I don’t have a girl and I may never have a girl. And I’m ok with that as I adore my three boys. But I’ll admit that I volunteered to help my sister out for her daughter’s 4th birthday because it gives me a chance to make something super girly. I created the cake for her frog themed party two years ago and this weekend I tackled another one for her ballerina inspired tutu cake!
Isn’t she a cutie? She has the sweetest little voice. She is also super funny, smart and a total handful.
I should really laugh at myself since I told my sister I’m too busy to make a cake for her with two birthdays coming up for my own boys. And then before I knew it, I talked myself into making one with fondant. I found the perfect inspiration cake on pinterest for a Rainbow YoGabba Gabba Cake. (It didn’t link to the original source so I’m not sharing the pin.) I thought it would be perfect for the the girl who asked for a tutu cake and pink, LOTS of pink.
I wasn’t thrilled with a lot of what I found. I found plenty with cutesy bears wearing tutus and it wasn’t the look my sister or I wanted. When I showed her that cake, she was instantly smitten.
I thought that it would be a lot less time consuming because it used props and was made out of fondant. No 3-D, no endless star tipping creating some major cramping in my hands. Just rolling out some fondant and using things I already had in my Wilton stash like fondant cutters, just begging to be used.
Um, yeah.
Did I say it was going to be a fast cake?
Why did I think that?
It all started with my poor planning. We wanted both a vanilla cake and chocolate cupcakes since some people preferred chocolate. But after I baked up my two 8 inch rounds using a Duncan Hines cake mix (Wilton’s preferred cake mix) I realized I wouldn’t get the height I really needed for this cake. I was afraid the gorgeous tutu that I had made would over power it. So I wanted to add another layer. Only I bought a Betty Crocker Super Moist Chocolate Fudge cake mix. This is perfect for cupcakes, bundt cakes and the like but not good for cake decorating. It is just too moist. (Just ask Trisha from Mom Dot.)
Why is too moist of a cake a problem?
The cake isn’t even as it should be. You can’t properly “love” on your cake as you build it (pushing it down lightly to connect the layers of cake with the frosting in between). You can’t hardly do anything to it without it wanting to crumble. It tastes great but is a royal pain to actually frost. That was very apparent when it was super easy to frost the Duncan Hines layers.
So want to guess what happened to my cake?
It took much longer than anticipated to decorate and became lumpy and impossible to get smooth because that center layer was unruly. Unforgiving. Unstable.
And yet…
I still managed to make a cake that while filled with imperfections, still turned out rather adorable.
Once I added the adorable tutu, it really came alive.
I love how it looks from above!
I was very impressed with the tutu from Tutu Loopy. She worked fast on my request and was so sweet to include a wand and hair clip, complete with a card for the birthday girl at no additional charge.
My sister handled the decorations and I think it all tied together beautifully.
I used Wilton Pink Sugar Gems for the mini cupcakes which created a nice sparkle. The taste really reminded me of rock candy!
But the most important thing is that the birthday girl loved her party!
And she loved to have the tutu, wand and hair clip to keep.
She was so excited to blow out her candles and blew with all her might!
While the cake might have kept me up late, it was definitely worth it for one special little girl!
UPDATE: DISCOUNT ALERT
Tutu Loopy would like to offer readers 25% off in her Etsy shop with the code “BELLA“.
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I paid for the tutu, however I have worked with this shop in the past. I also am a Wilton Mom Ambassador and some of the products used to make the cake were given to me at some point.
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Beth Rees says
February 3, 2013 at 8:05 pmI am sure she loved her cake. The tutu totally made it and you are to hard on yourself. The cake looks wonderful!
nannypanpan says
February 3, 2013 at 9:33 pmexcellent job…good aunt!
Debbie Welchert says
February 4, 2013 at 2:00 amYour cake turned out so cute. I like the idea of the chocolate cupcakes too. We have always had either chocolate or white cake.
Emilie says
February 4, 2013 at 9:13 amIt also is a great way to serve a smaller cake portion to the littlest kids. And even if you give them TWO mini cupcakes (which they think is extra cool) it still isn’t as much as they’d get from a whole piece of cake!
courtney b says
February 4, 2013 at 7:29 amgorgeous! and so unique! never seen anything like it…
Emilie says
February 4, 2013 at 9:11 amI hadn’t either! I love pinterest for that reason because you can get so many great ideas and just run with them in another direction! 🙂
JRFrugalMom says
February 4, 2013 at 8:11 amOh my, I just love it! I have three boys, but I am expecting a daughter any day now. This is definitely great inspiration…
Trisha says
February 4, 2013 at 8:58 amBut it’s SUPER cute!! You did a beautiful job.
Emilie says
February 4, 2013 at 9:10 amOf course thinking about it now, you would love anything with a tutu, wouldn’t you?? 🙂 Thanks! I am a bit of a perfectionist with cakes so I expect a fondant cake to be smooth but really, I’m so happy with how cute it turned out. It really stands out!
ColleenMarie82 says
February 4, 2013 at 9:46 amSO cute, I love this idea, I saw a pin the other day to make a cupcake stand with a tutu bottom that would look so cute a long with this!
Lolli S says
February 4, 2013 at 12:47 pmWhat an adorable party! The cake is just perfect!
Piera says
February 4, 2013 at 7:06 pmSo SO cute! Love it!
Claudia says
February 4, 2013 at 10:49 pmBeautiful!
Janet W. says
February 5, 2013 at 5:26 amThat is so cute and decorative!
Elle says
February 5, 2013 at 9:42 amSo cute and well done! I have a tutu loving niece that would be over the moon for such a cake.
Betty Baez says
February 5, 2013 at 11:15 amThat is adorable! Great job!
Jessica S says
February 5, 2013 at 12:12 pmLove it! What an adorable idea!
Tami Vollenweider says
February 5, 2013 at 4:03 pmFor everything you said went wrong,I think your cake turned out co CUTE! You did a great job.
Liz Ticona says
February 5, 2013 at 7:00 pmWow you did an awesome job! I want to do my baby’s 1st birthday cake but i’ve never baked before!!! I hope it comes out well. Love the tutu ballerina cake 🙂
Sonya Morris says
February 6, 2013 at 10:30 amYou did such an amazing job! I always have to have cupcakes too, there seems to be someone who has to leave before the cake is cut or prefers a smaller portion.
kelly willis says
February 9, 2013 at 2:10 pmthis is to cute
Brandy says
February 10, 2013 at 4:47 pmThat cake is amazing! I’m making my son’s in two weeks and I’m nervous!
SHYAMA BALACHANDRA says
February 11, 2013 at 12:50 pmawww too cute
Jan Messali says
February 11, 2013 at 11:23 pmOh my gosh… how adorable! I love the wands too.
Arwen Peszynski says
February 18, 2013 at 1:04 pmThe cake turned out very cute! Love the ballerina theme. I bet my princess would love it too for her 4th BDay!
Anitha Kuppuswamy says
February 19, 2013 at 4:08 pmSo cute! You did a great job
Denise says
February 19, 2013 at 7:33 pmwhat a great idea!
Lisa R says
February 20, 2013 at 6:20 amwhat an adorable cake…..and your neice is so beautiful
sibabe64 at ptd dot net
Arwen Peszynski says
February 20, 2013 at 3:09 pmThe cake turned out wonderful and defintely gave me ideas for decorating my own Fondant cake. I’m thinking of a Bubble Guppies theme.
Sarah L says
February 21, 2013 at 3:25 amI was a beautiful cake for a beautiful happy little girl.
Debbie Corbin says
February 21, 2013 at 2:31 pmoh that is adorable! I am going to have to pin this!
Christina Jackson says
February 23, 2013 at 2:30 pmThat is so cute! I think it turned out great, I really need to learn how to work with fondant…I’d love to be able to create something like that.
Christina says
February 25, 2013 at 12:39 amThe cake turned out great! I’ve never had much luck with fondant
kelly willis says
March 3, 2013 at 7:09 pmto cute i want a girl
kelly nicholson says
March 6, 2013 at 7:08 pmreminds me of cheech and chong up in smoke…looks fun for the kids though
vickie couturier says
March 9, 2013 at 7:22 amthat is so cute,my grandaughters would love this for a party,I cant make that cake but it gives me some ideals of what I can do
Jean says
March 9, 2013 at 8:48 amWhat a sweet cake – I have never worked with fondant but I may have to try to make this cake for my ballet-obsessed 3 year old.!
Jennifer frank-lopez says
March 23, 2013 at 12:20 amI am absolutely loving the tutu cake. I may have to make one for my nieces 1st birthday
Sandy VanHoey says
April 6, 2013 at 10:26 amWOW! When I saw tutu birthday cake I was intrigued. I never imagined it would look like this…Holy Cow…I Love this! What a fantastic job and you cannot see a flaw at all. Way to go!
Emilie says
April 12, 2013 at 3:06 pmAw, thanks Sandy! You just made me smile! 🙂
Robin O says
April 6, 2013 at 12:28 pmFabulous! The cake and the cupcakes really are impressive.
Definitely worth the effort!
Jenn says
April 22, 2013 at 7:11 amOh my goodness how cute! The cake looks amazing.
Shane says
June 27, 2013 at 7:33 pmhow precious for a little ballerina 🙂
Kristine Laird says
September 29, 2013 at 1:20 pmOh my gosh! This is SO cute! Next year we’re doing a princess party, I know tutus aren’t really princess, but I think I can pull it off! Adorable! Thanks for the idea! 😀
Mary Withrow says
March 16, 2014 at 1:35 amSuch a wonderful easy idea and it takes a really beautiful birthday picture! I was trying to think of what to do for a boy and camoflage with little army men came to mind
nicole dz says
June 8, 2014 at 1:17 pmWow very impressed with that cake. So pretty and perfect for a little girl them part like this. Love the hair clip too! And I love that they can actually use the tutu.
Ashley - Embracing Homemaking says
October 27, 2014 at 8:09 pmI think it turned out absolutely adorable! I love the addition of the tutu. I’ll have to remember that for my girly girl’s birthday! 🙂
shirley says
January 6, 2015 at 6:15 pmJust adorable! I am a first time grandma & grandbaby is about to turn 1! I’d love to know where you bought or how you made the tutu for the cake – never seen anything like it. I’d like to make it or buy one for my grand daughter’s 1st birthday this month. Thank you for any help you can provide.
Shirley