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    Home » All Recipes » International » Sushi

    DIY Sushi Birthday Cake!

    Published: Feb 4, 2021

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    Sushi Birthday Cake!

    Originally Posted May 28, 2013. Updated 2/4/2021

    A small "birthday cake" made of white and orange rice and cucumber slices. "Happy Birthday" is written on the top, in wasabi. The bottom of the image shows the inside of the sushi cake, with layers of fish and vegetables.

    Tired of the same old birthday cake? When you really want something different, this DIY Sushi Birthday Cake may fit the bill!

    Between all of the MasterChef stuff and racing to get our Weeping Angel costumes ready for BritCon this weekend, life's been kind of nuts.

    Well, not kind of... it's been really intense.

    When our bodies revolted on Sunday morning and prompted us to forgo Sunday at BritCon in favor of recovery time, the sudden clearing of 1 day's schedule allowed us a few minutes to think... and I realized that it's my birthday this week.

    WHAT? End of May already?! How did that happen?

    My birthdays are usually kind of weird around here. I never really feel like doing anything social for them, and they're so soon after my husband's birthday.

    As he didn't get birthday parties before we met, I just feel it makes more sense to pull out all the stops for him, and coast on mine.

    A small "birthday cake" made of white and orange rice and cucumber slices. "Happy Birthday" is written on the top, in wasabi.

    Sushi Cake!

    This year, though... I had an idea. I wanted a SUSHI CAKE.

    Porter was so happy that I actually had an idea/plan, he had NO problem with hopping in the car to go pick up the stuff to make it. It came together quickly and easily, was fun and TASTY.

    Well, my birthday may not be for a few days- the day I planned to post this - but I made the mistake of posting some pics to Facebook, and I've been nagged to post the recipe NOW. So... here we go!

    This is more of a general guide / "how to", than an actual recipe.

    You can tweak this to suit your tastes, how many people you'll be serving, what kind of equipment you have on hand, and what ingredients are available in your area.

    I decided to base this cake on one of my favorite maki rolls, Tuna, Avocado, and Mango Maki - partially because tuna is the easiest fish to find as "sashimi grade", locally.

    Use whatever makes you happy!

    A small sushi cake. Layers of rice and fish in the form of a birthday cake.

    About Sushi Rice

    We made this, gave it a good press, and served it immediately.

    If you are serving it immediately, use Sushi-seasoned rice for best flavor.

    HOWEVER if you plan to chill the cake before serving, just use regular "sushi" type rice, without the seasoning. Sushi-seasoned rice gets hard when chilled, not so appetizing.

    A small "birthday cake" made of white and orange rice and cucumber slices. "Happy Birthday" is written on the top, in wasabi.

    How to Make a Sushi Birthday Cake

    Ingredients

    Prepared sushi type rice, either seasoned (to be served immediately) or unseasoned (if cake will be chilled)
    Nori
    Sashimi grade fish of choice
    Mayo & Sriracha, if you want to make Spicy filling
    Masago and/or tobiko of choice, optional
    Vegetables and/or fruit of choice (We used avocados, cucumbers, and mango)
    Sesame seeds
    Wasabi - ideally in powdered form
    Rice Vinegar, optional

    Plan and Prepare for Your Sushi Cake

    - First, decide what you'll be using as your cake mold, and line it well with plastic wrap. Be sure to leave the ends of each piece of plastic hanging over the edges.

    Not only will you need to fold these over the cake when pressing it, they will help you unmold the cake!

    (For reference, we used a 4" springform cheesecake pan, and it made probably 3 servings worth of sushi.)

    A two part image. The top one shows a plate with mango slices, and a small tub of masago roe. The bottom image shows avocado being mashed in a small bowl.

    - Then prepare your ingredients. We chopped (and promptly refrigerated!) the tuna, and thinly sliced the cucumbers and mango.

    We chopped the avocado and tossed it with a bit of rice vinegar to prevent oxidization.

    Also, we used the pan as a pattern to cut a few circles out of sheets of nori.

    A two part image showing sheets of nori being cut into circles.

    - Have a bit of a design in mind before you start placing your items.

    For our part, we wanted the cucumbers to look like "swags" on a birthday cake. Because this would be an outermost part of the design, we placed them first, in a ring around the bottom of the pan (which becomes the top when the cake is inverted!).

    You could also place a design of vegetables, fruit, sesame seeds, or fish on the bottom of the pan.. creating a built-in design when the cake is inverted. You know, like a sushi upside down cake!

    A small spring form pan that has been lined with plastic wrap. A border of cucumber slices has been establised around the inner corner.

    Once the cucumber border was in place, we pressed a layer of plain white sushi rice into the bottom of the pan, to be a clear, perfect cake "top". This also helped hold the cucumbers in place.

    A bowl of orange rice, a rice maker with white rice in it, and a small tub of masago.

    To make the "sprinkled" side of the cake, I mixed a generous amount of masago in with some white sushi rice, and firmly pressed it evenly along the side of the pan.

    The spring form pan with white rice pressed into the bottom of it, and orange rice pressed into the sides.

    Build the Inside Cake Layers

    Once the sides were pressed in, we started layering the ingredients. The first layer was a round I cut from a nori sheet, followed by mango slices.

    Anyway, we continued layering ingredients until the pan was almost full, pressing down firmly and evenly whenever we could. We ended with a final layer of rice, to make it easier to handle.

    Once the pan is full, fold the ends of the plastic wrap in and over the cake, and press down FIRMLY and evenly to compact the cake.

    An 8 part compilation image, showing layers of fillings being added. White rice, tuna, mango, circles of nori, etc, one at a time.

    We happened to have a small plate that fit perfectly inside the springform pan, so we used that to press it all down.

    If you're going to chill it, chill it now.

    Unmold and Decorate

    Peel back all of the plastic wrap and carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate.

    Once the cake is inverted, feel free to decorate it further.

    We decided to mix up some wasabi to pipe "Happy Birthday" on top, and a little bead border along the bottom edge.

    I just used a regular pastry bag... and if we'd had more wasabi powder on hand, I would have made more wasabi, thicker, and piped a rose from it! (If you do this, freeze the rose for a few minutes after piping to make it easier to transfer to the cake)

    A small "birthday cake" made of white and orange rice and cucumber slices. "Happy Birthday" is written on the top, in wasabi.

    Sushi Cake Decorating Ideas

    In addition to wasabi "frosting", there are so many ways you can decorate a sushi cake:

    Sprinkles: Use sesame seeds (plain, toasted, and or black!), tobiko or masago (in various colors/flavours!), or nori as "sprinkles". Nori can be cut into really thing slices, and then chopped to make rectangular sprinkles.

    More vegetables and fruit: Slices of veggies can be cut up to look like flowers, etc (Like cucumbers or thinly sliced carrots!)

    Pickled Ginger: Cut into shapes, or drape to form "roses". Pickled ginger roses with piped wasabi leaves would be super cute!

    Sashimi can also be thinly sliced and formed into roses.

    Nori shapes: Nori is easily cut into shapes.. hearts, flowers, geometric shapes... have some fun with it! To adhere designs to the cake, damped one side of the nori shape slightly with water, and just stick it to the cake.

    A small sushi cake. Layers of rice and fish in the form of a birthday cake.

    Serve and Enjoy!

    To serve, slice with a VERY clean, very sharp knife - I rinse with cold water between each slice.

    Serve with soy sauce, and eat with a fork and knife.

    A small sushi cake. Layers of rice and fish in the form of a birthday cake.

    More "Sushi-Adjacent" Recipes

    Here are a few more recipes that you may enjoy!

    Easy Sushi Casserole
    Homemade Gyoza / Potstickers
    How to Make Sushi Rice
    Mango Salad
    Matcha Green Tea Pavlova
    Pepper Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Cream Sauce
    Potluck DIY Sushi Party!
    Spicy Tuna Maki
    Sushi Sauce Recipes - Dynamite, Eel, and Mango
    Tuna Avocado Mango Maki

    A small sushi cake. Layers of rice and fish in the form of a birthday cake.

    Share the Love!

    Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you post it to Bluesky, be sure to tag us - @CelebrationGen. We're also on Pinterest, so you can save all your favourite recipes to a board!

    Also, be sure to follow me on Pinterest, and subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.

    Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

    A small sushi cake. Layers of rice and fish in the form of a birthday cake.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved!
    5 from 8 votes

    Sushi Cake

    TIred of the same old birthday cake? When you really want something different, this DIY Sushi Birthday Cake may fit the bill!
    Prep Time15 minutes mins
    Cook Time15 minutes mins
    Total Time30 minutes mins
    Course: main
    Cuisine: Japanese
    Servings: 4
    Author: Marie Porter
    Cost: $30

    Equipment

    • Small Springform Pan

    Ingredients

    • Prepared sushi type rice either seasoned (to be served immediately) or unseasoned (if cake will be chilled)
    • Nori
    • Sashimi grade fish of choice
    • Mayo & Sriracha if you want to make Spicy filling
    • Masago and/or tobiko of choice optional
    • Vegetables and/or fruit of choice We used avocados, cucumbers, and mango
    • Sesame seeds
    • Wasabi - ideally in powdered form
    • Rice Vinegar optional

    Instructions

    • - First, prepare your ingredients. We chopped (and promptly refrigerated!) the tuna, and thinly sliced the cucumbers and mango. We chopped the avocado and tossed it with a bit of rice vinegar to prevent oxidization.
    • - Decide what you'll be using as your cake mold, and line it well with plastic wrap. Be sure to leave the ends of each piece of plastic hanging over the edges. Not only will you need to fold these over the cake when pressing it, they will help you unmold the cake!
    • (For reference, we used a 4" springform cheesecake pan, and it made probably 3 servings worth of sushi.)
    • - Have a bit of a design in mind before you start placing your items. For our part, we wanted the cucumbers to look like "swags" on a birthday cake.
      Because this would be an outermost part of the design, we placed them first, in a ring around the bottom of the pan (which becomes the top when the cake is inverted!).
      You could also place a design of vegetables, fruit, sesame seeds, or fish on the bottom of the pan.. creating a build-in design when the cake is inverted. You know, like a sushi upside down cake!
    • Once the cucumber border was in place, we pressed a layer of plain white sushi rice into the bottom of the pan, to be a clear, perfect cake "top". This also helped hold the cucumbers in place.
    • To make the "sprinkled" side of the cake, I mixed a generous amount of masago in with some white sushi rice, and firmly pressed it evenly along the side of the pan.
    • Once the sides were pressed in, we started layering the ingredients. The first layer was a round I cut from a nori sheet, followed by mango slices.
    • Anyway, we continued layering ingredients until the pan was almost full, pressing down firmly and evenly whenever we could. We ended with a final layer of rice, to make it easier to handle.
    • Once the pan is full, fold the ends of the plastic wrap in and over the cake, and press down FIRMLY and evenly to compact the cake. We happened to have a small plate that fit perfectly inside the springform pan, so we used that to press it all down.
    • If you're going to chill it, chill it now.
    • To serve, peel back all of the plastic wrap and carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate.
    • Once the cake is inverted, feel free to decorate it further. We decided to mix up some wasabi to pipe "Happy Birthday" on top, and a little bead border along the bottom edge.
      I just used a regular pastry bag... and if we'd had more wasabi powder on hand, I would have made more wasabi, thicker, and piped a rose from it! (If you do this, freeze the rose for a few minutes after piping to make it easier to transfer to the cake)
    • To serve, slice with a VERY clean, very sharp knife - I rinse with cold water between each slice. Serve with soy sauce, and eat with a fork and knife.

    Notes

    In addition to wasabi "frosting", there are so many ways you can decorate a sushi cake:
    Sprinkles: Use sesame seeds (plain, toasted, and or black!), tobiko or masago (in various colors/flavours!), or nori as "sprinkles". Nori can be cut into really thing slices, and then chopped to make rectangular sprinkles.
    More vegetables and fruit: Slices of veggies can be cut up to look like flowers, etc (Like cucumbers or thinly sliced carrots!)
    Pickled Ginger: Cut into shapes, or drape to form "roses". Pickled ginger roses with piped wasabi leaves would be super cute!
    Sashimi can also be thinly sliced and formed into roses.
    Nori shapes: Nori is easily cut into shapes.. hearts, flowers, geometric shapes... have some fun with it! To adhere designs to the cake, damped one side of the nori shape slightly with water, and just stick it to the cake.

    Related posts:

    Close up image of 3 bottles of sauce - one yellow, one brown, and one pink. In front of the bottles is a plate of sushi, with the 3 colours of sauce drizzled across the sushi in squiggles Sushi Sauce Recipes: Dynamite, Eel, Mango A loaf of pink moi-moi, on a white plate. Moi Moi A large coil of sausage on a white plate. It's garnished with slices of beet pickles and some parsley. Swedish Potato Sausage A close up view of Mango Salad - thin sticks of mango, red pepper, green pepper, red onions, and cashews. It's dressed with lime juice and pieces of cilatro and mint. Mango Salad Recipe

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      Greek Layered Dip
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Dana Hazen

      May 28, 2013 at 11:25 am

      5 stars
      Well, I know that there is seaweed and dried kelp in many cat foods. I assume that is why they attack sushi like it was made for them. (Maybe it was.....)

      Reply
    2. Ann from AK

      March 22, 2015 at 12:28 pm

      5 stars
      Wow!! Amazing! This is definitely my next birthday cake! I never thought to try something like this...

      Reply
    3. Desislava Valentinova

      January 14, 2016 at 7:48 am

      5 stars
      Dear Marie Porter,

      I wish to congratulate on your efforts to live and cook gluten-free.
      I live in the capital city of sunny Bulgaria, Sofia.
      Here wheat is still the most poppular.
      Our country produces good quantities of regular potato and rice cultures, as we are situated north of Greece. These cultures mostly are hope for just anyone among our Bulgarians, who go green, vegetarian, vegan, organic or try to be gluten-free.

      Reply
    5 from 8 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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