frozen elsa cake with white chocolate drizzle and fondant snowflake cutouts

My best friend Sue's daughter, Leia, turned four last May, and at the time she was super into Frozen, so she asked me to make her an Elsa cake! Just like the year before, Leia requested a chocolate cake, except this time we decided that I'd make it extra chocolatey and fill it with chocolate mousse (instead of the fresh strawberries and whipped cream filling that I did for her Curious George birthday cake!)

For the cake, I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe (in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book!), and baked it two 8-inch round cake pans. Then once the cake was baked and cooled, I sliced each one in half horizontally, giving me four cake layers. Then I filled it with a rich chocolate mousse filling, using a piping bag fitted with a large round tip to give me even layers of mousse which I smoothed out with an offset spatula.

For the frosting, I whipped up a batch of Swiss meringue buttercream, which I tinted turquoise using a bit or royal blue gel-based food coloring. Then I covered the top and sides with a quick crumb coat, let it chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, and then did a final smooth coat.

Then I let the cake chill overnight, and I was ready to decorate the next morning!

First I added a white chocolate drizzle around the top and and sides of the cake. (Note: I didn't spread out the chocolate on the top of the cake fast enough, so I wasn't able to get a smooth finish. Then again, it did look a bit like ice!)

Next, I added various sizes of snowflakes, which I had cut out of fondant a head of time using this plunge cutter. (Note: use lots of cornstarch on the cutter, because I had a really hard time getting the cutouts to come out!)

Then I added a piped beaded border using white buttercream, and then it was time to add the Elsa topper! We chose this funko pop figurine as the topper, because it was super cute, and plus Leia would have an Elsa toy to play with afterwards!

I thought it turned out really cute!

Here are some picture of Leia with her cake (Isn't she the cutest?! She has the best smile!)

Happy Birthday, Leia!!!

boss baby first birthday cake

Along with "Inside Out" smash cake that I made for my friend Stephanie, I also made this "Boss Baby" smash cake for her son Jayden! Since her son totally looks like Boss Baby, she wanted to use a Funko Pop Boss Baby doll as the cake topper!

For Jayden's cake, we decided on vanilla cake simply filled with whipped cream, since he was just turning one and she wanted something semi-plain for him. So I baked up two 6-inch vanilla cakes (recipe in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book!), allowed them to cool, and then sliced them i half horizontally to give me four cake layers. Then I filled each layer with freshly whipped cream. Since I was making two cakes, I totally forgot to take pictures of the cake stacking process, except for this one picture that I posted on Instagram (of the two cakes).

Once the cake was assembled, I covered it with cream cheese buttercream, and then using a medium round tip I piped a blue beaded border along the top and bottom of the cake.

Then I let it chill in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, I was ready to decorate! I started by piping Jayden's name on the front of the cake, as well as "Boss Baby" on the top of the cake (as requested by Stephanie!)

And then I was ready to add the cake topper!

It's ridiculous because it looks exactly like Jayden! (See the second to the last picture!)

Happy Birthday, Jayden! Hope you enjoyed your cake!

inside out cake

Some time ago, I made a "Tangled" Rapunzel cake for my friend Monica, and we used a Funko Pop Rapunzel doll as the cake topper. A few months later, my friend Stephanie asked me to make her daughter an "Inside Out" birthday smash cake, using a Funko Pop doll as well! Her daughter Riley's favorite character from the movie was "Disgust", so we chose that as the cake topper!

Since Disgust's colors were purple and green, she requested that layers of cake matched those colors, and so I baked up two 6-inch vanilla cakes, one tinted with violet and the other tinted with leaf green. (You can find the vanilla cake recipe in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book!) Then I sliced each cake in half horizontally, giving me four cake layers.

Next I filled each layer with freshly whipped cream and fresh sliced strawberries, alternating the purple and green cake layers.

Once the cake was assembled, I covered it with cream cheese buttercream (I do this in two steps - first a quick crumb coat, then chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, and then I add a second smooth coat of frosting, smoothing it out with a large offset spatula). Then I divided the remaning frosting, tinted them with red, yellow, blue, and green, and using a medium round tip, I piped a rainbow beaded border on the top and bottom of the cake.

After letting the cake chill in the refrigerator overnight, I was ready to finish decorating the next morning. First I piped Riley's name on the front of the cake ...

And then I added the cake topper. Since the base of the topper was pretty narrow, I couldn't find a good way secure it to the top of the cake, so I ended up melting some white chocolate, poured a dollop onto a silicone baking liner, and pressed the bottom of the topper into it while it was still melted. The once it hardened, it made a great flat and secure base for the topper to stay on the cake!

I just love these Funko Pop dolls! They are so adorable and they make great cake toppers!

I also made a second smash cake for Stephanie's son Jayden, because she was having one big party to celebrate both of her kids' birthdays! (More on that in my next post!)

Happy Birthday, Riley! Hope you enjoyed your cake!

tangled rapunzel birthday cake with buttercream flowers

I've baked a lot of fun goodies for my friend Monica over the past few years, including pool party piggy cookies and a piggy cake, a chevron gender reveal cake, graduation cap cookies, a Hello Kitty pom pom cake, a circus carnival baby shower cake, and teapot cookies, but this one has to be my favorite so far! Her daughter absolutely loves the movie Tangled, so she asked me to make her a Tangled Rapunzel cake for her birthday! After discussing a few options, we decided that we would use this adorable Funko Pop Rapunzel doll as the cake topper, and I would continue Rapunzel's long hair down and around the cake. 

As for the cake itself, she chose a vanilla cake with lemon whipped cream and fresh blueberries. So I baked up my favorite vanilla cake (recipe in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book!) in two 8-inch round cake pans, and baked them at 350F until golden brown. 

Once cooled, I sliced them in half horizontally, giving me four layers, and then topped each layer with fresh whipped cream (spiked with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice) and fresh blueberries.

Then I whipped up a batch of cream cheese buttercream, and covered the top and sides of the cake with it.

I usually do a quick crumb coat of frosting, let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, and then do a final coat of frosting, smoothing out the sides with a long metal spatula while using a long offset spatula for the top.

Then I piped a neat beaded border along the bottom, using a disposable pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip.

Next came the Rapunzel topper, which I attached with a bit of frosting on the bottom.

Then came buttercream flowers, which I had piped in advanced onto pieces of waxed paper, and then chilled in the freezer until they were hard and easy to handle.

For Rapunzel's hair, I tinted some frosting with golden yellow gel-based food coloring, and then used a star tip to pipe her long hair down and around the side of the cake.



I also used forest green tinted frosting and a leaf tip to pipe some leaves in between the buttercream flowers.

And then final step was to pipe long branches of ivy leaves down the sides of the cake as well.

Seriously, one of my favorite cakes to make so far!

Hope you enjoyed your cake and had a fantastic birthday, Viviana!