How to Make a Barbie Cake - PEOPLE

The Barbie movie is the perfect excuse to make a cake — a Barbie cake, that is.

The dessert is typically made with a literal doll in the middle of a dome-shaped cake decorated to look like Barbie's dress. It's been popular for years, and for good reason, too: It's easy to put together and is a hit with kids (and adults, for that matter).

As People Food editor (and the staff's resident baker) who's made a Barbie cake or two, I complied everything you need to know to master the adorable confection just in time for this weekend's premiere.

The Cake

You have multiple options for baking up your cakes. (Any box mix will do or try my go-to confetti cake here.) You could bake your batter in a dome-shaped pan, like this one. An oven-proof bowl will work too. If you go this route, just make sure your pan is greased insanely well because you want to preserve as much of that dome shape as possible. This option means you won't have worry about carving your cakes.

If you only have regular cake pans, they'll work just fine, and are actually my preference since you have more control over the shape. You just need at least two different sizes. For mine, I used two 4-inch pans, and two 6-inch pans.

Whichever baking method you choose, you'll need to hollow out the middle. Once the cakes are cool, use a two-inch dough cutter to cut holes all the way through.

The Carving

If using regular cake pans, you'll need to carve the cakes with a serrated knife to get the cone shape of Barbie's dress. Make sure your cakes are very cold — freeze them at least one hour — to reduce the amount of crumbs. Assemble them in size order (smallest on top) and add frosting between each layer; then start carving.

Once you're happy with the shape, do a thin crumb coat. For the final coat of frosting, I used a flexible cake smoother around the rounded top, but don't stress over making it too perfect because we're just going to cover it up with decorations anyway.

The Doll

With your cake in the fridge, you can start to prep the Barbie. Use any version you have — mine was a mermaid Barbie. Give her an up-do if she has long hair and wrap her legs in plastic wrap to avoid getting any small pieces or hair in your cake.

The rest is pretty straightforward: Push Barbie into the two-inch holes you left in your cake.

How to make a Barbie cake.

Ana Calderone

The Decorating

The beauty of a Barbie cake is that you can decorate her skirt however you want in colors that match the doll's top half. The easiest method is to use a bunch of different floral piping tips — like 2D and 1M — and just go nuts.

I did a vintage-inspired dress with tips 3 and tip 4B at her waist; tip 070 for the ruffles with tip 32 on top of those; and added some shell details with tip 21. I finished it off with edible pearls.

If you're not equipped with as many piping tools as me, there's still hope. Fill a plastic bag with buttercream and cut a large hole in one corner. Make small dollops all over the cake — it'll still look great and Barbie fans won't know the difference.

Need a buttercream recipe? Try my Swiss-meringue buttercream.

Adblock test (Why?)