Continuing on my kid-inspired posting trend, today I have this The Color Monster Cake to share with you all! It is a delicious creation made using a protein-rich lemon-flavored cake base with a simple cream cheese frosting on top. Plant-based colors swirled in at every step.
The Inspiration Behind The Color Monster Cake
Hey there, friends! As you know, I'm always on the lookout for fun and creative ways to bring a little more joy and learning into our lives, especially with my little one in tow. When I stumbled upon The Color Monster book by Anna Llenas, I knew I had to turn its vibrant, emotion-filled pages into something edible and fun for us to enjoy together.
If you haven't read The Color Monster yet, let me fill you in. It's a delightful children's book that explores emotions through a lovable character called the Color Monster. This little guy wakes up feeling all sorts of emotions tangled up inside, and throughout the story, he learns to sort through them by associating each emotion with a color. It’s such a brilliant way to teach kids about emotions and the importance of understanding how they feel. Plus, it was the perfect inspiration for a colorful, fun treat in the kitchen!
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Why a Color Monster Cake?
You might be wondering, "Why a cake inspired by The Color Monster?" Well, it’s all about turning learning into a hands-on, delicious experience. And since we already did our feelings jars craft, baking was the next activity. This book is just so inspiring to me.
By creating this Color Monster Cake, we get to enjoy a tasty treat while chatting about emotions, colors, and feelings. Even things like texture and mixing, maybe even a little baking science in there, for older kids. It’s a wonderful way to bring the story to life and have meaningful conversations.
Plus, who doesn't love a good cake? Rosalie kept asking for more cake! Two days after we made it, "Mom, I want another slice of that cake!"n She never gets super into cake, so I think the fact that she made it really inspired her.
This lemon-flavored cake with creamy frosting is the perfect base for all those beautiful plant-based colors that mirror the hues in the book. Each slice of cake becomes a canvas, allowing your little ones to explore their creative side while baking. And the candy eyeballs? Totally optional. Raisins, grapes or even small cookies would also work for eyes. They add a whimsical touch that brings our Color Monster to life on the plate.
Monster Design. How Many Eyeballs??
The cool thing about this cake is that you can let your kiddo do whatever they want with the design. Swirl all the colors together. One eyeball? Great! Five? Perfect! Make your monster however you'd like. No rules here. Mistakes encouraged!! That's how we learn about swirling colors and frosting and shapes and textures and all that good stuff that goes with doing a baking and book craft.
The Color Monster Cake
Ingredients
WET
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅔ cups soy milk
- 1 cup Just Egg or silken tofu, (Just Egg liquid egg replacer used)
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice + pinch of zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup avocado oil
DRY
- 3 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
Frosting:
- 4 oz vegan cream cheese
- 1 c powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon soy milk
- assorted plant-based food coloring droppers
- candy eyeballs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line your baking dish with some parchment paper, cut to size.
- Add the wet ingredients to a mixer. Mix until well combined.
- Add in the dry, and mix until smooth.
- Pour liquid batter into your baking dish.
- Optional: Swirl food coloring right into the cake to give it a swirled color look.
- Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until it passes the 'toothpick test.'
- While your cake is baking, you can prep the frosting. Add the cream cheese, powdered sugar and soy milk to your mixer. Whip until smooth and fluffy. This is not super fluffy, like a buttercream frosting, but rather like a very thick glaze frostring.
- Separate the frosting into 3 separate containers and add food coloring to each - one color per container. We did yellow, red (pink) and blue. Place frsting in the fridge to chill.
- When cake is done, allow to fully cool before frosting.
- When cake is cool, swirl the different colored frostings over it. Then add candy eyeballs! Serve!
Equipment
- 1 9" square cake pan
- mixer
- parchment paper
- spatula or frosting spreader
nutrition estimate | per serving
The Magic of Plant-Based Food Coloring
One of my favorite parts of making this color monster cake was experimenting with plant-based food coloring. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I’m always on the hunt for ways to keep things healthy and vibrant, without compromising on flavor or fun. Plant-based food coloring is a fantastic way to achieve those bright, bold colors without any artificial ingredients.
For this cake, I used a mix of natural colorings like beet juice, spirulina, turmeric, and butterfly pea powder to create a rainbow of emotions just like in The Color Monster. These colors are gorgeous, and they bring a subtle hint of flavor that complements the lemon cake perfectly. It’s also a great way to introduce kids to the wonders of plant-based ingredients!
It's actually also pretty cool to say, "Hey you know that frosting? It has veggies in it!!!" Ha. That may land well with some kids and not with others, lol. Then you can maybe just say, "colored by plants!"
A Creative Journey in the Kitchen
Being a parent means constantly finding new ways to nurture creativity in our little ones. Whether it’s through art projects, storytelling, or cooking, there are endless opportunities to explore and create together. This Color Monster Cake is a perfect example of how we can use everyday activities like baking to spark imagination and learning.
When I first decided to make this cake, it wasn’t just about creating a delicious treat. It was about taking inspiration from a story my child loves and turning it into a hands-on experience. Books are such powerful tools for teaching and connecting, and bringing The Color Monster to life in the form of a cake was a fantastic way to reinforce the lessons of the story—plus, it was a lot of fun!
Kathy's Book + Craft Series:
- The Red Lemon by Bob Stokke - Craft: Decorating Lemon Trees
- The Color Monster by Anna Llenas - Craft: Feelings Jars
- The Color Monster by Anna Llenas - Recipe: Color Monster Cake
Exploring Emotions Through Color
As a parent, I’m always looking for ways to help my child understand and express their emotions. It’s one of those things we all have to navigate, no matter how old we are. The Color Monster is a brilliant book because it uses color to represent different emotions, making it easier for kids to identify and talk about how they feel.
When we bake this Color Monster Cake, we’re not just making something tasty; we’re also exploring emotions through color in a playful and engaging way. Each color represents a different emotion—yellow for happiness, blue for sadness, red for anger, and so on. As we mix the batter and choose our colors, it opens up conversations about how each color makes us feel and why.
Watching the batter transform into a rainbow of hues is magical in itself. It’s a great reminder that food can be both nourishing and a form of artistic expression. Plus, it’s a sneaky way to get kids interested in different ingredients and how they can be used to create something beautiful.
Baking as a Learning Experience
Baking with kids is about so much more than just the end result. It’s an incredible learning experience that covers a wide range of skills, from following instructions and measuring ingredients to understanding the science behind baking. Every time we bake together, I see it as an opportunity to teach my child about patience, problem-solving, and the joy of creation.
There’s something truly special about getting your hands messy, stirring up a storm, and watching as simple ingredients come together to make something extraordinary. It’s a fantastic way to encourage curiosity and creativity in kids. They get to see firsthand how different elements work together, how colors mix, and how flavors develop. And the best part? They get to enjoy the fruits (or cakes!) of their labor at the end.
Bringing Stories to Life Through Food
Combining books and baking is such a wonderful way to bring stories to life in a tangible way. When we bake something inspired by a story like The Color Monster, it adds another layer of experience and makes the narrative feel more real. It’s not just a story on the page anymore—it’s something we can taste, touch, and enjoy together.
For kids, this kind of multi-sensory learning is incredibly powerful. It helps them connect more deeply with the story and its characters, making it easier for them to remember the lessons and messages. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to see their excitement when they realize that they’re creating something inspired by their favorite books.
The Joy of Making Memories
At the end of the day, the most important thing about baking and crafting with my child is the memories we create together. There’s a special kind of magic in the kitchen when you’re baking with your little one—laughter, spills, a bit of chaos, and a lot of love. These moments are fleeting, and I want to savor every second of them.
Whether we’re baking a cake, making a craft, or just reading a book together, these are the times I cherish the most. They’re the moments that remind me why I started this journey as a mom and a creative entrepreneur in the first place—to bring joy, imagination, and a little bit of magic into our everyday lives.
Encouraging Creativity in Everyday Life
Encouraging creativity isn’t just about the big projects or elaborate plans. It’s about finding those small moments throughout the day to let your imagination run wild. Sometimes, it’s as simple as turning a story into a cake; other times, it might be turning a walk into a scavenger hunt or a quiet afternoon into a painting session.
I want to encourage all of you to find ways to infuse creativity into your daily routines with your kids. It doesn’t have to be perfect or planned out—some of the best creative moments happen when we least expect them. So let’s embrace the mess, enjoy the process, and create something beautiful together.
Final Thoughts
Thank you for joining me on this colorful, emotion-filled adventure. I hope this Color Monster Cake inspires you to bring a little more creativity and fun into your kitchen. Remember, the goal isn’t just to make a cake—it’s to make memories, explore emotions, and enjoy the journey of creating something together.
If you try this recipe or any other book-inspired activity, I’d love to hear about it! Share your stories, photos, and experiences in the comments below. And if you have any other favorite books or creative ideas you’d like to see featured on the blog, let me know. I’m always looking for new inspiration and ways to connect with all of you.
Happy baking, friends!
