This project was made for one of my classes in medical school. We have been reading books most of them about neurology and psychiatry as well as watching movies such as Concussion. Along with the discussions, we were all responsible for a creative project. I love to bake and so I took this as an excuse to create the coolest brain cake ever.
For the Cake:
I preheated the oven to 325, then put Crisco followed by some flour in the inside of a 2 L glass mixing bowl. I used red velvet boxed cake mix and poured all of it in the bowl. You can't follow the instructions for baking times and temperatures when you are using a glass dish because the glass gets hotter than normal bakeware. Bowls are also more dense than a cake pan and they require more baking time. Mine cooked for 45 minutes but I would start checking it at 40 minutes and it'll be ready if a knife or skewer comes out clean.
I let the cake sit out for a couple hours to cool, and then gently carved it into the shape of a brain. This part was the hardest!! Think about your cuts before you make them and refer to online images! I had extra cake mix and thought I needed to add a base to the cake (made from a 8inch round pan), but honestly I did not. You can make this cake from just the one box mix and a glass bowl.
Make sure you carve a slit for the hemisphere division down the middle (the longitudinal fissure).
*Don't make your slit to large, because mine ended up splitting over night. Just make it a superficial cut.
For the Brain Cortex:
The brain cortex and folds (we call them gyri, fissures, and sulci) are made from a homemade marshmallow fondant. This is surprisingly EASY to make.
Marshmallow Fondant Ingredients:
1 16 oz package of Mini Marshmallows
8 Cups of Powdered Sugar
3-5 Tablespoons of Water
1/2 Cup of Crisco
Food Color Gels: 1 toothpick of black Wilton food coloring gel, 3 toothpicks of Burgundy gel, and 2 toothpicks of yellow.
Microwave mini marshmallows in a bowl for approximately 2 minutes (or until melted) stirring every thirty seconds.
Grease your work surface with Crisco and sprinkle a little powdered sugar over that.
Add 3/4s of your measured out powdered sugar to the melted marshmallow bowl and begin folding in the powdered sugar.
Grease your hands with the Crisco and transfer your fondant mixture onto your greased work surface
Knead it like dough and regrease your hands as needed (if not greased, then it will get very sticky!)
Add the food coloring gels while kneading it.
Let fondant sit out overnight or for multiple hours before using it.
Decorating your Brain:
After carving your cake into the shape of a brain, cover the brain in a thin layer of buttercream frosting (it doesnt have to be pretty)
Refrigerate cake for a couple of hours and then add another layer of buttercream frosting
Roll your fondant out into tubes about 6-8 inches long.
Begin sticking your fondant tubes all over the brain close together in squiggle patterns, make sure you keep your two brain hemispheres separate down the middle. Work from the bottom towards the top
Save some excess fondant and make two little cerebellum hemispheres and sit the back of your brain on top of them.
Last, but not least, grab some raspberry jam and use a brush to make the brain extra bloody.
