Barbie cake tutorial!

One of my favorite things to do for our kids for their birthdays is to make a special cake for them.  I usually ask them what kind of cake they would like and then we scour the internet for ideas. Yes buying a store bought cake is probably cheaper, but this is something special between the kids and I.

This year Katelyn is turning 6 and she decided on a Barbie cake.  I had never tried this type of cake before, but I was up for the challenge. 

Here are the steps that I used to make this cake come to life:

1.  I whipped up two cake mixes and baked them in a shallow 2 Qt glass pyrex bowl and 2- nine inch cake pans.  I could have used a special pyrex bowl that is deeper, however I didn't want to spend the money.  I could have borrowed, but realized I could just what I have here.  After they cooled, I wrapped them in plastic wrap, foil, and then froze them.

2.   The night before I was ready to decorate the cake, I cut out the middle hole. Cakes are much easier to cut when they are frozen.   I had to use the Barbie for measurements.  I realized that my cake stacked was too shallow for our Barbie.  Who knew Barbie was so tall? So obviously I was a little off and could have used another 2- nine inch cakes stacked.  I didn't have time to do that, so I topped the cake off with an upside down styrofoam bowl.

3.  I let the cake defrost for a little bit and put a coat of frosting on it.  I even frosted the bowl.

4.  For my fondant I used a coupon for:  Duff Fondant from Michael's.  Usually this stuff is expensive, but by the time I added up the cost it would take to buy the ingredients for home made fondant, my time, AND the chances were pretty good that I would screw up my own fondant...my coupon was starting to look really appealing.  I bought a container that was 32 oz  and it was plenty to cover my stacked cake. 

You might be asking why I frosted the cake?  It gives it a base layer so my fondant would stick.  Plus fondant isn't the tastiest, so if someone doesn't like fondant, they can peel it back and enjoy the frosting underneath.

I spread a light coat of powdered sugar out and rolled out the fondant.  After it was pretty thin, I carefully placed it over the cake, cut around the cake, and then cut out the middle.

5.  I wrapped the Barbie in plastic wrap to protect her:)

6.  I then decorated away.  I didn't like the fact that the Barbie's plastic top was light pink.  It didn't quiet go with the bright pink fondant, so I covered her front with topping.  I left her back bare because of her hair.

 You can be creative with decorating.  Fondant is really easy to decorate with different piping tips. 

I then got done decorated and thought...oh shoot.  Where am I going to put the candles?  So I made a little "6" out of rice crispy treats and whoola we have a place for candles!

My husband said that he thinks that this is my best cake yet...99% of my other ones usually don't turn out.  But hey...the kids are always impressed!!

Katelyn's reactive was priceless.  She LOVED it!  Makes me happy!  I hope her friends enjoy it as well!