Easy Surprise Batman Cake

Surprise Batman Cake is perfect for playdates, fun, soft and flavorful, kids and parents will enjoy it equally.

We love making cakes that are moist and tender like our famous Chocolate Banana BreadChocolate Brownie Cake, and Chocolate Coffee Bread.

Surprise Batman Cake

Surprise Batman Cake

The Surprise Batman Cake was a big hit with kids and adults alike. I made this cake for a playdate, and all the kids were equally impressed when I cut and exposed the batman inside. The cake is guaranteed to make the party booming. With this cake, you can rest assured a playdate or party event will be a success with kids and adults alike.

This is a very easy cake to make and is actually very tender and flavorful. I absolutely hate dry cakes, so I decided to make this Surprise Batman Cake dense and moist. It will be loved by kids and adults, with its soft texture and sweet taste. It is also super easy to make, no crazy ingredients are needed. The same batter is used for the Batman Shapes, just add some food coloring. If you want to keep it on the natural side you can add a little cacao powder, but the Batman shapes will be brown in that case.

Why you will love this Surprise Batman Cake?

  • It is very easy to make with limited ingredients.
  • The cake will be a hit with kids and adults alike.
  • Cool project to have with kids.
  • Easily transportable.
  • Can be made 1-2 days in advance, so you don’t have to bother making it the last minute.

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Best Batman Cake

Surprise Batman Cake Recipe Tips:

  • If you are having trouble cutting the Batman shapes, I recommend putting the black cake in the freezer for 30-40 minutes so it hardens. Also, spraying the cookie cutter with the baking spray will help as well.
  • When adding the lemon batter over the Batman shapes, make sure you don’t add too much. It just needs to cover the shapes, and not to overflow from the pan when baking.
  • Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • You can play with the flavors, you can skip the lemon and add vanilla extract.
  • The cake can be made using different shapes or colors as well.

How Long Will the Batman Cake Stay Fresh?

The Batman Cake can be stored wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for about 3-4 days.

How to make lemon zest?

Follow the easy steps below:

  • Rinse the lemon.
  • Set your tool over a cutting board. A microplane produces a very fine zest, perfect for baking and cooking. If you don’t have a microplane, use the smallest holes on an ordinary grater.
  • Grate the yellow skin of the lemon only. Grate just enough to get through the yellow skin, this way you can avoid the bitter white pith underneath.
  • Rotate the lemon and repeat. Once the white pith is exposed, rotate the lemon and zest the next strip of peel. Repeat until most of the peel is removed, or until you have enough zest for your recipe.

CAN YOU STORE AND FREEZE BATMAN CAKE?

Absolutely! Cool the cake completely and fully wrap it in plastic wrap, tightly. After that wrap in aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. Defrost before slicing.

Easy Surprise Batman Cake

Tools/Ingredients that I used to make the Batman Cake:

  • Loaf Pan – love this pan, it cleans so well and it’s very durable
  • Batman Cookie Cutter – this is a fun one, it can be used to make Batman cookies, cut into fondant or even make Batman toast
  • Gel Food Coloring – I like having a range of colors of hand for when I bake something fun, gel food coloring is the best as it doesn’t add extra moisture to the batter or frosting
  • See after the recipe card how I have arranged the batman cut-outs
Surprise Batman Cake

Surprise Batman Cake

Catalina Castravet
Surprise Batman Cake is perfect for playdates, fun, soft and flavorful, kids and parents will enjoy it equally.
4.70 from 10 votes
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings
Calories 475 kcal

Ingredients
  

Batman Shape:

  • cups all-purpose flour
  • cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick butter softened + more for buttering the pans
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream or whole milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • black food coloring gel

Lemon Cake:

  • cups all-purpose flour
  • cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick butter softened + more for buttering the pans
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream or whole milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Instructions
 

Batman Shape:

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Butter a half 13x9 inch pan and set side.
  • In a medium bowl mix dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  • In the large bowl of an electric mixer, whisk softened butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add dry ingredients and combine with butter for 30-40 seconds.
  • Add heavy cream, oil, vanilla extract and eggs one at a time, mix on medium-high for one minute. Add the black food coloring gel, as much as needed, until you achieve the shade of black you want. Mix until well combined.
  • Pour batter into prepared half sheet pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, a tooth stick inserted into the center of the cake must come clean.
  • Remove cake from oven and set aside to chill. Once chilled, using a batman cookie cutter, cut batman shapes from the black cake and set aside. For better results refrigerate the Batman shapes for one hour, this will help maintaining their shape under the pressure of the Lemon Cake Batter. You can even freeze them for 30 minutes.

Lemon Cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set side.
  • In a medium bowl mix dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  • In the large bowl of an electric mixer, whisk softened butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add dry ingredients and combine with butter for 30-40 seconds.
  • Add heavy cream, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and eggs one at a time, mix on medium-high for one minute, until well combined.
  • In a buttered loaf pan, pour 1/3 on the lemon batter on the bottom of the pan. Start stacking the batman shapes one inch from the front of the pan, stack them thru the length until the end of the loaf pan (see picture at the end of the post). Carefully, pour the remaining batter over the batman shapes and transfer to the oven.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes, a tooth stick inserted into the center of the cake must come clean.
  • Once baked, remove from oven, let it chill, sprinkle with powdered sugar, slice and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 475kcalCarbohydrates: 84gProtein: 7gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 238mgPotassium: 304mgFiber: 2gSugar: 51gVitamin A: 245IUVitamin C: 1.2mgCalcium: 151mgIron: 3.7mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
4.70 from 10 votes

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90 Comments

  1. Not only does my 33-year-old husband love LEGO, but he would be obsessed with this cake! Pinning this for his birthday 🙂 Awesome post!

  2. I did the same exact thing a couple of years ago on my blog 🙂 except I made it for the big kid in the house (my husband!)
    Had heaps of fun making it

    1. haha I get so much feedback on this cake that says that husband’s will love it, I guess they really are big kids 🙂

  3. Both my kids love LEGO stuff, so they would really love this. I must say, the recipe was a bit dizzying! I am sure it is easier to make one you get into it?5 stars

    1. The recipe is very easy, you make the same batter twice, one for the Batman shapes (vanilla flavored), and after for the lemon flavored part part. If you have any questions let me know.

        1. Yes you can, add the Special Dark Cocoa for a more intense color, I would say start with 1/4 cup.

        2. I used a chocolate cake instead…but mine was very crumbly….I had to crumble the chocolate cake, add in frosting (like you do for cake pops) and roll it out and cut the batman shape out. My batman cookie cutter is also not as thick and it’s plastic. Hoping they aren’t too heavy with the frosting and they stay in the cake. I’ll know soon when it comes out of the oven.4 stars

          1. Let me know if it worked, did you use a box mix for the chocolate cake or made from scratch?

  4. That cake is awesome! I’m going to make this for my sisters birthday in August! Long time away, but she loves Batman! How neat is this!?

  5. That is just about the coolest cake ever. I know a little boy who introduces himself as batman when you meet him. I think he would love this.

    1. If he is a Batman fan, he will love this cake, and will even enjoy spending some time with that LEGO set 🙂

  6. Very impressive! I love lemon flavoring but I am not sure I could make mine look as pretty as your’s!

    1. No, Laura they don’t! 🙂 Since they are in the middle, so technically the sides, top and bottom of the cake needs to bake only, and those parts take less time!

    1. Hi Nicole, it’s in the recipe, but let me explain, the first cake, the half sheet black cake, once removed from oven, set aside to chill. Once chilled, using a batman cookie cutter, cut batman shapes from the black cake and set aside. Also, at the end of the post I am including an iPhone picture, so you can see how I aligned the shapes in the pan.

      1. My middle son is obsessed with Batman! Would love to surprise him with this cake. Where could I buy a batman cookie cutter??

  7. My husband would love love this if I made it for his birthday!! Thanks for the awesome idea. This is super easy, unlike some of the more complicated cakes that I have seen.5 stars

    1. Hi Denise, yes you can do that! I was going for a more intense black color, but you can totally omit the food gel coloring and instead add 3-4 tablespoons of dark chocolate cocoa powder to the cake for the Batman shapes. Now, to make the vanilla cake, just omit the lemon zest and lemon juice, and instead add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. You can even use a box cake mix if you want, that will totally work, I did that once!

  8. I know this may sound silly but what exactly is a sheet pan? It looks like a loaf pan to me. TY so much and I cannot wait to make it~~

      1. Hi Cindy, I am sorry, I have update the recipe to reflect the right pan measurements. So for the black Batman batter you need a 13×9 pan like this one http://www.amazon.com/USA-Bakeware-Aluminized-Steel-Rectangular/dp/B0029JOC6I/ref=sr_1_37?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1454807113&sr=1-37&keywords=9+inch+cake+pan. After, you need a 9inch loaf pan, where you will arrange the shapes and cover in lemon batter. hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

    1. Hi Wen, you dont cut the yellow cake at all, please scroll to the bottom on the post, there is a photo showing how you arrange the batman cut cakes into a loaf pan, at the bottom of the pan there is a little yellow cake batter, after that you pour the rest of the batter on the batman cakes and bake.

      1. I don’t think that’s what Wen was asking. You put in several Batman slices into the batter. I assume that when you bake it, it doesn’t become one solid Batman-shaped log again. So when you’re slicing the finished cake, do you need to slice it so that it’s aligned with where the Batman cake is sliced? Otherwise you’d end up with the Batman parts falling out, right?

        1. Hi Michelle, nope thats not right, check the last photo in this post, you dont put “several pieces” you align the batman pieces very close, expect the start and the end of the log, you need the space to pour the batter, so except that tiny space, every single slice will have a Batman shape. The parts can’t fall out, you arrange the Batman logs on batter and top it with extra batter, you bake it as the recipe states, and it becomes one solid cake. There is no need to have batter in the middle of the Batman shapes, side, up and down is enough, and the baking process solidifies everything. Makes sense?

        2. Also, check the photos, you can see the Batman shapes are fully integrated with the cake, let me know if you have any other questions.

          1. Any suggestions how to get the Batman ears to come out evenly? My chocolate cake was a bit crumbly, so the tiny ears didn’t cut out well. The rest of the shape was fine though.

          2. Hi, Jenna, yes – I recommend putting the black cake in the freezer for 30-40 minutes so it hardens, also spraying the cookie cutter with baking spray will help as well.

  9. I am making this cake right now. I am worried it won’t be done on the bottom. I am looking at closer to 33-35 minutes before its done. Any recommendations?

    1. The bottom is the first that is usually done, you should check the top as its the last one to bake. 35 minutes is ok, every oven is different, so make sure to insert a toothpick in the middle to see if it comes out with clean or with minimal crumbs.

  10. Made this over the weekend and it came out fantastic. Perfect surprise for my 47 year old batman fan! Wish I could post a pic 🙂4 stars

    1. hi Kitty! So happy that you enjoyed the cake, you can post it on intagram and tag me 🙂 if you do, use the hashtag #peasandpeonies

  11. 1 stick of butter, whats the conversion to weight? dont live in the US.
    thanks!!
    cant wait to make this for my hubbys bday

  12. Can I bake this in a Bundt pan/tube pan instead of a loaf pan? What would be the conversion? I need to serve 14-16. Thanks!

  13. Hi there, What were the dimensions of your loaf tin that you used? It says 9×13 but seems a bit large??? The one I have is a 9×5…hmm….

    1. First you need a 9×13 pan to bale the black cake to cut the batman cakes, after you will use a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

  14. I am really excited to try this for my daughters 2nd birthday this weekend- she loves batman! Due to time and stress, would like to just make it easier and use yellow cake mix as suggested- could I use chocolate cake mix and add black food coloring for the batman cake or would that make it too dry to cook with the yellow cake mix?

    1. Hi, and happy birthday to your daughter! Yes, I believe it will work just fine. Although I did not try it, I am quite confident it will work out just fine. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!

  15. Planning to try this for teacher appreciation week with superhero theme. For the half 13×9 inch pan, do you just use an 8×8?

  16. Hi,
    What’s the measurement for (stick of butter)??
    Also can I double the recipe, half for the Batman & other for the outter cake, and is the cooking time the same??
    Sorry for all the questions!!

    Thanks, Jaci AUS

    1. If you double the recipe, the cooking time will increase, you will have to test the cake with a toothpick to see when its ready.
      A stick of butter is 112 grams.

  17. You have mentioned to keep the batman cake bits in refrigerator/freezer for at least 30 minutes. Is there an upper time limit?Can I keep them in freezer overnight and bake them the next day with the rest of the batter?

  18. Hello …. Can I use a brownie mix for the Batman’s or a dark chocolate cake mix? The one I made with your recipe didn’t work for me. Thank you in advance