{Recipe} Mermaid Cake and Cupcakes

Hey everyone!

For Anissa’s birthday party this year, we had decided long ago that we were going to throw her a mermaid party. Her love of all things Little Mermaid was nothing short of an obsession, so the planning began!

As I was looking for ideas, I came across so may fun ideas for decorations, cakes and cupcakes. We decided to have her party at the indoor swim facility where she takes swim lessons, and then the ideas started springing to life!

Last year, I made her birthday cake and a smash cake, and let me tell you, it was a disaster. Don’t believe me? See for yourself. I’d like to say it wasn’t my finest work, but it probably was.

So when this year rolled around, I was determined to up my cake game. My original inspiration for the cake and cupcakes came from Garvin and Co. They threw a mermaid inspired party for their 4 year old, and since we had already been planning a mermaid party, I fell in love with the cake and cupcakes and dared myself to recreate them.

Now, while what I re-created wasn’t nearly as Pinterest-worthy as the masterpiece you see above, I think I held my own as a non-baker. See for yourself:

 

For the cake, I used a round 9-inch, deep non-stick baking pan. I was planning to make it all chocolate, but once it was poured in, it looked thin, so I decided to marble in a vanilla cake. This made for a thick cake, which can be tricky to get right, but we got it cooked just the right amount, and the marble looked great when we cut in! I used the pre-made blue icing you can find in any store, and mixed in two whipped white frostings to lighten the color.

Once we had it iced, we made some chocolate and white chocolate bark seashells using a mold.  Add some crushed graham crackers as sand, stick a dinglehopper on top, and voila!

Now, I feel like I should include the caveat that, while I would love to be an amazing baker one day, I’m currently not, and therefore used boxed cake mix. Feel free to whip up your own, though!

For the cupcakes, I used strawberry cake mix, and the same toppings. The only difference was the mermaid tails. Those, I cut out of cardstock using a pattern I drew, and just stuck them into the top once we arrived!

Hope you enjoy these sweet treats! I’d be happy to share a stencil of the mermaid tails with anyone who is interested in trying to make their own mermaid cake and cupcakes!

XO,

Amanda