Alien Hatchling Cakes - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Strawberry Cake
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup strawberry puree (made from frozen, sweetened strawberries)
4 eggs
3 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups white sugar
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry gelatin, mix
1 cup soft butter
Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
shredded coconut (to coat the exterior)
pink food coloring (to coat the exterior)
Modeling Chocolate Accents
16 ounces chocolate or 16 ounces candies, melts
1/4 cup light corn syrup
cornstarch, for rolling out

Preparation

For the Strawberry Cake:
Heat oven to 350\u00b0F Puree frozen strawberries and mix in a glass bowl with buttermilk, vanilla and eggs. Mix cake flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Cream butter in a stand mixer, add jello powder, sugar and beat until light and fully incorporated. Butter and flour a large muffin baking pan and one six-slot cupcake tin.
Alternate mixing the wet and dry ingredients into the butter batter until everything is fully incorporated. Pour into trays and bake large tin about 35-40 minutes and small tin about 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Wait ten minutes before removing from tins.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
Cream butter and cream cheese together in stand mixer. Once fluffy, add icing sugar one cup at a time and beat until airy. Add vanilla and salt and use to fill and coat your little aliens. Once they are the shape you like, roll them in pink coconut until fully coated.
For the Modeling Chocolate Accents:
To make the ears, feathers and wings, you will also need a small rolling pin, small leaf-shaped cookie cutters, modeling tools, powder pains and vodka to paint the eyes.
Warm corn syrup separately in the microwave. Melt down chocolate or candy melts, and once in a liquid state, remove from heat and mix in warm corn syrup. Mix just until it is the texture of soft serve ice cream. Wrap tightly in a plastic wrap and allow to set for 6-8 hours.
When ready to use, break off a selected piece and manipulate in your hands until it is soft and flexible again. If it's too soft, you can always fold in a little powdered sugar to help it set up a bit more. Once you have a flexible dough you can roll it out.
Roll it out thin (1/8 inch) and use the cutters and tools to create all the feathers and shapes. To adhere the feathers, eyes, and extras, whip up a bit of pink-tinted buttercream (1 stick of butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and a drop of red food color.) I also used this to build up the folds around the eyes and the feet.