Barbie Birthday Cake

As I promised, here is the tutorial for making a Barbie cake.  I made these cakes for birthdays.  However, you can use them for anything.  I had a Barbie cake for my 4th birthday (just a few years ago) and I LOVED that cake.  I still remember it...take a look at that beauty...

I was so impressed with that cake and no other every compared.  For my bridal shower my mom, sisters and best friend got me a Barbie cake and it was SO perfect!  They bought it from Publix and when they told me the price my usual response came out "I could make that for less!"



...and so it began, my longing to make a Barbie cake.  Problem: my husband does not like cake and I can't eat a WHOLE cake before it goes bad by myself.  Solution: I stated a new job with co-workers who love when I bring food into the office!

My co-worker, Lacey told me she was throwing her daughter a Barbie themed 6th birthday party.  I volunteered right away to make a Barbie cake for her sweet little girl.

Here's how I did it:

What you need:

Wonder Mold Pan (I got mine at JoAnn's with a 50% off coupon, making it only $10)
-or-
Large glass Pyrex measuring bowl (I don't have one, so I bought the mold)
Icing
Icing tips
Icing Bags
Cake Mix
Barbie Doll or pick (half doll, with just a pick her her bottom half)

What I did:
First, mix up your cake mix (strawberry was requested for the ones I made) and bake in the wonder mold or mixing bowl as directed.  When I used the pick, I used one cake mix.  With the actual Barbie doll I used two cake mixes so that the dress would be 'longer'.

I sprayed the inside of the mold with cooking spray and then covered the inside with a light coat of flower, neither one of my cakes stuck to the pan and they came out right away.  Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan.

Cut off the bubble that will form at the top and level out the cake.  This will ensure that the cake sits level and does not crack or crumble.  Put a cooling rack on top of the pan and flip over, so that the cake is released onto the cooling rack.  Cool for 1 hour.

Now that your cake is cooled and ready for decorating, transfer to the platter you will be serving the cake on.  For the smaller of the two cakes I was able to put it on a plate.  For the larger cake, I used a pizza stone covered in aluminum foil.

QUICK TIP: place three small sheets of waxed paper on top of the platter you will be using to serve the cake on, form a triangle out of the sheets and place the cake on top.  Be sure the sheets of waxed paper are just ever so slightly under the cake.  When finished, pull the sheets out and your platter will be neat and clean!

There she is....the wonder mold!  The wonder mold comes with a rod so that the hold for the Barbie pick is already there.  However, when using the measuring bowl, you could just stick the pick in with no problem.

If you are using a full sized Barbie you will need to cut a hole in the center for the doll to go into.  I just used a spoon to scoop out the cake.

Now, my Barbie was still a wee bit too tall for the cake.  However, I used the icing to build up the area around her hips.  I've even seen some people work this into a mermaid style skirt.  Be sure to wrap the bottom half of your doll in aluminum foil before inserting into the cake.  This will ensure the doll is usable after he days of a cake topper.

The only other option I could think of would be to use a Skipper doll rather than Barbie, she is shorter and you wouldn't have to work around her hips sticking out!

Now, let's get decorating!

First I did a thin coat of icing over the skirt so that any icing work I did that didn't quite match up wouldn't be so noticeable.

QUICK TIP:  Take a scrap piece of computer paper, hold with two hands and drag it up the side of the cake.  This will even out any lines from frosting and give you an even layer of icing.

I was so impressed with the result!  A lot of tutorials I saw just used a thick layer of icing and then used minimal decorations on the skirt.

I however, was not content with that!  You can certainly add fondant, pre-made icing flowers, cake transfers...almost anything onto the skirt.  Make it your own and personalize.

Check out exactly how I decorated my Barbie cakes here.