I made this cake for a Dora Fan who celebrated her party in Zoobic Safari. So her mom requested for a cake that would fit their theme Dora’s Jungle Safari Adventure. The cake design looks like it’s full of leaves and animals are peeking through the foliage. On top of the cake is Dora and I then added the trees. For the celebrant’s name, I made a giraffe’s pattern out of gumpaste and punched out the name.

Cake details:
Size: 8″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

A lot of girls like the Disney Princess and I’ve made a few cakes featuring all of them but there are girls who only like one princess best. For Bianca her favorite is Snow White. I used a non-edible cake topper for this cake.

Cake details:
Size:
Bottom: 8″
Top: 6″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant

This is fast becoming my most requested Pororo cake design.

Cake details:

Size: 8″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

You might remember the Curious George cake that we did a few months ago. That design was so popular that we got another request for the exact same cake. We made this cake with 12″ and 10″ tiers in Bubbly Butterscotch flavor for a 5th birthday party. All toppers are made with fondant.

Curious George cake
George, Jumpy and the yellow hat
Inscription
Hundley
Fondant decorations

I am not really a fan of superheroes but my son is. So he helped me conceptualize this cake. He was the one who said that I should make an “Arc Reactor” and put it beside the Ironman cake topper. He was also specific on the design of the “Arc reactor”.

Cake details:
Size: 9″x 13″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Character: Gumpaste

Sure you could go out and buy a specially shaped character cake pan, but how many times are you really going to use it? Unless you plan on making dozens of Sponge Bob cakes, these expensive pans are kind of a waste. Besides, if your kids are anything like mine they’ll likely outgrow their favorite cartoon character before you get your money’s worth out of the pan anyway.

So what do you do when you want to DIY your kid’s next birthday party but have no idea where to begin with the cake? Here are some ideas:

Cutout Cakes

My son’s Team Umizoomi Bot cake

Cutout cakes are a great idea when you don’t want to go overboard with cake construction. They can be as simple or as detailed as you want to make them, all you need is a sheet cake, a sharp knife, and a good template to get started.

To make a template you can use a blown up image from a coloring book, a hand drawn image, or an online printable. For my son’s Bot cake I used a printable poster from Nick Jr.’s website that I put together and cut out to get the shape for the cake.

When choosing a template you want to make sure there aren’t a lot of small, detailed pieces that jut out of the cake because these pieces will usually fall apart if not held up with structural supports like toothpicks, dowels, or skewers. I learned this the hard way with Bot’s arm that ended up needing a bamboo skewer support to keep from flopping over. Lesson learned: cut around and “draw” in the detail with icing.

For the cake, any firm cake (think pound cake or sponge cake) will do. If you aren’t a from-scratch baker Duncan Hines’ Butter Golden cake mix works fabulously for cutout cakes! Just be sure and follow the mixing instructions exactly to achieve the proper texture, then fill the pan 2/3 full. A 9″x13″x2″ pan takes one box of cake mix.

Freeze or chill the cake for a half hour before cutting it to get the cleanest edges and avoid crumbling. Arrange your template over the cake, then cut carefully with a sharp knife. Avoid rough, sawing motions as much as possible, and be sure to take your time. If you notice the cake getting too soft or crumbly, put it back in the freezer or fridge to chill again before continuing.

Using a template to cut out the cake.

Finished shape, before icing.

Ice and decorate your cake according to the design. You can ice your cake with a base color and then pipe on your details, or you can cover it with fondant and use cut out fondant or candy pieces for the details. For my son’s Bot cake I iced the cake in buttercream, then used fondant cutouts for the details, then outlined the whole thing in black using a tube of store bought black icing fitted with a small round tip.

Frozen Buttercream Transfers

If you have a steady hand and lots of time, you may want to try a frozen buttercream transfer, which is an image traced in icing on a sheet of waxed paper which is then frozen stiff and placed icing-side-down on the cake. When the waxed paper is carefully peeled off you have the traced character image on top of the cake. These are a lot of fun to do but can take a looooong time depending on how detailed your image is. Here’s a youtube video by Wilton that describes the process.

Sculpted Cakes

If you really want to pull out the big guns you can try sculpting your specialty cake. Sculpting cake can be very challenging and takes a lot of practice to get right, but makes for some beautiful cakes. Anyone who’s ever seen Ace of Cakes or Cake boss knows exactly what I’m talking about!

Pound cakes are definitely the best for sculpting, as they have the perfect texture and are sturdy enough for carving. This recipe from Cake Central is perfect for sculpted cakes.

Here are two examples of sculpted cakes I did for my kids’ birthdays

Last year’s Thomas the Train cake. Decorated with buttercream icing and Thomas decorations from a kit I got at the party store.

My son saw a Toy Story “Andy’s Bed” cake online and had to have one. It was surprisingly easy to make and required very little carving. The “wood” floor and headboard were made with gumpaste which I distressed with a pizza cutter and painted with brown food coloring gel.

You don’t have to be a pro or spend a lot of money to DIY an awesome birthday cake. Just have fun and be creative!

Related Posts:

Thomas the Train Birthday Cake

Portal Birthday Cake

Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Cake

Rainbow Layer Cake

Out of the cakes I made, this belongs to my favorites. I “loooovvveee” Peanuts characters, so when Evan’s mom requested me to make a cake based on the iPad game Snoopy’s Street Fair I was psyched! Since the Peanuts characters are in a 2-dimensional medium, the challenge was how to interpret them in 3D. So when I finished making woodstock, I immediately posted the picture on the Norie’s Kitchen page.

On the top of the cake I created a red doghouse and top of it are Snoopy and his friend Woodstock. Alongside the doghouse is Charlie Brown. Then I used the same font as that of the Snoopy’s Street Fair logo to write Evan’s name. Then on the bottom layer of the cake, I made the stalls in the Street Fair game out of fondant cut-outs. I then used an edible marker to mark the outline of the fondant cut-outs to make it look like it was drawn.

Also this cake was ordered with cupcakes with the Peanuts characters as the toppers.

Cake details:
Size:
Bottom: 12″ round x 5″ high
Top: 6″ round x 5″ high
Flavor: Chocolate with Ganache Filling
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

This cake is based on the main protagonist of the One Piece Anime. I made the Monkey D. Luffy character out of gumpaste and for the top of the cake I designed it with the logo of the “Straw Hat Pirates”

Cake details:
Size: 6″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Character: Gumpaste

Every little girl dreams of being a princess. And who’s the most famous fairy tale princess but Cinderella. For this cake, they wanted a castle cake and also requested me to include a carriage in-front of the castle waiting on Cinderella.

Cake details:
Size:
Bottom Layer: 10″ round
Top Layer: 6″ round
Flavor: Chocolate with Ganache Filling
Icing: Fondant

When the Avengers the movie came out it created a spike on my webpage and a lot of people inquired if I can also make an Avengers cake for them. But a lot of them were not from the Philippines so I wasn’t able to make their cakes.
For this cake, I decided to make the cake a bit dark. This would balance out the colorful costumes of the characters. For the background, I made a cityscape since the movie was shot in New York City. Then I added the Avengers logo and the name of the celebrant which I handpainted with an edible silver glitter. Then my son helped me with the placement of the Avengers. He said that Captain America should be in-front since he is the leader. Then at the back would be The Hulk and Thor because of a scene in the Avengers Movie that he thought funny. Then Ironman and the Black Widow will be at the sides of the cake because he remembered that Black Widow became Ironman’s assistant in another movie. Whenever I make cakes for boys, I ask my son to help me out with the design because he knows what’s cool for boys like him.

Cake details:
Size:
Bottom: 10″
Top: 6″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

The Elmo’s Song has really a catchy tune. So I wouldn’t be surprised if someone asked me to make a cake based on that theme again. Like I did for my previous Sesame street cakes, I used the Sesame street sign to put in the name of the Birthday celebrant. Then on the bottom layer I used a striped pattern and if you’re really a Sesame street fan you would easily recognize it.

Cake details:
Size:
T
op: 6″
Bottom: 10″
Flavor: Chocolate wtih Ganache filling
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

This cake is based on the Monster High Show. This show also has a doll series too. On this cake is Frankie Stein and her pet Watzit. Frankie Stein is the daughter of Frankenstein. To tie up the design of the cake, i used the plaid pattern on her dress and added stitches on the cake. I also added the Monster High logo at the front of the cake.

Cake details:
Size: 8″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

Alice in Wonderland is becoming a popular theme for birthday cakes. For this cake, I covered the cake board with cards of different suits. Then at the front of the cake is the door with a face. Then for the second layer, I added the White Rabbit’s pocket clock. Since the design of this cake is a bit simple compared to my previous Alice in Wonderland cake, I made the cake wonky to add movement to the design. When you look at the cake you feel that the teacup will tip over since the cake layers aren’t level.

Cake details:
Size:
Bottom: 8″
Top: 6″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

When the Avengers movie came out, I got a lot of hits on my first Avengers cake. For my 2nd Avengers cake this time it’s the Lego version. For the name of the birthday celebrant, I used the color pallete of the Lego logo and randomly added lego blocks on the sides of the cake.

Cake details:
Size: 10″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

My first Alice in Wonderland cake. What I love about this cake is the whimsical theme of the cake. The bottom layer is the Cheshire Cat. On top of that layer is the Queen of Hearts and on the other side is the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit won’t be complete without his trusty watch. The top layer is patterned after the Mad Hatter’s hat. The top layer is Alice having tea with the Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar. I also added to accent the blank spaces are the flower faces.

Cake details:
Bottom Layer: 10″
Top Layer: 6″
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

Here is a Baby Mickey and Minnie cake where they are dressed as farmers. I colored the cake green to make it look like they’re having a picnic. On the side of the cake I put in a frog with a lilypad then an apple tree on the other side.

Cake details:
Size: 8″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

One of my favorite animated movies. This movie has something for both the kids and the parents. The kids can relate to adventure of Russel, while the parents would’ve surely shed a tear for the lovestory of Mr. and Mrs. Fredrickson.

So when I was asked to make a cake based on this movie, I was so excited.

Cake details:
Size:
Bottom: 8″
Top: 6″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

A lot of people are collectors of Hello Kitty accessories and maybe this cake is for one of those Hello Kitty collectors. While most of my cakes just feature Hello Kitty, but for this cake they requested me to add a Hello Kitty watch and bag.

Cake details:
Size: 8″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters/Accessories: Gumpaste

You know you’re doing a good job if you get repeat customers, this is the 3rd cake I made for Annalyn. She got all the cake for her 3 sons from us. This design is similar to a Little Einsteins cake I made before but this time she wanted me to add Elmo. Thanks Annalyn for making Norie’s Kitchen a part of your family’s special occasions. Sorry for the late posting though.

Cake details:
Size: 9″ x 13″
Flavor: Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Filling
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste

For this Cars cake, I decided to add height to the cake by adding a banner. This cake is based on the Cars 2 movie, that’s why Francesco is present on the cake. This cake was ordered with cupcakes featuring miniature versions of Sally, Mater and Lightning McQueen.

Cake Details:

Size: 10″
Flavor: Chocolate
Icing: Fondant
Characters: Gumpaste