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Kristen Hewitt

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DIY Frozen Birthday Cake

Cake, Celebrations, DIY, Kids, Popular, Recipes

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Amazon, all opinions are my own.

DIY Frozen Birthday Cake

Since the release of the Frozen DVD this week, it seems like it’s the first time in forever since we’ve seen the film. (It’s now on automatic loop in the minivan.)  And since so many friends are getting ready to throw their kids a Frozen birthday party,  I thought I’d share how to make your own special DIY Frozen birthday cake. Minus the big price tag.

I made this two-tiered cake for my daughter’s Frozen 5th birthday party.  After perusing Pinterest I found tons of gorgeous cake ideas…but then priced them out with local bakeries and home based bakers and was shocked at the price.   I figured how hard could a two-tiered cake be?  It was surprisingly easy, as I split up the process over a week so it wasn’t overwhelming.

So if you are a novice baker like me, here’s the dummies guide to baking this DIY Frozen birthday cake!  Please note I am not a professional and have zero culinary training.  Unless you count hours baking and tasting my own confections!

WHAT YOU NEED

2 – 12 inch pans
2 – 8 inch pans
Snowflake cookie cutters
Fondant 
Dowels
8″ inch cardboard cake circle
Frozen Figurines
Cake Base
Cake Ingredients

BAKING THE CAKE

Here’s a tip I learned from a friend that’s a baker, bake the DIY Frozen birthday cake way in advance and freeze it.  I made the two 12″ inch layers, and two 8″ inch layers a week before the party, and froze them.  You can do boxed cake, or scratch.  I did vanilla cake for the bottom layers, (here’s my go to recipe), and chocolate for the top.  The Hershey’s recipe rocked by the way, it was my first time trying it!  After they cool just wrap them in cling wraps, stack them in the freezer.  This is the easiest way to frost them, as you won’t get those annoying crumbs!

Oh and for the 12″ inch cakes, I doubled the yellow cake recipe, or that would be two boxed cake mixes. A single recipe is fine for the 8″ inch cakes.

DECORATIONS

Here’s another time saving tip…you can roll out the fondant a week out as well, and then use snowflake cookie cutters in varying sizes to cut snowflakes for decorations.  I also bought iridescent powder for fondant at Michael’s to make the snowflakes sparkle.  I stored these in an airtight container and then just popped them on the cake after it was frosted.

I also rolled out the snow for the top of the cake early as well, and cut the rounded snowy edges with a pizza cutter.  Actually my friend Amy did this…with her fancy fondant rolling mat and pin…while I watched in awe.  Thanks Amy!

Thank God for good friends…especially the crafty & baking kind!

CAKE ASSEMBLY

Here’s the quick way to put this DIY Frozen birthday cake together on the day of the party.   First set out your cake base and line with wax or parchment paper around the edge of the cakes.  Then frost!  I made the frosting the night before.  When you are done with the icing process, you just slide out the parchment paper and voila, you have a clean cake base!

Next put in dowels to support the weight of the next tier.  Some say this is unnecessary, but I went ahead and did it just to be safe.
Next put your 8″ inch layers on an 8″ inch cardboard circle. This way you can easily remove the top tier to cut and serve.  I put a little frosting on the cardboard circle to prevent the cake from sticking in case we wanted to separate it.  Then frost the top layers!
Now it’s time to put the tiers together and decorate!
 

Don’t forget piping around the base of the cakes!  I totally need to take a class on decorating, but this turned out pretty cute.  I wish I had saved a bit of white frosting for the piping, instead of using the same blue. I also added Frozen figurines from the Disney Store as the final touch, as well as a snowflake from my Christmas tree boxes.

Photo by: Priceless Photos by Melissa

And I wrote Lila’s name and age on the cake base, and on leftover fondant snowflakes.

Photo by: Priceless Photos by Melissa
Photo by: Priceless Photos by Melissa
 Since I had extra frosting, I pulled out some mini cupcakes I had baked from the freezer, and added them to the dessert table.
Photo by: Priceless Photos by Melissa
 
Photo by: Priceless Photos by Melissa
 The whole process of baking the cakes and cupcakes took about 3-4 hours, including cleanup.  And then the day of the party it took about 2 hours total to assemble and frost the cakes.  As for the cost, since I had to buy the cake pans, fondant, cake base and cardboard circles, it was about $80.  And that includes ingredients for cakes, frosting, cupcake liners, and all the decorations for the cake.  It might have been cheaper to order one from a grocery store, but nothing tastes better to me than a homemade cake with buttercream frosting! Plus I love baking, and this was a fun challenge for me.
 
And she was pretty happy too.
 
Photo by: Priceless Photos by Melissa
 And it was de-lish…if I do say so myself!
Photo by: Priceless Photos by Melissa
Not bad for my first try at multiple tiers…but I still need some practice in the art of icing and decorating.  Baby steps! What do you think of this DIY Frozen birthday cake?
 
Fancy cakes of course aren’t necessary…but they sure are fun to make!  If you are indeed throwing a Frozen birthday party, here are some ideas for decorations, favors, and fun! Oh and grown up slushies make the time pass for the parents.
Frozen Birthday Party Ideas GFX
 
Follow mommy in SPORTS on Facebook for more great birthday party ideas, crafts, and parenting stories!
 

will you try your hand at baking this cake?

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Comments

      • Kasey says

        I noticed you mentioned learning to smooth the icing and maybe by now you already have, but in case you haven’t figured it out yet, there a couple of easy ways to smooth out frosting. If you are using a homemade buttercream you can do one of two things.

        #1 Dip a metal knife or icing spatula in hot water and lightly run it over the frosting until you reach your desired smoothness. Make sure you clean your spatula after every pass.

        #2 (The easiest way) After you frost the cake, wait about 15 minutes or until you can touch the icing without it sticking to your finger. Lay a paper towel over it and smooth it down. Repeat this over the entire surface using a clean paper towel each time. Not only will it smooth the icing, but you will also get a neat pattern on the cake from the indentations on the paper towel.

        Hope this helps!

        Reply

  4. Raia says

    Wow. That’s pretty impressive. 🙂 I’m glad my 5-year old didn’t see me looking at this, she already has a long list of cakes, cupcakes, and pies I’m supposedly making for her birthday in a few months! Haha. Thanks for sharing this at Savoring Saturdays, Kristin!

    Reply

  5. Jennifer Ludwigsen says

    That is a beautiful cake! Great job mom!! Love the way you laid the fondant on top like snow – it really worked perfectly! Stopping by from SITSSharefest! 🙂 Have an awesome weekend!

    Reply

  11. Mum of One says

    How amazing, I bet she was delighted. On another note I LOVE your top, so pretty! Thanks so much for sharing with the #pinitparty. Have pinned and shared 🙂

    Reply

  12. Mrs.AOK says

    Do you wanna build an awesome birthday cake? I think I just found the perfect one!!! {Yes, I totally just sung that while typing} Thanks for sharing via MMBH! I’m totally pinning this 🙂
    XOXO

    Reply

  14. April the Steadfast Reader says

    I won’t believe you’re a novice baker. No way! 🙂 (Nice first time in forever reference as well. 🙂 ) We tried to save the Frozen BluRay for Easter – but I broke down yesterday and threw it in … we’ve watched it three (four?) times in the past two days. Good times.

    Thanks for linking up with Spread the Love!

    Reply

  15. Paula Willems says

    This cake and the entire party looks LOVELY! My little one just turned one, but I would love to use your guide as inspiration for her birthday parties when she gets bigger. That is if Frozen is still popular with all the kidlets. Great post and lovely photos! <3

    Reply

  16. Jill R. says

    This is seriously adorable!

    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

    Reply

  19. Carrie says

    You’re amazing. This is seriously incredible!! Pinning and stumbling and sharing all over the Internetz.

    Thanks for linking up at Wordy Wednesday!

    Reply

  22. Kylie says

    Hi! Can you tell us how to make the icing? Or can I just use store bought?? I plan on making this for my daughter, I can’t order store cakes because she has a peanut allergy. So this will be a fun experiment. Hopefully it will turn out good! 🙂

    Reply

  24. Kylie says

    Hi! I have another question, when you freeze the cakes and take them out, do ice them while frozen and how long does it take for them to thaw?? Thanks!

    Reply

    • mommyinsports says

      Hi Kylie! Sorry I just saw this! I took them out in the morning first thing at 7 and iced the cake, and it was perfect at 2pm. I can’t give you a perfect answer though, but I would say at least 4 hours! Hope that helps.

      Reply

  25. Fannie says

    To smooth the icing use an icing spatula, a metal one.
    Have a bowl with very hot water and dip the spatula in it so it becomes hot, dry it fast and smooth your icing.It doesn’t last long so you have to repeat as often as needed.
    Good Luck! 🙂

    Reply

  26. Jess says

    Hi there!! I am totally going to bake this cake for my daughters 3rd bday party (already ordered items from Amazon). However, I noticed your cake batter recipes call for 9″ pans and not 12″. I’m guessing it doesn’t matter? …will they just come out a lil’ thinner?? Please advice. Thanks!

    Reply

    • mommyinsports says

      Oh I’m so happy to hear you are going to try to make this cake! Here is what is suggested for 12″ pans “Oh and for the 12″ inch cakes, I doubled the yellow cake recipe, or that would be 2 boxed cake mixes.”

      Hope that helps! I want to see the pics!

      Reply

  28. Ashley says

    HI there, such a gorgeous and seemingly doable Frozen cake! I am a novice baker
    at best, and I’m throwing my daughter a Frozen themed birthday party in just 2 weeks and think I’m going to try making this cake, but my question is approximately how many inches did you roll and cut the snowy fondant to for the top of the cake? Thank you for your time

    Reply

  30. Andrea says

    Can you tell me what color blue you used to get this shade? Making this cake for my daughter’s birthday next week. Thanks

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. […] Desserts I’m a sucker for desserts, and prefer to bake everything myself.  So I served up this two-tiered Frozen cake topped with the figurines from the movie. It was the first time I’ve tried such an ambitious cake, and it turned out pretty good too! Here’s the amateur tutorial on how to make this cake! […]

    Reply

  11. […] (here’s the basic recipe) 2 cups flour 2 cups water 1/2 cup salt 2 tbsp vegetable oil 4 teaspoons cream of tartar   optional ingredients 1/2 bottle peppermint extract or 6-8 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil ( I use Young Living!) 2-3 drops glycerin (makes it shiny, like snow!) 3-4 tsp finely ground glitter (who doesn’t like sparkly snow?) food coloring if desired   1.  Mix all dry ingredients together, and then add all wet ingredients.  Stir until well blended. 2.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until a ball forms. 3.  Transfer hot play dough carefully to a floured surface.  Knead as the dough cools. 4.  When cooled, store in a ziplock bag or airtight container. 5.  Have fun!     You can adapt this homemade peppermint playdough recipe for any holiday.  Think orange colored, cinnamon scented for fall. Or yellow, lemon scented during the summer.  My kids seem to like this recipe better than the kind we buy in the stores, plus this smells so much better! Here’s what our party favors looked like!  It was the day after Valentine’s Day, so we attached Frozen Valentine’s as tags.  Here are some other ideas if you are throwing your little one a Frozen party. And check out this DIY Frozen Cake Tutorial! […]

    Reply

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