Christmas
Easy Monster Book of Monsters Cake Tutorial
Among the abundance of Harry Potter cake ideas, the Monster Book of Monsters cake stands out as one of the easiest and most spectacular cakes for a home baker to acomplish.
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you know the Monster Book of Monsters is an iconic (and slightly terrifying) part of the magical world.
When it came time to plan my daughters’ Harry Potter-themed birthday party, I knew we needed a show-stopping cake, and what better choice than the infamous Monster Book?
After scrolling through tons of Harry Potter cake designs, a Monster Book of Monsters cake seemed like something I could manage— even with my lack of cake decorating experience.
The idea of working with lots of fondant scares me, but fortunately, this cake is mostly buttercream. So, I went for it.
To my delight, once I had the right tools, decorating this cake was far easier than I anticipated.
I must have watched every YouTube video on how to make this cake. Some were WAY beyond my capabilities, but I picked up tips from all of them.
I used a mix of what I learned, starting with a store-bought cake to save time and stress, and I was ecstatic with the results.
Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it too!
Ready to dive in and create your very own Monster Book of Monsters cake?
Let’s get started!
What is The Monster Book of Monsters in Harry Potter?
The Monster Book of Monsters is a magical creature textbook required for the Care of Magical Creatures class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
This large, intimidating book is covered in shaggy, dark fur and has sharp teeth, giving it the appearance of a wild, monstrous creature itself.
In order to open the book and access the information inside, one must stroke its spine in a specific manner to pacify it. If not handled correctly, the book will snap and try to bite the reader.
Once opened, the pages of the Monster Book of Monsters are filled with detailed information on various magical creatures, including their habits, habitats, and behaviors.
Despite its ferocious appearance, the Monster Book of Monsters is actually a valuable resource for students studying Care of Magical Creatures.
However, its unpredictable nature and its requirement for special handling make it a challenging and sometimes dangerous book to work with.
Ingredients and tools needed
As I mentioned earlier, I used a store-bought cake, but you could easily bake your own rectangular cake. My moist chocolate cake recipe would have worked great, but I had already used it for the Mandrake cupcakes.
I ended up ordering a pineapple Tres Leches cake, which, as I later realized, is a VERY wet cake and was sold in a tray. I couldn’t take the cake out of the tray, so I had to work with it.
But yes, it was delicious…
Ingredients needed:
- A rectangular cake covered in white buttercream or whipped cream
- Chocolate buttercream icing (homemade or storebought) – Getting 2 different colors is nice.
- Pink fondant
- White fondant
- Malt balls
- Yellow writing gel
- Red food coloring
- Yellow food coloring
Tools needed:
- Fondant tools (Optional but nice to have)
- Buttercream scraping tool with teeth
- Large grass piping nozzle for buttercream
- #3 piping nozzle if not using writing gel
- Round piping tip
- Small paint brush
- Cake Board
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Step-by-step instructions for decorating the Monster Book of Monsters cake
Video tutorial
Just as I had watched a ton of these tutorials, I decided to film one myself. I encourage you to watch the video, but you can also find all the directions and some pictures from the video below.
And please sign up to my YouTube channel by clicking here:Make the Monster’s Gums and Tongue
To create the fondant upper gums, cut a 1/2-inch section of pink fondant and shape it into a half-circle with a flat top platform so it can rest on the top of the cake and dangle down in the front.
It’s a good idea to measure the height of your cake to ensure the gums aren’t too big. Remember to accommodate the top and bottom gums, as well as the teeth.
Using a fondant tool or your fingers, shape six ridges and create a hole at the bottom of each one to accommodate six teeth.
For the fondant lower gums, cut another 1/2-inch section of pink fondant and shape it into a half-circle with one big ridge in the middle and holes at the top for six teeth.
To make the fondant tongue, cut a thin section of pink fondant and trim a small triangle from one end.
Set aside.
Make the Monster’s Teeth
Create 12 pointy and crooked teeth using the white fondant.
Dip your fondant ball tool in water and slightly moisten the interior of the teeth holes.
Insert the teeth into the holes.
Set aside.
Make the Monster’s Eyes and Eye Base
Using pink or white fondant, create a base for the eyes. This base will elevate the eyes above the buttercream fur. Ensure the base is large enough to accommodate four eyes.
Initially, my base was too small because I thought using malt balls with a yellow dot in the middle would work. However, the eyes got lost in the fur.
To solve this, I used white fondant to create an eye shape around the malt balls. This worked much better and made the eyes really pop.
Gently place the base in the center on top of the cake and position the eyes on it. Use yellow writing gel to add a dot in the middle of each eye.
I don’t have a picture of the eyes before I piped in the fur.
Create the Pages
The cake I bought had a thick layer of whipped cream on top and on the sides. While whipped cream isn’t as rugged as vanilla buttercream, I prefer its taste, so that’s what I ordered.
To make the sides of the cake look like the pages of a book, I used a wide buttercream scraper with teeth to gently scrape three sides of the cake.
I left the back of the cake untouched.
Unfortunately, I didn’t capture that part on video. Check the next picture to see the ridges on the side.
Place the Gums/Teeth on the Side of the Cake
Place the top gums in the middle of the long side of the cake, with the skinny platform resting on the top.
Next, position the bottom gums just below the top ones. Make any necessary adjustments.
I had to cut a significant portion of the bottom gums to make them fit. My teeth ended up slightly overlapping, but that only added to the monster look.
Make the Chocolate Fur
It’s time to pipe your chocolate buttercream on top to create the fur for your Monster Book cake.
I have a full set of large Russian piping nozzles, which include a grass nozzle. I also have the smaller grass nozzle from Wilton, but I recommend skipping that one; the fur it produces is too small. The large grass nozzle is the way to go—it creates nice, fuzzy fur.
The result is definitely worth the investment in a new piping nozzle.
TIP: I used two different colors of chocolate buttercream to give the fur a richer look. I simply added both colors to either side of the inside of the piping bag, being careful not to mix them too much.
Pipe fur all over the top, letting it drape a bit, and also add some around the bottom of the cake. Don’t forget to pipe fur in the back of the eyes to help them pop out from the fur!
Make the Tentacles
The Harry Potter monster book has tentacles coming out of the sides.
I changed my pipping nozzle to a small round one and created my version of tentacles coming down onto the pages, as well as at the bottom of the cake.
This was not super successful as it just looked like more fur.
Paint Some Details
The extra step of painting over the gums and teeth adds an extra dimension to the monster.
This step is super easy and fun!
First, prepare a red solution and a yellow solution by mixing food coloring with water in two small bowls.
Dip a small paintbrush into the yellow solution and gently paint some of the white ridges of the “paper” to give it an aged appearance.
Next, use the yellow solution to dirty up the teeth.
Finally, use the red solution to paint over the gums and the tongue.
Place the Tongue
Use a knife to cut a slit in the cake where you want the tongue to go and insert it.
Write the Name of the “Monsters Book of Monsters” Book
The book isn’t complete until you write the title on top.
I simply flattened an area of buttercream at both the top and bottom of the book. Then, I wrote “Monster Book of” in yellow writing gel (or you can use some yellow buttercream with a #3 Wilton tip) on the top, and “Monsters” on the bottom.
I messed up the writing but scooping up the mistake and fixing it was no big deal. Buttercream is very forgiving.
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And we’re done! It sure was fun making this magical creature come to life.
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I encourage you to try making your own Monster Book of Monsters cake!
Not only will it be a fun and creative baking project, but the end result will be a show-stopping masterpiece guaranteed to wow your loved ones!
Don’t be intimidated by the intricate details, it’s really not that hard, and with a little patience and practice, you can create a visually stunning cake.
So gather your baking supplies, channel your inner pastry chef, and unleash your creativity as you bring this magical creature to life in cake form.
Happy baking!
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