How to Make

A Gothic Bridal Barbie Cake

Ingredients:

3 boxes of lightly colored cake mix (I use a yellow cake)
3 cans icing, at least one of them should be white
Large bottle of red food coloring
Black food coloring or pkg of four colors to mix together to create black
Pam butter flavored cooking spray
A pyrex bowl for baking
2 round cake pans
Large mixing bowl
2 other mixing bowls
Whisk
Rubber spatula
Wire cooling racks (enough for the three pieces)
Pastry bag
Desired icing decorative tip
Barbie
A small scrap of black tulle for veil
Gel pens (black and other choices of colors for Barbie's face)
Parchment or wax paper

Preheat your oven according to the baking instructions on the cake box. In the large mixing bowl, follow the ingredients mixing together all of the cake mixes. When you have them well blended, start adding food coloring. Add the food coloring a small amount at a time, continuing to whisk. If you are using yellow cake, you may want to add just a touch of black to deepen the red so it doesn't go orange-y. When the batter is the desired color, stop mixing. You want the color to be a bright contrast to the black icing you will use later!

Spray the inside of the glass bowl generously with the Pam. Next spray the two round baking pans. Pour the batter into the bowl first, then evenly between the two pans. Bake the batter filled bowl first. Because it is glass, it should take longer than the directions on the box. Use the longest time (usually the bundt instructions) as your reference and start checking the cake every ten minutes after that. To find out if the cake is done, use a wooden skewer or straw down the center of the cake. If it pulls out clean, the cake is finished. Any goo, the cake still needs more time.

Pull out the bowl and set it aside for about 15-20 minutes before removing it. Place the remaining to cake pans in the oven for the time suggested on the box. When they are done, set them aside as well. The tops of the cake sink a bit and your waiting for that to happen as well as a bit of cooling. You don't want the cakes to crumble through the cooling racks by placing them on them too early. When the bowl cake is ready, it should have sort of a muffin effect on top from the baking. Take a large knife and slice across as even as possible. Place a cooling rack on top and flip the bowl over to land the cake on it. This is a little tricky, so have patience and plan before flipping.

When the other two cakes have been out a few minutes, take one and flip it onto your hand and then back onto a cooling rack. Repeat. While you are waiting for the cakes to cool, you have a couple projects to work on.

decorating the face

First thing to do is prepare the Barbie. I used Gel pens, but you can really use any art supplies you are comfortable with. I had a limited amount of time, so I did a minimal amount of make up. You should go to town with yours! Be creative!

To make the veil, take a scrap of black tulle, round it at the top and attach it to her head. I used four sewing pins, the kind with the black balls at the tops. She's just a doll. It doesn't hurt.

To make the icing, use the two other mixing bowls. In the first bowl, dump the entire contents of two containers of icing. I used white because my sister is allergic to chocolate. If you don't have a preference, chocolate takes way less work and food coloring to get to black. Using a rubber spatula, fold the food coloring into the icing a bit at a time until it is the desired darkness of black. In the second bowl, dump the container of vanilla (white) icing. Fold in red food coloring until it is the desired color of red. You might want to have a little extra red food coloring on hand because it may take more than you think. And in this case again, if you like strawberry or another icing that comes in pinkish tones, it may be easiest for you to start with this as a base. My sister wanted Vanilla so I had to do it from scratch. Put the two colors in the refrigerator to harden a bit before icing the cakes.

When all cakes are cool, it's time to start building and frosting. Whether you are using a cake plate or regular plate, cut four strips of parchment (or wax) paper about four inches wide and place like a square around the edges of the plate. We do this so we can ice and then pull them out leaving the cake plate free from frosting. (If you look in my finished photograph above, I didn't do this.)

using parchment

Next, take the first flat round cake and using the long knife, slice across the top making an even surface. Place the cake on the plate and then add some frosting just across the top. Repeat with the second round cake and place this on top of the other, the icing acts as glue. Frost the top piece of this as well. Finally, take the bowl cake and rest it on top of the others. Cut around the cake to make if the bottom two layers need evening out with the round top cake. You now have Barbie's skirt ready for dressing.

Carefully, cut down into the center through the top of the bowl cake all the way to the cake plate. Make an oval just bigger than Barbie with her arms up. Using the black frosting and a rubber spatula, ice around the entire skirt. Then, holding Barbie paint her with the black frosting everywhere that will show. You may want to use a knife or something smaller than the spatula. Don't worry so much about her legs, just anything that will show, and remember, you want her body to look like the top of the dress. As you see in the picture above (next to painting her face) that is icing making her top.

Now take the pastry bag (icing bag) and drop your decorator's tip into it. Fill the bag with the red icing. First thing to do is squeeze it down that center hole you made for Barbie, but only about half way. Set Barbie inside the hole and then fill to the brim. Take the rubber spatula and black icing and cover around her body so it looks like part of the skirt. Now you can decorate with the red any way you like. I just made a smooth covering down the middle of the dress. But you can make it fancy with different tips or if you're advanced, try to recreate some old fashioned dress patterns. Pull the parchment paper out from under the cake and this takes all drippings or boo boos with it leaving your cake plate pretty.

The cake is delicious and great for any occasion!

Click to subscribe to the Cat Smith DIYing Newsletter!!

Cat Smith DIYing and its contents are ©2002
Contact the Web Mistress regarding any questions, comments or problems: DIYgothicCatGrrl