evenly spaced, I made this quick template that you can print, cut out, and then put on top of the cake. You can find the link above and in the recipe card. The feathers end right near the head, but you could also go lower if you prefer.
Place the template over the cookie and put toothpicks are the marker spots. Then remove the template, cut out the turkey body, and secure it to the cookie with toothpicks.
Pipe the first row. Starting with the yellow, pipe dots of frosting around the outside edge of the cookie. Apply the frosting with consistent pressure for the same size circles and pull straight up. Make sure you remember how many circles to put between each toothpick so you can do it again on the other side.
After that, use an angled spatula or the back of a spoon to gently push and pull the frosting toward the middle of the cookie from about half way up.
Pipe the second row. Start about halfway up the first row and pipe dots of yellow frosting all the way around the circle. Then, use the angled spatula to pull the circles inward.
Pipe the second color. Put together two rows of orange piping with the same size tip as the yellow. Then do the steps above again.
Pipe the third color. You might need to move the paper template around as you get closer to the middle of the cookie, where the body will go. This will allow you to pipe the design. For the red, I used the same, Wilton 1A. I only made one red one, but two rows could fit if you made the design tighter.
Pipe the turkey. To get a better idea of how big the head should be, I put the paper template over the last layer of red buttercream one more time. The Ateco 806 or 808 large piping tip was used to make the head and body. The angled spatula was then used to flatten and smooth the top.
To finish it off, I put on the candy eyes and used extra red and orange frosting with a size 5 piping tip to make the feet, the beak, and the wattle.
How to Prepare Ahead of Time
With all the holiday activity, you might find it easier to get things ready a little before you serve.
- Cookie Cakes: A cookie cake that has just been baked will stay good for three days. If you can, make the cookies the day before you want to decorate and serve them.
- You can make these cookie cakes ahead of time and freeze them for up to a month because they freeze well. After baking and letting it cool, wrap it three times in plastic wrap and once more in aluminum foil. Thaw to room temperature before decorating.
- Buttercream (make ahead of time): Buttercream that has been prepared can be kept in the fridge for 7 days. If you make the buttercream ahead of time and store it, don’t add the gel colors. The buttercream needs to be whipped again before it can be used. Keep it in a container that won’t let air in, and beat it again in a mixer for one or two minutes until it’s fluffy. Then, divide it up and color it.
- When you freeze buttercream, it stays frozen for up to two months. Spread the buttercream out in a bag that can go in the freezer. Press it down to the bottom of the bag to make it flat and remove as much air as you can. Seal and freeze. Alternatively, you could use an airtight container. Let it come back to room temperature, then beat it again in the mixer for a few minutes. Next, divide it up and color it.
For the best results, store a finished and frosted cookie cake in a cake carrier or something else that won’t let air in. It can be kept at room temperature as long as it’s not too hot or humid. If you live somewhere warm, you might want to put it in the fridge and take it out a few hours before serving. It’s best served at room temperature.
Flash-freeze the cake on a sheet tray until the buttercream is frozen, then move it to a pan and wrap it twice in plastic wrap. Thaw overnight.
How To Make An Incredibly Realistic Turkey Cake For Thanksgiving | Food Insider
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