Learn how to make a Barbie doll cake with a few piping tips, a doll, and an oven safe bowl. No special fancy pan required!
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When I was a little girl, it was a BIG DEAL to get a Barbie cake-you know where her dress was made of cake and then after the party you got the barbie to play with. Hands down, one of my most memorable birthday cakes.
So you can imagine, I was super pumped when my niece asked for one for her birthday cake. I assumed I would have to purchase a special pan for the occasion, which is ok…but I live in an apartment and so pans with only one purpose are not my favorite thing.
But, after talking to my mom, she’s like-“they didn’t have pans like that when you girls were little, I baked your cakes in a bowl.”
Duh-of course that would work. So here’s what you need-a bowl, preferably something metal or glass and round like you want your dress. The one I used was metal and was about 8 inches across. I added an 8 inch cake layer to add height underneath because the original cake wasn’t quite tall enough.
Supplies Needed:
- Barbie doll-I chose a doll with a printed on swimsuit, I wasn’t initially sure if I was going to make her a top out of fondant. Also, my niece was very concerned about her being naked after the cake was gone.
- Oven safe bowl-to bake our cake in
- Cake pan that is similarly sized to the top of your oven safe bowl-to bake the other part of our cake.
- Wilton #104 piping tip-for her skirt
- Piping bag and coupler
- Offset spatula-optional-you can totally use a regular knife, I simply like the offset spatula for smoothing the crumb coat.
- Fondant-optional-for making the top of her dress. You can also pipe frosting for the top of her dress too, I preferred the smooth look of fondant.
- Frosting-1 batch American buttercream-to get the ombre look of her dress, split the batch of frosting into fourths and color them progressively darker shades of teal.
How To Decorate A Barbie Cake:
- Bake and cool your cakes. Make and color your buttercream.- You can do this days or weeks ahead-you can freeze both cake and buttercream.
- Cover your cake board.
- Make Barbie’s fondant top. To do this I simply cut a rectangular piece of fondant the size of her body and then two small rectangular pieces for the straps. I used an Exacto knife to trim a sweetheart neckline once the fondant was on the doll.
- Stack your cakes. Stick Barbie into your cakes. If desired, you can wrap her legs in plastic wrap to keep her a little cleaner. You should also tie her hair up if he has long hair and raising her arms up makes it easier to decorate your cake.
- Crumb coat your cakes. I used a little bit of white buttercream but really any color will work because you’re covering it up with your decorations. Chill your cake.
- Fit your piping bag with a coupler and #104 tip and fill your piping bag with buttercream.
- Starting at the bottom of your cake with the fat part of the tip down holding the bag at a 45 degree angle, go around the cake to make ruffle pattern. If you’re making an ombre colored cake, change out the frosting color as needed. (I did 4-5 rows of each color before I changed colors).
- Finish the details of her top. I used pearl sprinkles to add some flair to her top around her neckline and as buttons down the back. I also covered the whole cake with a healthy spritz of edible glitter (because you can never have too much sparkle) and added a ribbon rose to her hip.
Tips for Success:
- Bake you cakes and make your buttercream ahead of time. This will save you a lot of stress.
- Chill your cake after you put the crumb coat on. That way if you touch your piping tip to the cake you won’t drag frosting all over.
- Chill your cake after decorating. Chilling sets the ruffles so they don’t get smashed during transport.
Cake Decorating Resources:
Ribbon Rose Tutorial-fondant ribbon roses are super easy to make. I used this tutorial. You don’t even need a rolling pin.
How To Color Fondant-quick tutorial about how to color fondant.
How To Fill A Piping Bag-the easiest way I have found to fill a piping bag. The trick? Using a drinking glass.
How To Make A Tiered Cake While Working Full Time-this cake isn’t really a tiered cake but this article gives you all my best tips for being a cake baker while also having a full time job to keep your stress levels to a minimum! It also has my recipe for “sturdy cake” which is a great stacking cake.
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Happy Baking!
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Happy Baking!