Yes, really. A pink princess barbie cake. I never thought I would ever type that, but there you go … My friend Tins asked her daughter what kind of cake she wanted for her third birthday, and MizZ came up with a pink princess barbie cake. I have an issue with the unrealistic body image associated with most dolls of this kind … but I also understand that at 3 years old, sometimes fantasy is pink and glitter and conventionally pretty. 😉
AngelKitten and I had a conversation, and decided we were up to the task. I would make the cake (this pink raspberry and vanilla swirl cake), and she would be responsible for the exterior decoration, with assistance from me. We went shopping, and found a lovely brown haired doll with a princess crown already in place, and we also picked up a skirt cake mold from Wilton. I practiced my cake, and AngelKitten drew designs and planned a mixture of fondant, royal icing, buttercream and glitter!
We realised pretty early on that the cake skirt mold would not fit the doll – she was too tall for it. So I knew I had to bake three cakes – a base cake (which we buttercreamed and covered in pink fondant), and then a second smaller round cake, upon which the skirt cake would be stacked. We buttercreamed the small cake and skirt cake, and stuck them together, and then added a top layer of vanilla buttercream. We then covered the skirt cake in white fondant for contrast, and then put a second layer of cut out pink fondant over the top to build up a design. We cut out flowers from the pink fondant so that some of the white would show through, and the design worked really well. We used a lovely white and pink flower ribbon I had originally bought for Chinese New Year cakes – this became the border for the pink fondant on the skirt, as well as a belt, a ribbon tie at the back of the doll, and a shawl.
AngelKitten made beautiful roses from royal icing, which we then added to little mini cupcakes, and she also cut out the lettering from white and light purple fondant. We allowed the lettering to dry overnight, and then we attached it to the cake with royal icing (which dries hard and is like edible superglue!) AngelKitten also made four beautiful purple flower cutouts and attached the letters of MizZ’s name to four organic lollypops. She stuck the lollies through the purple flowers, which she had positioned on mini cupcakes. Finally, AngelKitten spent quite a while delicately going over the cake and highlighting it with edible glitter so our pink princess shimmered and shined.
It was quite a massive undertaking, but the end results were lovely, even if I do say so myself. I like the fact that the ribbon we used was quite Asian … and so the princess had an identity which made sense to us. We christened her Princess Theresa-san … and I am not sure who was happier with her, MizZ or her mama 🙂
Here are some photos of the cake. Please do contact me if you want help in assembling your own princess cake for a birthday or baby shower. I think our cake proves that even those of us without much experience can pull it off!
Princess Theresa-san the night before her debut
Princess Theresa-san at MizZ's Birthday
Princess Theresa-san awaiting the arrival of the children
The back view - we belted Princess T with ribbon (in part to cover up any fondant mistakes!) and AngelKitten tied a beautiful almost kimono like bow at the back. Very pretty!
Happy 3rd Birthday! Our fondant words, cupcakes, and MizZ's name, not in lights, but in lollypops!
A beautiful purple flower cupcake
delectable 