The Girl’s BFF turned 18 last week, and so we decided to make her a Barbie cake for the big day. {Can you believe it was her first one?} It was our way of helping her say goodbye to “childhood”–though, I have to admit, The Girl and her friends have been gracefully mature for so long, we should have made her the cake when she was 15.
Ingredients
2 boxes Cake Mix {if you want to make your cake from scratch, that’s cool too}
Oven Safe Bowl {I used my 5 cup Pampered Chef Batter Bowl}
2 9″ round cake pans
Frosting {enough to send a small child into a diabetic coma}
1 Barbie Doll
Straws
Directions
Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box. Split the mixture between your greased oven safe bowl and cake pans. Bake. Allow your cakes to cool a bit before you flip them out of their pans, it will lessen the likelihood of them breaking.
When cakes have completely cooled, slice the rounded part of the cakes from the 9″ cake pan off carefully to create a flat surface. Next, slice the rounded part of the cake from the bowl. Then, cut the remainder in half.
SAVE ALL OF THE PIECES YOU ARE CUTTING.
Now it’s time to stack those bad boys. Lay the 9″ trimmed flat cake on the bottom of a serving platter. Frost the top, repeat and then carefully stack the bottom half of the bowl cake next. Frost to hold the next layer, and stack the domed part of the bowl cake on top.
Frost the entire cake with a “base layer” of frosting. The cake can be a bit crumbly at this stage so I always frost a base layer first.
You may also want to stabilize the whole thing in order to prevent it from sliding off { I don’t but my neighbor Girly Girl always does}. So, take 4 straws and push them down into the cake, making sure they go through all of the layers.
If the doll is too tall for the cake, just build up the frosting {or chop off her legs}. You can also buy cake dolls without legs for this exact purpose.
Finally, using a piping tip, frost the doll to give her a top to her dress and decorate the “skirt.”
~Mavis
Madam Chow says
You made me laugh with those little strategically placed squiggles!
Mavis Butterfield says
I try to keep it g rated around here. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Jennifer says
i love that you censored the barbie hahaha!
Karin c says
My mom has made these for years, she used an angel food pan or bunt pan for the skirt. My aunt made a bride one and one each for my bridesmaids 6 in total. This is bringing back a little piece of history.
Angela C Parker says
I’ve always used the bundt pan, so easy.
Marissa says
How do you do it with the Bundt pan?
Stacey says
I’ve seen these before, but have never made one. I’m going to try it the first chance I get. I just love the idea. I think I would rather use a Barbie that the birthday girl can keep afterward, so I’d keep the legs intact.
Laura says
I made this for my 3 year old’s bday a few years ago. I baked the cake in my Kitchen aid mixer bowl. Super easy and perfect shape. It turned out super cute!
Mavis says
Genius idea to use the Kitchen Aid bowl!
Trish says
How long did you bake the cake in the kitchen aid mixing bowl?
Mavis says
It was according to the cake mix directions.
Michele says
How many boxes of cake mix did you use in the kitchen aid bowl??
ChrisM says
I can’t get past the banners over Barbie’s private areas. I’m laughing!!!
PattyB says
I remember the lady who babysat me and my brother back in 1955. She made birthday cakes as a side business… a doll cake using a small plastic doll (no Barbie then) and a train cake using candy for the details. I thought she was a genius! The family also had a chicken business. Couple hundred chickens. They sold the eggs all year and, in the Fall, cooking hens. They also had a “Lassie” dog (as I called her), a Collie. Good times.