Buttercream frosting – make sure butter is room temperature, otherwise frosting doesn’t come out very smooth

I’ve seen some amazing characters created for cakes – most made out of fondant. They are truly works of art! But few can sculpt these beauties for their own cakes made at home. So for this cake, I used a toddler doll version of Rapunzel, which I bought at my local Walmart. It even came with her adorable little chameleon friend Pascal!! This helped create an amazing cake for a 3 year old, and she can have the doll and toy to play with later! Her puffy sleeves. I started with 2 fondant balls to make sure they are equal and match. Then I started shaping them! Add the vanilla and add it to our princess! Now we have the base design complete. You could leave it here for a decent cake, but to take it over the top it’s time to start working on the details. That’s what really makes the cake. I made this beautiful cake for my granddaughter Zoe’s 3rd birthday. She requested a “Rapunzel” cake – part of her love of all things “Princess”!! In fact, a REAL PRINCESS was invited to her party – how fun was that??

I covered the pretty section with some luster dust and then to bring out the detail I painted the lines with a paint brush and clear vanilla! (notice I rolled up her 16 inch long hair and using a twist tie kept it out of her face, and out of the way while I worked on the dress!) Next up? The sleeves. Her dress has sheer sleeves. Since I can’t get completely sheer I did roll it out as thin as I could, see… You can see the writing through the fondant. Cut it down to strips, about the width of the arm. Paint it with clear vanilla and carefully wrap it around her arms. Trim the edges under the arm!

I had to overcome a few structural issues in constructing this cake. First of all, I had to secure a long wooden skewer to the doll, under her dress. This would be inserted deep into the cake (about 3″), so I wouldn’t have to worry about the doll tipping over! I secured it with 2 zip ties, TIGHTLY under the dress. Freeze and frost.I usually like to wrap the whole cake in plastic wrap and pop it in the freezer overnight after it has cooled. This makes it so much easier to frost later on. Insert doll into the top of the cake (you may want to use a knife to cut a hole the width of the Barbie doll if it is still fairly frozen) and decorate Photo Disclaimer: – Images used in this article are owned by the respective individuals, artists, or other parties who post on their private social media accounts. These images only serve as an inspiration and cannot be copied (images or designs) for personal use.Since I doubled the cake, I doubled this too – and again had a lot left over. But I was paranoid about running out. Also, this was a little bit runny for me – but it actually worked well when it came to decorating that it wasn’t so stiff. You can also use fondant or marzipan to decorate the cake like with our Barbie cake recipe. Just roll it out thin and cover the cake. Stir flour mixture into the batter alternating with the milk. Do NOT FORGET TO ADD ALL THE MILK. I did, and they were a little on the dhry side.

Shear the tops of your cakes so that they have an even surface. A serrated knife works best, and if you freeze them for about 45 minutes, that will help keep crumbs to a minimum. DON’T freeze these overnight, and DON’T wrap them in waxed paper and freeze together until they are completely cooled. Even if they feel like they are, don’t believe it. As you might guess, I did both of the above and spent a considerable amount of time (and cut myself repeatedly in the process) of trying to separate the frozen cakes. When using a fruit filling such as this blueberry jam, it’s important to keep it contained by piping a circle of frosting around the cake, before adding the jam, then top with a thin layer of whipped topping. Too much, and this will leak out the sides of the cake! Less is more! Now using a sharp knife trim the bodice into shape! Remember you can do any princess you want, so use the colors and bodice shape of the princess your trying to make. The cake itself, has 5 thin layers of vanilla cake, 3 – 8″ layers, and 1 – 6″ cake sliced in half. For these, I used my favorite Golden Vanilla cake mix from King Arthur Flour.Cut a small hole in the center of each. You are going to drop your doll into this hole. Make it as small as possible. I couldn’t find a cookie cutter the right size, so I actually make my circle cut pattern with a soft-boiled egg holder lid that my mother-in-law gave us. (First time I found legitimate use for it.) Separate your frosting into bowls, color with food coloring, then cover with a damp cloth until ready to use so the frosting doesn’t dry out. Here is the Rapunzel cake I made last week for a birthday party. The techniques I’m going to show you can work for any of the princesses or other women doll cakes you’d like to make yourself.