Motherboard Cake
A white cake recipe from the Nerdy Nummies Cookbook! Use your favorite candies to customize your motherboard cake to be the ultimate in edible hardware!
Yields one 9 by 13-inch cake
Things you'll need
Ingredients x2- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (4 ounces) salted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup solid vegetable shortening
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 5 large egg whites
- ¾ cup whole milk
- Two 9 x 13-inch metal baking pans
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium mixing bowl
- Hand mixer
- Rubber spatula
- Whisk
- Butter, for greasing pans
- Cake leveler
- 4 decorating bags
- #4B & #2 decorating tips
- Leaf green food coloring
- Buttercream frosting
- Assorted candies (see list in ‘Time to Decorate’)
Let's get started!
(Double the recipe)
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and then grease two 9 by 13-inch baking pans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and shortening until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.
- Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
- Divide batter evenly between the baking pans.
- Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Level the tops of the cakes with a cake leveler or large knife.
- Tint 3 tubs of butter cream frosting with leaf green food coloring until you reach the desired shade of green. Scoop one-third of the green frosting into a decorating bag fitted with a #4B tip and set aside.
- Place one cake on a platter or cake tray. Frost the top of the layer with green frosting and set the second cake on top of it.
- Frosting the top and sides of the entire cake with green frosting.
- Place the cake in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the freezer and go over the frosting with a warm spatula to make a smooth surface for decorating.
Time to decorate!
- Use your favorite candies to look like the pieces of a motherboard (PICTURE at 5:38).
- MICROCHIPS: Mini fruit chews (Starburst minis) and green fruit chews (Jolly Rancher Green Apple)
- USB POWER: Green fruit chews (Jolly Rancher Green Apple)
- SATA PLUGS: Blue fruit chews (Jolly Rancher Blue Raspberry)
- GRAPHIC CARD SLOTS: Chocolate caramel cookie bar (Twix)
- BATTERY: Mini chocolate peppermint patty (York Peppermint Patties Minis)
- CAPACITORS: Small chewy candies (Jujubes)
- PLUGS: Mini chocolate wafer bars (Kit Kat Minis)
- NORTH BRIDGE AND SOUTH BRIDGE: Chocolate peanut butter bar (Reese’s)
- RIBBON TO CONNECT N/S BRIDGES: Sour candy belts (Airheads Xtremes)
- PROCESSOR: Chocolate square (Ghirardelli) and milk chocolate bar (Hershey’s)
- RAM SLOTS: Chocolate wafer bar (Kit Kat)
- Scoop the remaining tub of white frosting in 3 decorating bags fitted with a #2 tip and pipe on the electrical pathway details (PICTURE at 7:29).
- Using green frosting with a #4B tip tip pipe green trim at the bottom of the cake.
- TaDa! A chocolate processor or candy microchips won’t make your computer work, but they can optimize your sweet tooth!
