Mermaid Cake Recipe & Tutorial
Calories: 12
Adjust Servings Here: 30 servings
Description
This buttercream mermaid cake is perfect whether it's a little girl's birthday party or an adult mermaid party!. This tall buttercream cake with the mermaid tail toppers and fondant accessories will steal your heart. With my step-by-step and video tutorial, you can make this for your little princess too.
Ingredients
Cake batter
- 5 cups (600 g) All-purpose flour
- 3 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 6 large Eggs
- 2½ cups (500 g) Sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) Cooking Oil flavorless
- 1 cup (240 ml) Buttermilk
- ½ cup (120 ml) Sour cream
- 11/2 tbsp Vanilla extract
American Buttercream Frosting
- 1 lb (450 g) Unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 lbs (900 g) Powdered sugar confectioners
- 80 ml (⅓ cups) Heavy cream dairy or non dairy
- 2 tbsp Meringue powder
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
Decorating
- 1 cup (240 ml) Simple syrup
- ½ lb (250 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 165°C/325°F/ Gas Mark 3. Grease and line with parchment paper 4 x 7-inch round cake pans (or 3 x 8-inch round cake pans).
- Dry ingredients - Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt - set aside.5 cups All-purpose flour, 3 tsp Baking powder, 1 tsp Baking soda, 1 tsp Salt
- Eggs - In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on medium speed whip the whole eggs for 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar a little at a time and continue to whip until the eggs are light and foamy or ribbon stage6 large Eggs, 2½ cups Sugar
- Oil - Next, gradually add the oil while whipping continuously.1 cup Cooking Oil
- Combine - Next, add the flour mixture, buttermilk, and sour cream in three or four batches. Scraping the sides of the bowl when necessary. Finally, add the vanilla extract.1 cup Buttermilk, 1/2 cup Sour cream, 11/2 tbsp Vanilla extract
- Pans - Divide this batter between the four baking pans. I used cake strips to ensure I had flat cakes with no domes.Note - 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.
- Bake - Place the pans on the middle rack and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool - Once baked, cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then invert cakes from the baking pans and cool completely. When cooled, wrap each cake in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
American Buttercream Frosting
- Meringue - Combine the meringue powder, heavy cream, and approximately two cups of powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Whip starting on low speed until you have a thick, light, and sticky mixture.80 ml Heavy cream, 2 tbsp Meringue powder, 2 lbs Powdered sugar
- Powdered Sugar - Next, gradually start adding the remaining powdered sugar in two batches.
- Butter - Once all the butter is in - run the mixer on high for about 3 to 5 minutes more. Whip until you have a light, fluffy, creamy, velvety texture similar to whipped cream. Add the vanilla extract.1 lb Unsalted butter, 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- Divide - Use 3 cups of buttercream for filling between the layers. The rest can be colored with gel food colorings - I used turquoise, purple, fuchsia, and pink. Place the colored buttercream in piping bags without tips.
Stacking the cake
- Syrup - Prepare simple syrup to moisten the cake layers. These will keep the cake moist for longer.1 cup Simple syrup
- Level, moisten - Using a bread knife or cake leveler, cut the domes off the cake layers. Brush each layer with the cooled simple syrup.
- Two layers - Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand. Top with a big dollop of buttercream - spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula. Then top with the second layer.
- Dowel - Next, add 4 dowels into the cake, using the first as a guide to cut the others. Make sure they are straight at 90 degrees so they do not tilt. Then, place the 6-inch cake circle on top. Add a little more buttercream and spread with a spatula.
- Next two layers - Then, top the three cake layer on top followed by more buttercream and the next layer.
- Frost - Next, pipe the colored buttercreams all around the cake starting with the turquoise at the bottom, followed by the purple, fuchsia, and pink.Note - 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.6 Food color gels
- Smooth - 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.
- Pattern - Next, use the tip of a spatula to create lines all around the cake as shown in the video.
- Top - Finally, add more buttercream on top and smooth the top. Smooth it with an offset spatula.
- Chill - Place the cake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before you assemble it.
Mermaid tails, shells, seaweed, seashells
- Divide the fondant into smaller portions and use food gel colors to make different shades that will match the cake.Pro tip - Add ½ tsp of CMC to the fondant. This will ensure it holds its shape when molded.½ lb Fondant, 1 tsp CMC
- Tails - Create three mermaid tails free-hand as shown in the video or you can also use a mermaid tail silicone mold.
- Shells, corals - I used a seashell mold to make the seashells and corals. You can fill it with melted chocolate or use fondant as well.
- Seaweed - Cut strips of fondant in greens for the grass and seaweed.
- Dry - Place everything on a parchment-lined baking tray and let dry completely Pro tip - these will take 4 to 6 hours but can be made a few days in advance as well.1 Luster dust, 3 Petals dust
Assemble
- Decorations - Start by arranging the corals and grass around the cake. Then, add the seashells and the rest of the fondant accessories you created.
- Center dowel - Finally, add three skewers on top of the cake and place the mermaid tails on it.
- Sand - Add all the edible sand ingredients to a bowl and combine well. Spoon edible sand all around the cake and at the base of the mermaid tails.½ cup Cookie crumbs, ¼ cup Brown sugar, 1 tsp Luster dust
- Ribbon - Don't forget to put a ribbon around the cake board. It completes the cake.
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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