Baking Blog: Princess Birthday Cake

Today's blog post is a departure from what I usually write about. As much as I love Disney travel, I can't be at a Disney park every day of the year (although I would like to be). So, it's nice to be able to bring a little of that Disney magic home through craft and cooking projects. My daughter is all about Disney princesses! She's seen every movie, owns almost every Disney princess doll made, and is working on building up her Disney princess costume closet (so far we have Elsa, Snow White, and Aurora). So, when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted for her last birthday, the answer was obvious: "princess cake." I had promised her that Mommy would bake her birthday cake for her (I dabble in baking as a hobby), so I was more than a little daunted when she told me that she wanted a cake that looked like a castle covered in Disney princess figurines. Fortunately for me, I have a friend who is an ace cake maker who was willing to loan me some of her cake pans and her castle cake kit, along with suggestions for how to attempt to make a cake that looked anything like a castle. After hours (literally HOURS) of work, this was the final result:

Notice Anna and Elsa taking center stage.

Overall, I was very pleased with how this cake turned out. It wasn't perfect by any stretch and it definitely wouldn't win any baking competitions, but it represented the absolute best that I am capable of doing. And it looks like it was more difficult to make than it actually was. If you'd like to recreate this cake and put your own spin on it, here's how I made it.

Baking the Cakes

I know a lot of people like to bake their cakes from scratch and I like to do that too when I have time. But I was planning a party for 30-something people, so I cheated and used boxed cake mixes. The bottom tier was baked in a 10 inch cake pan and it took two boxed cake mixes to get two layers. I only had one 10 inch cake pan, so I baked the layers one at a time. I don't recommend baking both cake mixes at one time in the same pan, because the edges get too brown before the middle gets done. The top tier was baked in a 6 inch cake pan. I used one box of cake mix to get two layers. Again, I only had one cake pan, so I poured half the batter in and baked it, removed it from the pan, and then poured the other half in and baked it. I highly recommend greasing your cake pans with butter and lining the bottom with parchment paper: it helps to make sure nothing sticks. 

Frosting the Cakes

Once my cakes were out of the oven and completely cooled, I put them on cake boards (I use the cardboard ones that you can buy online or at any store that sells cake decorating equipment). The cake board I used for the 6 inch cake was exactly 6 inches in diameter and the cake board I used for the 10 inch cake was 14 inches in diameter so that I had room to pipe some decorations around the bottom of the cake. Before frosting the cakes, I cut the tops off of them to make sure that they were level. Then, I frosted between the layers of each cake. I like to make my frosting from scratch, but you could absolutely use store bought frosting if you want. Just know that you will need A LOT of it! That's one of the reasons I make my frosting myself: it's cheaper to make one big batch and then I can dye it the different colors I need. If you've never made frosting before, a quick Google search for buttercream frosting will bring up several great recipes. Mine is a basic mix of unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a little bit of half and half. I also like to use gel food coloring instead of liquid because it doesn't alter the consistency of the frosting. Once I had frosted between the layers of each cake, I gave both cakes a crumb coat. This is a rough application of frosting that catches any crumbs that might want to come loose from your cake. Crumb coats aren't meant to be pretty: they're simply there to create a nice smooth base for you to put the decorative layer of frosting on top of. After I crumb coated my cakes, I stuck them in the refrigerator for a few minutes. Then, I took them out and put my final layer of frosting on. To smooth the frosting out, I recommend buying a special frosting smoother tool which you can find online or at any store that sells cake decorating supplies. However, you can also use the flat edge of a butter knife. I smoothed the frosting out the best I could and then put both cakes back in the fridge for a few more minutes.

Assembling the Cakes
Once my cakes were frosted, I took the 6 inch cake and carefully placed it in the center of the 10 inch cake. If I had done more than two tiers, I would have reinforced the bottom tier with dowels or smoothie straws, but since it was only two tiers I figured it would be fine to just sit the smaller cake on top of the larger one. If you really want to make sure your cake is structurally sound, though, you can use dowels or smoothie straws for more stability.

Decorating the Cake
Once my cakes were stacked, I took some frosting and put it in a piping bag and piped a decorative border around the top and bottom perimeters of the cake tiers. I chose to pipe using a leaf tip because I wanted my cake to look like it had vines growing on it, but you could use any tip you want. I also piped some frosting on the cake base around the bottom tier of my cake to look like grass. After that I placed the pieces of my friend's castle cake kit on the cake. These included columns, windows, a castle door, etc. The cone-shaped tops of the columns were detachable, so I covered those in frosting and then rolled them in pink and purple edible glitter before putting them back on. I played around with the placement of the castle components and then, once I was happy with it, I piped more leaves around the bases of the columns, along the bottoms of the windows (to look like window boxes), and around the castle door. I then placed flowers that I had made out of gum paste all over the cake. I made my flowers to look like roses and calla lilies in various colors. Gum paste is a little challenging to work with (it dries VERY quickly), so you could absolutely skip this step if you wanted to and pipe flowers instead. I just stink at piping flowers, so I had to use gum paste. Plus, I wanted to be able to make the flowers in advance and gum paste keeps really well. Once the flowers were on the cake, it was time for the finishing touch: the princesses! I bought these figurines online for super cheap and my daughter still plays with them, so they were the gift that keeps on giving!

Trust me, you do not have to be an expert baker to make this cake! You just need to have several hours to spare and a friend who is willing to lend you her baking supplies (or, you know, I guess you could buy some yourself if you wanted to). This cake was a lot of work, but it was a hit at the party and, most importantly, it made my daughter smile. And that made it totally worth it! So, what are you waiting for? Why not give this one a try for your next Disney-princess themed event? No pixie dust required: just a whole lot of elbow grease!