This cake can be made one day in advance. Add the pretzel-stick antenna just before serving.
1 sixteen-oz. box pound-cake mix
1 waffle ice-cream bowl
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
4 cherry fruit rolls
1 sixteen-oz. can vanilla frosting
Yellow and red food coloring
5 sixteen-inch-long red licorice laces
5 blue candy-coated chocolates (such as blue M&M's)
1 red spice drop
1 thin pretzel stick
2 starlight mints (unwrapped)
Toothpicks (optional)
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes (or according to package directions) until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Move the cake pan to a wire rack and allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Invert onto another wire rack, remove the pan, and let the cake cool completely. Carefully place the cooled cake on a serving platter or on a piece of sturdy cardboard covered in aluminum foil.
Step 2
While the cake is baking, make the spaceship's exhaust flames. Brush the outside of the waffle bowl with light corn syrup. Without removing their wrappers, cut the fruit rolls into 3-inch-long strips and cut a zigzag edge on one end of each strip. Peel off the paper and press a strip onto the waffle bowl so the zigzagged edge points up toward the top (the open end) of the bowl. Continue attaching the remaining strips, overlapping them slightly, until the bowl is covered in several layers. Set aside.
Step 3
Spoon frosting into a bowl and add one or two drops each of yellow and red food coloring. Stir the frosting until it is bright orange throughout. Set aside.
Step 4
At one end of the cake, cut a 2-inch-long triangle from both corners. (This end of the cake will be the tapered top of the rocket ship.) Place the triangular pieces on the opposite end of the cake with their cut edges facing out to make wings. (This end will be the flared bottom of the rocket ship.) Attach the triangular pieces with frosting. If necessary, use toothpicks to help hold the pieces together, but remember to remove them before serving. Cover the cake with the remaining orange frosting, spreading it so the lines go lengthwise along the cake.
Step 5
Press three red licorice laces (cut to fit) diagonally into the frosting on the wings. Press two licorice laces into the frosting at the top of the cake, just below the taper. Add a vertical line of blue candies down the middle of the cake. Press the spice drop into the pretzel stick and push the pretzel into the tapered top of the rocket ship as shown. Attach the mints to the bottom of the wings. Press the bottom of the waffle bowl into the frosting at the base of the cake. Cut the remaining licorice laces into various lengths and place them in the bowl so they look like flames coming out of the bottom of the cake.
