MERMAID CUPCAKE CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease or spray bottoms and sides of one 10-oz custard cup and two 8-inch round cake pans.
• Make cake batter as directed on box. Pour 2/3 cup batter into custard cup; divide remaining cake batter evenly between cake pans. Bake 23 to 28 minutes (26 to 33 minutes for dark or nonstick pans) or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove cakes from custard cup and pans; place rounded sides up on cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Trim off rounded tops from 8-inch cakes. On serving plate, place 1 round cake layer, cut side down. Spread with 1/3 cup frosting. Top with second round cake layer, cut side down. Trim off rounded top of custard-cup cake to make flat surface. With small amount of frosting, attach custard-cup cake, flat side down, to top of layer cake, lining up rounded edge with layer cake edge. Using doll as a guide, cut and remove rounded piece from custard-cup cake to make seat for doll. (Discard cut-out piece.)
• Into small bowl, spoon 3/4 cup frosting. Tint with blue food color to make light blue; set aside. Frost sides and top of cake with remaining white frosting. To add waves, frost lower side of cake with blue frosting. Dip a fork in a few drops additional blue food color; swirl in blue frosting on cake to add wave effect. Sprinkle top of cake with colored sugars.
• Tie hair of fashion doll in ponytail. (Keep swimsuit or clothes on doll.) Wrap body of doll with plastic wrap, covering bustline and leaving arms free and shoulders uncovered. With 2 fruit snack rolls, wrap plastic-wrapped portion of doll, overlapping rolls and pressing to stick together. Wrap third snack roll around legs and extend 2 inches beyond feet; press together to form a fin shape, trimming if necessary. Place doll in seat on cake.
• To make starfish, on surface sprinkled with granulated sugar, flatten each gumdrop to make 1 1/2-inch round. Using scissors, cut 5 wedges from each gumdrop round to form a star. Pull gently to extend points of stars. Decorate cake and serving plate with starfish and sea creature candies. Store loosely covered.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line two 8” round cake pans with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray. Prepare cake mix according to package instructions. Divide cake batter between prepared pans and bake according to package instructions. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire racks to cool completely. Make frosting: In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter and half of the powdered sugar until smooth. Add the remaining powdered sugar, vanilla and 4 tablespoons heavy cream and beat until fluffy. If the mixture is too stiff, add more heavy cream. Place a dab of frosting on cake plate (to keep cake in place) and place parchment strips on each side of the cake plate. Place down first cake and top with frosting, then top with second cake and frost with a thin crumb coat of frosting. Divide remaining frosting into three small bowls and stir one shade of gel food coloring into each bowl of frosting. Place each color of frosting into its own piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Starting at the top of one side of the cake, pipe a small circle of purple frosting. Directly underneath the purple frosting circle, pipe a small circle of blue frosting, following by a circle of teal frosting underneath. Continue in a vertical line in the same order of colors until you run out of space on the cake. Using an offset spatula, smear each circle of frosting horizontally across the side of the cake about 1 inch. Note: Use a different spatula for each color of frosting to avoid mixing the shades. Repeats steps 9 and 10, slightly overlapping the circles of frosting with the smeared frosting to create a mermaid-scale effect until you run out of space on the side of the cake. Repeat the same circle and smear technique with the frosting on top of the cake, but in concentric circles this time.