For my daughter's 1st birthday, I made a princess cake. It looked pretty much like the cake below, but in pink, with a different Barbie doll, and no snowflakes, of course. My daughter doesn't remember her cake, but she's seen it in pictures, and for her 4th birthday, after watching quite a few 'how to make an Elsa cake' videos on YouTube (she's really into these 'how to' videos), she informed me that it's quite possible for me to make her an Elsa cake. All I need to do, she said, is make the same cake I made for her 1st birthday, but use blue frosting, and of course get an Elsa doll (which quite frankly, could have been the motive behind the whole idea in the first place, but then again, who am I to judge a four year old). In any case, I couldn't say no to her, and a new project was born.
I have to say, this was actually a really great idea. It made an awesome centerpiece for our 'Frozen Party Dessert Table'. I love using cakes as centerpieces. For one, well, just because I'm lazy and it saves me from actually making/getting a centerpiece. But also, I really love the anticipation in the kids eyes, as they wait to eat that beautiful cake they've been watching for the entire duration of the party. This was not my first time using a cake as a centerpiece (who am I kidding, I do it almost at every party), but this cake in particular, I think because of its dimensions and shape, really adds a lot to a table, and makes any spread just look that much more special. Oh, and last but not least, this project is super easy and forgiving, yet makes you look like a total expert, which if you haven't figured out by now, is my favorite type of project.
Ok, so hopefully I've convinced you to try this by now, so here are all the ingredients you'll need...
And the tools, decorations, and accessories...
- An oven proof glass bowl. I used this Pyrex 2-1/2 quart mixing bowl
- 3 9-inch round cake pans
- A mixer
- A piping bag (Michaels)
- An Elsa doll. This is the one we got
- An offset spatula. Mine looks similar to this
- A serrated knife
- A round pastry cutter - optional. These will work. Mine has a 3 inch diameter.
- Edible snowflakes. I actually got mine at a local store. But these look very much the same.
- Wilton Silver Pearlized Sugar
- Foil paper
- Parchment/wax paper
- Plastic wrap to cover the doll
Preparation
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The Cake
I pretty much use this chocolate cake recipe for every kids birthday cake I make. I love homemade, but I don't like working too hard, and when it comes to a birthday cake that a bunch of kids are going to eat, I don't mess around much. I just make something that I know they'll like.
Bake the cakes in preheated oven. Check the cake in the pans after 25 minutes. Take the cakes out if a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine needed an extra 5 minutes. As for the cake in the bowl, that will take longer. Keep checking every 15 minutes or so. Mine took a total of 65 minutes to be ready. Let the cakes cool in room temperature, and then cover with foil.
The Frosting
Using the amounts I listed in the frosting ingredients above, you'll have just enough frosting. You will need to be conservative in your use of frosting, though. If this makes you a little nervous, multiply the amounts above by 1.5, and you're sure to have enough. As for me, I like to live on the wild side (not!)
Here are the directions for the frosting:
- Cream shortening until fluffy. Add sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.
- Add salt, vanilla, and 6 oz whipping cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional 2 oz whipping cream.
- While still blending, start adding blue food coloring. Slowly keep adding the food coloring until you get the color you want. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.
Cutting the Cakes
Chill your cakes in the freezer for about 45 minutes before you cut them. This will reduce the crumbs, and make cutting much easier. Grab your first cake, and lift it off the pan (#1). Invert it, and peel off the foil (#2). Using a serrated knife, trim the dome off (#3), and invert your cake.
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Cut a small circle right in the center of the cake. You can either use a small serrated knife or a round pastry cutter (#4). Place your cake on the cake platter. To keep your cake platter clean, you can use little pieces of parchment or wax paper, and tuck them under the cake (see #5 & #6 below).
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Separate your frosting into two bowls. One is going to be used for the crumb coat, and the other for the final coat. Take a nice sized dollop of frosting (from the crumb coat bowl!), and place it right on the cake. Using your offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the entire surface (#7). Repeat the above process for the rest of the cakes placing them right on top of each other. When you get to the cake in the bowl, don't cut off the dome. Instead, cut it in half as shown in the photo below (#8). If you rotate the cake as you go instead of cutting straight through, it will be easier to cut. Cut a small circle in the center of both pieces, spread some frosting in between, and place on top of your cake.
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Crumb Coat
A crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting that covers the entire cake, and seals in the crumbs, so that your final coat looks nice and clean. In #1 below, you can see an example of what I mean when I say this cake is very forgiving. As you can see from the picture, there's quite a gap between my second and third layers. But no worries - I can spread some more frosting on my gap (see #2), and no one needs to know...
You might want to spread the inside smooth as well (see #3). It doesn't really matter how it looks because it's going to get filled in later, but you just want to make sure you cover all those crumbs.
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Another cool trick I like to use is to cut a strip of paper, fold it lengthwise, and then curve the fold to the side of the cake, and pull straight up (#4 below). This really smoothes out the cake, and gets rid of all that extra frosting. You want to do this all around the cake, of course.
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Ok, your cake should be looking more or less like my #5 above. It's time to put it in the freezer. Set your timer for about 45 minutes, and go do some dishes (If you're anything like me, your kitchen is quite a disaster by now!)
Final Coat & Decorations
It's time to use that final coat bowl of frosting we prepared earlier. Take your cake out of the freezer, place a nice sized dollop of frosting on top, and start spreading it on. We just want to make sure we cover the entire cake at this point. It doesn't have to be pretty (yet!).
Ok, at this point, you can smooth the cake out using the paper trick I described above. But, I like doing these little swirls because... well just because they're very hard to mess up, and they really give the dress some nice texture. All you do is take your spatula, press it into the frosting, spin it, and lift it up (see #1 below). I think of it as making U's and upside down U's, but that might only make sense to me. In any case, I just do random movements all over the dress (see #2), and somehow it all works out...
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It's time to insert the doll!!! Cover it up with some clear plastic wrap, and insert it into the cake. Fill in the gaps around the doll's waist with some frosting, and get your piping bag...
If you have never piped before, you might want to practice this on some foil before you do the real thing. It's really not that complicated, and it really doesn't need to be perfect - this cake is impressive enough! But, a little bit of practice will make you feel a lot more confident...
Ok, place some frosting inside your bag, and cut a small hole in the bottom. Now, squeeze, hold in place, and then pull out. As you release pressure, you'll get a nice small star. It's up to you how much of this you do, I started out thinking I'll put her in a sleeveless top, but the 'real' Elsa wears long sleeves, and it didn't really look right. So I covered her entire top, and got the look I wanted.
I sprinkled some snowflakes (with no pattern because snowflakes don't fall in a pattern!), and added some silver pearlized sugar, and ta-da! Here she is, all dressed up and ready for the party...
I hope you had as much fun as I did! For more Frozen party ideas, head over to my Frozen party post. See you soon,
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