Winter ONEderland Cake
For my son’s first birthday, I spent days making him a farm cake. I had never in my life spent so much time paying attention to aesthetic details on something that would be eaten. So, when my daughter turned one, I wanted to do something equally as special for her. I didn’t want her looking back at her cake, comparing it to her brother’s first birthday cake, and thinking, “I was definitely the second kid”. So, I made her a snowman cake.
Since my daughter was born in February, we had a winter ONEderland celebration for her. The cake was two tiered. The bottom layer was a 3 layer 8″ round cake (chocolate cake with oreo cookie dough filling), and the top layer was a 3 layer 6″ round cake (vanilla almond cake with sugar cookie dough filling). I made an additional smash cake as well (although I didn’t actually let her smash up that whole thing, I just gave her a piece), which was a second 3 layer 6″ round vanilla almond cake.
For the outside of each tiered cake, I made vanilla buttercream which I colored with pink gel food coloring. Let’s be honest, fondant is pretty, but not the best to eat, so I wanted to minimize the amount of fondant used.
For the top of each cake I cut out a piece of fondant to layer over the top and drape like snow. I then used a food brush with water to gently paint the snow with water. After the fondant was damp from the water, I sprinkled it with edible white glitter. I placed each cake on a round cardboard cutout. In the bottom layer I placed three wooden dowels on which the top layer could rest. Around the base of each cake, and throughout the pink buttercream, I placed edible white pearls.
Finally, the snowman. To make the snow man I first made a batch of Rice Krispee treats. I made two balls out of the treats. I slightly flattened the top of the bottom and bottom of the top so that they would be able to sit together. After the treats had hardened for an hour or two, I covered each ball with white fondant. I then painted each of the balls with water, and rolled them in edible white glitter. I used two tooth picks to attach the balls together.
To make the hat and scarf, I colored fondant with gel food coloring and shaped it into the winter hat and scarf. Each piece of the hat is attached together using toothpicks. The nose is held on using a toothpick. The eyes and mouth were attached using water. For the arms, I used a combination of 1/2 fondant and 1/2 gum paste colored with blue gel food coloring. I shaped the arms and then placed a toothpick into the base of each arm. I let the arms dry for about 14 hours before attaching them to the snowman. Each snowball is a ball of rolled fondant, painted with water, and rolled through edible glitter.
Things I used to make this cake, all of which I recommend (all affiliate links):
Baking the cakes:
- Chicago Metallic Professional Non-Stick Round Cake Pan, 8-inch I use these for all my 8″ cakes as I believe they bake well
- Wilton 6″ Baking Pans I have 3 for any time I’m making a tiered cake
- Parchment Paper Liners for Round Cake Pans 8-inch These cut out a lot of time in my cake making process
- Kitchen Aid Mixer This is the most used small appliance in my kitchen, well besides the microwave, and I love it
Displaying the cakes:
- Wilton Cake Leveler See about me to understand why I love this thing
- Wilton 10-Inch Cardboard Cake Circle This is perfect for transporting a cake
Decorating the cakes:
- Wilton Fondant Roller I use this to roll cookie dough too as the rings allow you to make dough a uniform thickness
- Wilton Fondant I’ve made fondant before, and no me, it’s just not worth it – WIlton’s fondant is significantly easier and tastes better
- Wilton Gel Food Coloring
- Wilton Gum Paste
- Wilton Cut and Roll Mat
- Wilton Fondant Smoother
- Wilton Fondant Tools This basic set is almost entirely what I use
