Logos fascinate me. It’s incredible how much influence one small image can have. Logos work their way into our subconscious mind, persuading us to buy (or refrain from buying) a product. Logos transcend languages. When you see a soda can with text in a foreign language, chances are you’ll recognize the brand of soda by color and font alone. I’ll leave you all to your own opinion on whether this type of globalization is a good thing, a bad thing, or just an unavoidable fact of life in these modern times.
When I received a request for a Pepsi can cake, I had to do some scouting to find the current can design and logo. We’re not soda drinkers so I didn’t have a supply of cans for inspiration. The recipient requested that the can be on its side instead of standing up, which made it a little easier for me!
I stacked two 9 by 13 chocolate cake layers and got to carving! The carving is probably my favorite part of decorating. I used a large (serrated) bread knife. Since my knife isn’t as long as the cake, it took some patience and skill to get the whole thing to look like a cylinder. I ended up carving the half circle shape from both ends, on both sides of the cake. The trick is to go slowly and take off a little at a time. When I was satisfied that the cake resembled a half cylinder, I used a smaller knife to create the notches at the ends of the can and to indent the bottom end of the can.
Next, the cake got a crumb coat. Then, a final coat of buttercream icing. I applied the blue icing first, and then capped off the ends with light gray.
To smooth the icing, I placed the whole cake in the fridge for about 15 minutes. The idea is to get the icing chilled enough to be very stiff with just the slightest amount of “crust”. Then I removed the cake from the fridge and used a paper towel to smooth the icing.
To do this, find a paper towel with a relatively smooth pattern. Place the paper towel over the icing and gently run your hand back and forth over the surface of the paper towel. The heat from your hand should be just enough to melt the rough surface of the icing and the paper towel should keep it smooth. I had some difficulty smoothing the icing on this cake due to the round shape. But with a lot of patience and a few tries I finally reached a point that I deemed acceptable.
Next, I drew the logo and the text on top. I finished off the ends by using a flat icing tip to create the metal overlap between the end of the can and the sides.
No soda can is complete without a pull tab! I used a butter knife to draw the indentation and piped the pull tab with gray icing.
This cake was lots of fun to make, and relatively simple. The recipient was thrilled with it!
wow this looks so simple and at the same time great too,..
So cute! I hope Pepsi gives props!
Great idea. Nice touch to add a pull tab.
you did a really god job, it’s super cute I can imagine the recipient loved this..yum
sweetlife
Great job on the decorating the cake looks fantastic!
Hey Jeanne, logos are weird. I can think of plenty that draw me in while others make me cringe for some odd reason I can’t explain.
This is awesome by the way. I would honestly NEVER take on such an endeavor. I don’t know how to work with icing enough to make something like this. I’m glad the recipient was happy-they should have been!
That is too cool! I think it would make a great birthday cake for my daughter. I’ll have to remember that when her birthday rolls around. But that’s so far away. We’re thinking about having an “end of school year” party with some of her friends. I want to make this cake for that! Thanks for the inspiration…you’re so good at that!
Marly
What an amazing cake! I’ve just begun to dive into the cake decorating world, and I must say, I’m very impressed. It is amazing how many logos we see day after day (and don’t even realize it). I loved your step by step instructions and photos. Thank you for sharing!
Wow, this is so cool, amazing decoration work!
Wow! This cake looks like a total “display at a museum of cakes” kind of cake–seriously, what an awesome job you did! That is some serious cake decoration! I love it!
Haha – well done. The icing and carving is very smooth – you’ve done a great job.
This cake is awesome! Very Andy Warhol. I should start making people soda can cakes like this for their birthdays. I think it would be a lot of fun.
It’s perfect!!! I love the pop top, too!
I love it!!!
How much frosting did you use for this 2 layer cake?
I used 2 batches of buttercream frosting, which is probably about 6 cups.