Hi everyone– In today’s blog tutorial, we are going to make a super easy gumball machine cake!
This is such a cheerful, colorful design and one that is great for children’s birthdays. I’ve seen some adorable gumball machine cakes online (both stand-up and 2D versions) and was excited to finally give this theme a whirl~ I hope you enjoy our simple take on it!
How to Make an Easy Gumball Machine Cake
For our cute Gumball Machine Cake, I started out with a cake from a Wilton half ball pan, and a 9 inch cake layer.
I was shooting for a cake that would serve about 12, but you can easily make adjustments to the number of layers or size to serve more.
Each cake is on it’s own cardboard cake circle cut to the size of the cake. This makes it much easier for me to move them to their final cake board after frosting.
The half ball cake will be the top of the gum ball machine, so it is already perfect. We’ll get back to that in a minute. –
Our single layer 9″ round needs a little reshaping. To cut out our shape, I created a template from parchment paper. Then, I used an Americolor food coloring pen to mark off where I would be trimming after centering the template on the 9″ round.
I trimmed some from each side as well as across the bottom. You can create your own template based on the size cake you are working with, or you can use mine by clicking HERE.
Now for the frosting! Use whatever you’d like–I like to use a crusting buttercream so that I can smooth it with a Viva paper towel (Viva is a good choice because it has no quilting or pattern.). — Here is my frosted cake before smoothing…
and here it is after..
Same method for my carved 9″ layer which will be the body of our gumball machine. It was frosted with buttercream tinted Americolor Deep Pink.
After both cakes were frosted and smoothed, I let them chill in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes (or until the buttercream has just firmed up), and then moved then to the cake board.
Now, for my favorite part…the metal plate on the front! This plate can be done a few different ways…and all with good results. So, if my way seems a little much, just know that you can do your own twist with fondant or even buttercream.
I wanted to make my metal plate out of candy coating–and in this case, I melted 20 white Wilton candy melts and 4 black. Then, I reserved a little for piping later (just a small amount) and spread the rest about 1/4 inch thick onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet.
Next, I let the chocolate set up for maybe 3 minutes in the refrigerator…not long at all. If I was more patient, I would have let it set up at room temperature…but I couldn’t help myself! You want the chocolate to be set up but not really cold or rigid.
Next, take a sharp knife or x-acto knife and use my templates as a guide to cut out your shapes! In case you missed our link above–click here to see the templates.
I placed the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 5 minutes or until the chocolate was firm. When I applied the slightest bit of pressure, the shapes popped right out. I attached the wind up piece to the metal plate with a little melted chocolate.
Things are starting to come together!
Remember the bit of chocolate that we reserved earlier? That’s for this next part. Using a Wilton tip 4, I piped a little scrollwork over the chilled plate. This is completely optional, but it’s a nice look! Then, I chilled the decorated plate in the freezer for 5 minutes more, until the scrollwork was firm.
At this point, the plate could be finished–it is a nice grey shade which would work just fine for our cake. But, because I have some dusting powders on hand, I wanted to put them to use. I experimented with both pearl dust and silver luster dust on scrap chocolate pieces, and found the look to be almost identical. Ordinarily, the pearl wouldn’t look silver…but on top of grey, it does! So, I brushed over my entire piece with a dry brush and Super Pearl dust.
Up close! This made me so happy! ;0)
Now…back to the cake. I separated the buttercream into styrofoam bowls and started tinting colors: Americolor Lemon Yellow, Sky Blue, Electric Green, Orange, and the Deep Pink that we already had mixed up. Then, I fitted my piping bags with medium sized round tips to make the gumballs–I used Wilton tip 12. I also used the tip 12 to create the pink ball border that you can see below. I love the 12 tip ;0)!
A fun variation would be to use real gumballs or chocolate Sixlets candies (which look like gumballs).
I placed my silver plate onto the cake and piped a little pink scrollwork for decoration with my Wilton tip 4. I was in a scrollwork kind of mood but you could leave it plain or even go striped!
You can also see below how I decorated the very top– just frosted in pink (I piped on the frosting with a tip 12 and smoothed it), and then outlined with a tip 4.
Once my frosting had crusted, I used a toothpick to create the coin slot. This could have been piped instead, but I liked the look.
I also used a toothpick to outline the gum ball “chute” just beneath the metal plate. I removed just a little bit of frosting within that outline to give it a little dimension, but that is completely optional.
Then, I piped more gum balls with a tip 12 (I held the tip further away from the surface this time so that they would be puffier!). An alternative would be to use real gumballs ;0) –I finished things off by outlining with a tip 3.
And finally, I added a little ball of pink buttercream to the very top (tip 4), and attached a bow to the cake with a little dot of buttercream.
Finished- hooray!
Thanks for stopping by the blog–and I hope that you give our sweet little gumball cake a try! See you next time ;0)
Thanks Melissa! This is adorable.
Gorgeous!!!
Really cute and fun to make.
Darling
Awesome as always. You have such a gift to be able to give clear, concise instructions that are easy to follow. Love your video tutorials, too. Mom does a great job taping and being such a sweet partner. My granddaughter is turning 2 yrs old 9/12/13. I’m doing everything Mickey Mouse club. Tuesday night, I am going to initiate her into being my newest assistant. Her Mom and Uncle started out helping me bake at an early age. My son is an awesome cook! My daughter is coming along in her skills. Sort of a perfectionist like her Mom. I’ll post some pics of my Nanababy helping me in the kitchen.
This is so darn cute! Love how the metal plate came out! Great details. Thank you for another project idea!
How cute! As usual, a wonderful tutorial! I just love the unique ideas you give us! Thank you!
Love it! Adorable!
Can’t wait to make one!
That’s just adorable and looks so “doable” when you break it down like that. You’re the master of making cakes look great, thanks so much for this tutorial!
This is AWESOME! I just love it. You make it seem so easy breezy – this might the cake I need to jump start me back into the routine of baking again, just love it!
I’m making this for my granddaughter’s birthday. This is remarkable!!
Beautiful cake thanks for share with us
Thank you all SOOO much for your sweet words–they really mean a lot to us! I’m glad that you like the cake! —
@Claudia- Thank you, & have fun with your sweet little assistant! She is going to love baking & decorating I’m sure! ;0) — @Cecelia–so glad that you are going to make this for your granddaughter! –@Trish–Hello stranger! :0) –I pop by your blog now and then to see if you have returned to bloggingdom ;0) — Hope all is well! xo
Beautiful cake and amazing detailed instructions, as usual! Thank you!
That is too adorable!
Love it!! My almost 4 year old said this will be her birthday cake this year! Thank you for this blog!
@Leah~ Hooray! Tell your sweet daughter that I’m so glad that she likes it. ;0) Have fun!
Melissa, how do you attach the two cakes together?
Hi Cindy– Each cake is on it’s own cake cardboard, trimmed down to the size of the cake. I “glued” each cake to the cake base with a smear of frosting, and just slid the two cakes right next to each other on the cake base to look like one. The ball border that I piped between the two cakes hides the seam. ;0)
I made this last night for my daughter’s 6th birthday! It was really easy and fun. On the pink part where there’s scrollwork, I skipped that and used the area for writing “Happy Birthday”. I also had mini cupcake pans so I made those up too like gumballs. I tried the Viva method too but with a cloth napkin.
Hi April, we’re happy you made the cake, and the mini cupcakes made to look like gum balls would be such a cute addition, great idea! Thanks for posting.