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Cinderella Doll Dress Cake Tutorial

How to make a Cinderella Doll Dress Cake. How pretty is this Cinderella Doll Dress Cake? This 5-layer vanilla doll dress cake with buttercream frosting is much easier to make than you may think. We are sharing all the details on how to make this cake for your little girl.

Cinderella Dress Cake

We made this Cinderella cake for my niece’s 4th birthday party and it was a big hit!

She loved to see Cinderella on her cake.

Her first question was “Can I take Cinderella out and play with her?”

Lucky for her, the doll is in perfect condition and she got to play with it immediately after her party.

She was so happy and excited about this cake. I bet your little girl would love it too.

If your little princess is more into Snow White, we have a Snow White Doll Dress Cake too!

Disclosure – I may get a small commission for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.

🌟 Step #1 – Bake Three Boxes of Cake Mix

Our pretty Cinderella cake boasts 5 cake layers that are 8 inches in diameter.

Since we need 5 cake layers and a box of cake mix makes two 8-inch cakes, we will need to bake 3 boxes of cake mix.

We will end up with 6 total cake layers, but it’s better to have too many than too few.

Five layers of cake will be the perfect height for Cinderella’s dress.

Mix up each box of cake mix one at a time. Bake it in two 8-inch pans then let it cool enough to remove from the pans before moving to the next cake mix.

To prepare the pans, place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom and then grease the paper and the sides of the pan very well.

leveled cake layer

🌟 Step #2 – Level Four of the Cake Layers

Use a cake leveler or a sharp knife to level four of the cake layers.

You can pick up a cake leveler for just a few bucks and they make leveling cakes so easy.

If you struggle to get your cake layers even on both sides with a knife, a cake leveler is a great tool that makes the process foolproof.

You do not need to level the 5th cake layer that will go on the top.

Since we’re shaping the cake with a knife, the rounded top will benefit us as we shape the cake for Cinderella’s dress.

For the four layers that you are leveling, you are only removing the domed top so that they will stack up evenly without topping over.

You don’t need to cut them to a certain height, only remove the dome.

🌟 Step #3 – Make the Blue Buttercream Frosting

We’re using delicious buttercream frosting for this doll dress cake.

First, check out our Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe.

I highly recommend using gel food coloring to tint the frosting a pretty Cinderella blue color.

For my Cinderella cake, I used Americolor gel food coloring in Sky Blue.

Since we’re using gel food coloring, you only need a few drops to get a pretty blue tint to your frosting.

And the gel food coloring won’t affect the quality and texture of your buttercream frosting like a liquid food coloring would do.

Mix in the gel food coloring after you have your frosting in a fluffy and smooth consistency.

Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you are mixing in the color to ensure that your frosting is a consistent blue color.

Cinderella doll dress cake with naked cake layers

🌟 Step #4 – Stack Five Layers with Frosting in Between

When stacking the cake layers, start by smearing a bit of frosting on the cake board.

And for that matter, put down a round cake board so that you can easily transport the cake.

An 8-inch or 10-inch cake board would work fine for this project.

After your smear a little frosting on the board to make sure the cake doesn’t slide off, start stacking up the cake layers.

Add frosting that has been colored to match your cake in between the layers.

Use an offset spatula or a knife to spread the frosting to the edges of the cake layers.

Make sure the frosting is as even as possible so that the cake will be stable when it is fully assembled.

🌟 Step #5 – Put the Doll in the Middle of the Cake

For this Cinderella Princess cake, you will need a Cinderella doll that has an attached or painted on the bodice.

I found a Disney Princess Royal Shimmer Cinderella doll on Amazon for less than $10 and it was perfect for this Cinderella cake.

Use a piece of plastic wrap to cover the lower half of the doll.

You will want the plastic wrap to go up slightly higher than the doll’s waist just to protect the doll from the cake and frosting.

After the cake layers have been assembled with frosting in between them, gently press the doll into the center of the cake.

You do not need to poke a hole in the cake first. The cake is soft enough that the doll should go right into the cake without damaging it.

doll dress cake carving the dress

🌟 Step #6 – Shape the Cake Layers into a Bell

After we have all the cake layers stacked up, use a sharp serrated knife to start trimming the cakes into a bell shape.

The bell shape will roughly mimic a long ball gown and will create a great base for our pretty blue frosting.

Angle your knife so that you are cutting off more cake at the top and less as you move toward the bottom.

I like to cut a rough bell shape with hard lines and then go back and smooth out all the edges to make a smooth bell shape.

Take a look at the photo above where the lines are hard.

And in the photo below the hard lines are smoothed out.

Remember, you can always cut more cake off but you can never add cake back so be careful with your shaving and trimming.

doll dress cake frosting

🌟 Step #7 – Apply a Crumb Coat then Chill

After you have carved the cake into a rough bell shape, it’s time to start applying the frosting to the outside.

Since we just shaved off some of the cake, we need to clean up our loose crumbs and then apply a crumb coat to seal in any crumbs that continue to come off the cake.

A crumb coat is simply a thin layer of frosting that completely coats the cake and seals in any crumbs.

The crumb coat creates a smooth base for piping your decorative frosting on your cake.

I use a large cake icer tip to apply the frosting in an even layer all around the cake then use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting to completely cover the cake.

After the cake is completely covered with a thin layer of frosting, place the cake into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow the frosting to set.

🌟 Step #8 – Pipe Blue Rosettes for the Cinderella Dress

Starting at the bottom of the cake, pipe rosettes all around the cake using an open star piping tip.

I like to use the Wilton 1M piping tip for large rosettes like this.

The rosettes should be touching on the sides and on the top and bottom.

If you have small gaps between the rosettes, you can fill them in with some stars using the same piping tip.

If you look closely at the photo below, you can see that I have a good number of stars between my rosettes.

It does not take away from the dress effect to have the stars between the rosettes.

Continue the rosettes all the way up to the top cake.

Be sure to completely cover the plastic wrap with the frosting so that it doesn’t show when your cake is completely frosted.

Cinderella Dress cake

📌 Printable: How to make a Cinderella Doll Dress Cake Step-by-Step

Save this beautiful Cinderella Doll Dress Cake recipe to your favorite Birthday Cakes board or your Princess Party board.

cinderella doll dress cake recipe
Cinderella Dress Cake

Cinderella Doll Dress Cake

Yield: 36 servings
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cooling Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes

How pretty is this Cinderella Doll Dress Cake?

This 5-layer vanilla doll dress cake with buttercream frosting is much easier to make than you may think.

We are sharing all the details on how to make this Cinderella cake for your little girl.

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 3 boxes (15 oz each) white cake mix
  • 3 3/4 cups water (divided)
  • 9 eggs (divided)
  • 1 cup oil (divided)

For the Frosting

  • 2 recipes Vanilla Buttercream Frosting*
  • sky blue gel food coloring

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and grease well. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine 1 box of cake mix with 1 1/4 cups water, 3 whole eggs, and 1/3 cup of vegetable oil. Use a hand mixer to blend ingredients for 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly between two prepared pans.
  3. Bake cake layers for 29-34 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  4. Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes in the pan then remove to a sheet of waxed paper to cool completely.
  5. Repeat steps 1-4 for the two additional boxes of cake mix. You should have a total of 6 cake layers when done. Allow cake to cool completely.
  6. Level cake layers using a serrated knife.
  7. Make vanilla buttercream frosting according to directions. Add several drops of sky blue food coloring until you get the desired shade. Mix well.
  8. Stack up 5 of the 6 cake layers, adding a layer of sky blue frosting between each one. Wrap the Snow White doll with plastic wrap up to her waist then press it into the middle of the cake layers. The cake should come up slightly below the doll's waist. If it doesn't, remove the doll and add the 6th cake layer then reinsert the doll. Place the cake into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
  9. Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Starting at the top of the cake, use a serrated knife in a sawing motion to carve the cake into a bell shape. Work toward getting the general shape then you can refine it further from there.
  10. Add a crumb coat by using a knife or offset spatula to spread a thin layer of blue frosting all over the sides and top of the cake. Return the cake to the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
  11. Add the remaining blue frosting to a piping bag that has been fitted with an open star tip, such as the Wilton 1M tip. Secure with a clip.
  12. Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Starting at the bottom of the cake, pipe rosettes all the way around the bottom then work your way up the cake. The rosettes should be touching. If there are any gaps, you can fill them by piping stars between the rosettes. As you get to the top of the cake, pipe the rosettes right up to the doll's waist, making sure you completely cover the plastic wrap.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 36 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 241Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 337mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 3g

Nutrition Information Provided For Educational and Informational Purposes Only.

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