A mermaid cake is every little girl's dream cake. This tall buttercream cake with mermaid tails and fondant accessories will steal your heart. With my step by step and video tutorial, you can make this for you little princess too.
This year, I made this mermaid cake for my Rhea's birthday. She loves swimming very much and we always say she swims like a mermaid. So, of course, she is fascinated with mermaids.
I also made this a double barrel cake, as you can see. These are two cakes stacked as one. This time, I decided to do a buttercream finish instead of covering the cake in fondant.
I thought it would make a lovely tutorial, so I hope you find it useful. The video is detailed. So, feel free to skip parts that you find not relevant for your project.
Table of Content
About this cake
It is a simple and easy cake, but it does need some preparation and time management.
- Cake - I have given you an oiled-based vanilla cake recipe below, which is light and airy. And yet, you can also use any of my other layer cake recipes.
- Frosting - It's summer, so I am using my velvet American buttercream. But, any other buttercream would work just as well. See my list of 30 plus buttercream recipes here.
The timeline for preparing this cake
- Fondant accessories - needs 8 hrs drying time - prep time - 1 hr
- Bake the cakes - 2 hours
- Cool the cake - min 4 hours, preferably overnight
- Prepare buttercream & simple syrup - 30 mins
- Level, torte, fill and dowel cake - 30 to 45 mins
- Frost cake - 45 mins
- Assemble cake - 45 mins
Quick short video
This is a quick short video. There is a detailed video with narration below in the recipe card.
Step by step instructions (pin)
Cake
- Preheat the oven at 170 C / 340 F.
- Grease and line with parchment paper 4 x 7-inch round cake pans (or 3 x 8-inch round baking pans).
- Combine the buttermilk and sour cream - use a whisk to ensure no lumps - set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt - set aside.
- Whip the whole eggs in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Then, gradually add the sugar while continuing to whip on medium-high speed.
- Once all the sugar is in, whip on high speed until ribbon stage (see video).
- Next, gradually add the oil, while whipping continuously. You want the oil to emulsify so add it slowly or the oil will separate during baking).
- Next, add the flour mixture along with the buttermilk in three or four batches.
- Scrape the bowl to ensure you have no dry flour on the bottom.
- You can divide this batter between the four baking pans - I divided the batter into 4 bowls and colored each in shades of pink (my daughter's request was pink inside) before I create a tie-dye kinda effect.
- I used cake strips to ensure I had flat cakes with no domes.
- Bake on the middle rack for 40 to 45 minutes. Rotate the pans between baking time (after 25 mins) top to bottom and front to back.
- Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean.
- Once baked, cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then invert from the baking pans and cool completely.
- When cooled, wrap each cake in plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours (chilling make it easier to handle such delicate cakes).
Frosting
- Prepare simple syrup to moisten the cake layers.
- Prepare your choice of buttercream using my recipe and video linked above. I'm using my velvet American buttercream in the video.
- Use 3 cups buttercream for filling the layers.
- The rest can be colored - I used turquoise, purple, fuchsia, and pink.
- Place the colored buttercream in piping bags without tips.
Frost the cake
- Cut the domes from the cake layers with a bread knife.
- Moisten each layer with simple syrup using a pastry brush.
- Stack one layer on the cake board.
- Pipe a generous amount of buttercream frosting.
- Place another layer on top.
- Next, we need to dowel before we add more layers.
- Insert one dowel in the cake - mark the height.
- Remove the dowel and using it as a guide cut the other three dowels.
- Now insert all four dowels, as shown in the video.
- Add a dollop of butter on each dowel.
- Then, place the 6-inch cake circle on top.
- Spread a generous dollop of buttercream on top of the cake circle (this will prevent the cake from moving).
- And, place the next layer of cake followed by more buttercream and then the final layer of cake.
- Optional - I wanted the top of the cake to look slightly narrower than the bottom. So, I use a 6-inch cake board as a guide to carve out the top crown. If you watch the video it will make sense.
- Next, pipe the colored buttercreams all around the cake starting with the turquoise at the bottom, followed by the purple, fuchsia, and pink.
- Use a straight-edged spatula to spread the buttercream evenly as well as to marble some of the colors so they blend into each other.
- Next, use the tip of a spatula to create lines all around the cake (see video).
- Finally, add more buttercream on top and smooth the top. Smooth it with an offset spatula.
- Place the cake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Mermaid tails, shells, seaweed, seashells
- Add 1 tsp of CMC to 450 grams of fondant.
- Divide the fondant into smaller portions and use food gel colors to make different shades that will match the cake.
- As shown in the video tutorial, create three mermaid tails free-hand or you can also use a mermaid tail silicone mold.
- I used a seashell mold to make the seashells and corals.
- Cut strips of fondant in greens for the grass and seaweed.
- Place everything on a parchment-lined baking tray and let dry completely - 8 hours.
Assemble
- Start by adding the corals and grass around the cake.
- Then, add the seashells and rest of the fondant accessories you created.
- You may or may not need everything you created, so don't feel pressured to add it all.
- Stand back and look at the cake - see what looks good and where you can add. Since this is a buttercream cake place things correctly, so you don't have to move them around.
- Finally, add three skewers on top of the cake and place the mermaid tails on it.
- Add all the edible sand ingredients in a bowl - combine well.
- Spoon edible sand all around the cake and at the base of the mermaid tails.
- Don't forget to put a ribbon around the cake board.
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Recipe
Description
A mermaid cake is every little girl's dream cake. This tall buttercream cake with mermaid tails and fondant accessories will steal your heart. With my step by step and video tutorial, you can make this for you little princess too.
Video
Ingredients
Cake
- 6 Eggs large
- 2 ½ cups (500 g) Sugar
- 1 cup (250 ml) Cooking Oil flavorless
- 5 cups (600 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 cup (240 ml) Buttermilk
- ½ cup (120 ml) Sour cream
- 3 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 11/2 tbsp Vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1 cup (240 ml) Simple syrup
- 2 batches Velvet American buttercream or
- 2 batches Italian meringue buttercream or
- 2 batches Swiss meringue buttercream
Extra
- 1 lb (450 g) Fondant
- 1 tsp CMC
- 6 Food color gels turquoise, purple, fuschia, pink
- 1 Luster dust White
- 3 Petals dust green, purple, blue
Edible Sand
- ½ cup Cookie crumbs
- ¼ cup Brown sugar
- 1 tsp Luster dust optional
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven at 170 C / 340 F.
- Grease and line with parchment paper 4 x 7-inch round cake pans (or 3 x 8-inch round cake pans).
- Combine the buttermilk and sour cream - use a whisk to ensure no lumps - set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt - set aside.
- Whip the whole eggs in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Then, gradually add the sugar while continuing to whip on medium-high speed.
- Once all the sugar is in, whip on high speed until ribbon stage (see video).
- Next, gradually add the oil, while whipping continuously. You want the oil to emulsify so add it slowly or the oil will separate during baking.
- Next, add the flour mixture along with the buttermilk in three or four batches.
- Scrape the bowl to ensure you have no dry flour on the bottom.
- You can divide this batter between the four baking pans - I divided the batter into 4 bowls and colored each in shades of pink (my daughter's request was pink inside) before I create a tie-dye kinda effect.
- I used cake strips to ensure I had flat cakes with no domes.
- Bake on the middle rack for 40 to 45 minutes. Rotate the pans between baking time (after 25 mins) top to bottom and front to back.
- Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean.
- Once baked, cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then invert from the baking pans and cool completely.
- When cooled, wrap each cake in plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.(chilling make it easier to handle such delicate cakes).
Frosting
- Prepare simple syrup to moisten the cake layers.
- Prepare your choice of buttercream using my recipe and video linked above. I'm using my velvet American buttercream in the video.
- Use 3 cups buttercream for filling the layers.
- The rest can be colored - I used turquoise, purple, fuchsia, and pink.
- Place the colored buttercream in piping bags without tips.
Frost the cake
- Cut the domes from the cake layers with a bread knife.
- Moisten each layer with simple syrup using a pastry brush.
- Stack one layer on the cake board.
- Pipe a generous amount of buttercream frosting.
- Place another layer on top.
- Next, we need to dowel before we add more layers.
- Insert one dowel in the cake - mark the height.
- Remove the dowel and using it as a guide cut the other three dowels.
- Now, insert all four dowels, as shown in the video.
- Add a dollop of butter on each dowel.
- Then, place the 6-inch cake circle on top.
- Spread a generous dollop of buttercream on top of the cake circle (this will prevent the cake from moving).
- And, place the next layer of cake followed by more buttercream and then the final layer of cake.
- Optional - I wanted the top of the cake to look slightly narrow than the bottom. So, I use a 6-inch cake board as a guide to carve out the top crown. If you watch the video it will make sense.
- Next, pipe the colored buttercreams all around the cake starting with the turquoise at the bottom, followed by the purple, fuchsia, and pink.
- Use a straight-edged spatula to spread the buttercream evenly as well as to marble some of the colors so they blend into each other.
- Next, use the tip of a spatula to create lines all around the cake (see video).
- Finally, add more buttercream on top and smooth the top. Smooth it with an offset spatula.
- Place the cake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Mermaid tails, shells, seaweed, seashells
- Add 1 tsp of CMC to 450 grams of fondant.
- Divide the fondant into smaller portions and use food gel colors to make different shades that will match the cake.
- As shown in the video tutorial, create three mermaid tails free-hand or you can also use a mermaid tail silicone mold.
- I used a seashell mold to make the seashells and corals.
- Cut strips of fondant in greens for the grass and seaweed.
- Place everything on a parchment-lined baking tray and let dry completely - 8 hours.
Assemble
- Start by adding the corals and grass around the cake.
- Then, add the seashells and rest of the fondant accessories you created.
- You may or may not need everything you created, so don't feel pressured to add it all.
- Stand back and look at the cake - see what looks good and where you can add. Since this is a buttercream cake place things correctly, so you don't have to move them around.
- Finally, add three skewers on top of the cake and place the mermaid tails on it.
- Add all the edible sand ingredients in a bowl - combine well.
- Spoon edible sand all around the cake and at the base of the mermaid tails.
- Don't forget to put a ribbon around the cake board.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 237kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 3gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 131mgPotassium: 94mgFiber: 1gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 72IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 1mg
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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Joie
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Veena Azmanov
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