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Cake with a Frosted Lid!~ Blog Tutorial

September 30, 2010 By Melissa D. 27 Comments

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Today I’m going to show you how to make a beautiful buttercream hat box cake with a frosted lid! This hat box cake tutorial (or round gift cake) is SO cute, and can be used for all sorts of occasions from birthdays to baby showers!

Depending on the piped pattern or bow, you can dress the cake up or down to fit your theme.

 

Learn how to make a hat box cake with a frosted lid in this MyCakeSchool.com Free Tutorial!

 

My FAVORITE part about this hat box cake is that the lid is created with buttercream rather than fondant. I absolutely love working with buttercream, and am always on the lookout for new frosting techniques to try.

Usually gift cakes or hat box cakes are accented with a fondant lid, and so I’m really excited to have the option of creating a similar look in buttercream! Creating a cake with a frosted lid is easier than you think. Let’s get started!

 

How to Make a Buttercream Hat Box Cake with Lid

 

First, I’m using good old butter-based vanilla buttercream (no shortening).  I recommend our Classic Vanilla Buttercream from our Recipes section.

The reason that a butter based frosting is your best bet for this particular technique is because the buttercream frosting must be very firm in order for our method to work. A butter based frosting will firm up much more quickly when chilled.

Learn to make a beautiful cake with a frosted lid in this My Cake School free cake tutorial!

After frosting the cake, I popped it into the freezer for a few minutes.  As I mentioned above, because this vanilla buttercream is butter-based, the frosting gets firm very quickly.

Once the frosting was firm, I went back over it with a HOT spatula and smooth it all out.  This is cake decorating technique is often referred to as the “Hot knife” method.  Freeze for a few more minutes to firm everything up for the next step!

Next, I took out a roll of parchment paper & cut a piece long enough to wrap around the cake. You want to cut a width equal to the height of your cake, minus approximately one inch.  (Mine was 3″ wide because my cake was 4″ tall.)

Learn to make a hat box cake with a frosted lid in this free My Cake School tutorial!

Next, I wrapped the parchment all the way around the chilled cake.  Since the cake was cold, the parchment paper adhered to the sides with no problem. If it doesn’t, just tape the overlapping ends. *If the frosting is not firm when it’s time to wrap the cake, simply place it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm things up!

Learn how to make a CUTE hat box cake with a frosted lid in this My Cake School free cake tutorial!

Now it’s time to make the frosted lid!  I used our classic vanilla buttercream frosting (slightly thickened with a little powdered sugar) which I tinted with Americolor Mint Green coloring gel.  I applied the frosting just slightly thicker than the other frosting.Adorable hat box cake with frosted lid! Free cake tutorial by MyCakeSchool.com. Online cake tutorials, recipes, and more!

I made the frosting for the lid as smooth as possible. (You can always chill and smooth as needed to fix any remaining imperfections.) Now for the big reveal!

How to make a hat box cake with a frosted buttercream lid! Free tutorial by My CakeSchool!

Does everything look perfect?  If not, pop in the freezer for a final few minutes.  I had to do this one last time to smooth over a few dings in the icing with my hot spatula.  I couldn’t help myself.

Free Tutorial! How to make a hat box cake with a frosted lid. MyCakeSchool.com.

That’s all there is to it!  I love the look of the hat box cake.  Now the real fun begins….time to decorate!

Adjust the design to whatever fits your theme best. I decided to write ALL over my lid in vanilla buttercream using a Wilton Tip 2.  If you aren’t wild about the idea of a lot of piping, keep it simple with polka dots or daisies.   Learn how to make a BEAUTIFUL hat box cake with a frosted lid in this MyCakeSchool.com free tutorial!

I kept writing and writing until there was no where left to write!How to make a hat box cake with a frosted lid! MyCakeSchool.com.

Next I added a gum paste ribbons and bows…..Adorable hat box cake with a frosted lid! Free cake tutorial by My Cake School!

Everything looks better with a bow!  This one was still a little soft.  I only dried it for 30 minutes, but it worked out fine! If time allows, dry your gum paste loops several hours in advance or overnight.CUTE Hat Box Cake with a Frosted Lid! Free step by step cake decorating tutorial by MyCakeSchool.com.

I added a little daisy for the center…and we’re done!

Adorable Hat Box Cake with a Frosted Lid Tutorial by MyCakeSchool.com! Free tutorial and perfect for all occasions!

I hope that you enjoyed this sweet and simple tutorial as much as we enjoyed creating it! Have fun experimenting, the design options are endless!

Learn Cake Decorating with My Cake School

Don’t miss our full collection of favorite free cake tutorials in our Free Tutorials Section, which includes a section of Free Cake Decorating Videos!

If you’d like to learn even more about cake decorating, we would love to have you as a member of our site! Our members have access to every cake decorating video that we’ve made over the years. Find all of the details here! Joining Information for MyCakeSchool.com.

 

 

 

Related posts:

  1. Featuring a Blue and White Quilted Cake with Topper-
  2. Buttercream Ruffle Cake Tutorial

Filed Under: Blog Tutorials, Bridal Showers, Buttercream Techniques, Wedding & Elegant Tagged With: cake with a frosted lid, gift box cake, hat box cake

« Sugar Cookies
Buttercream Frosted Cake Box~ Cake Decorating Video »

Comments

  1. Lauren @ Crave. Indulge. Satisfy. October 1, 2010 at 6:50 am

    Great tutorial! Love the hat box and the addition of the bow! I am amazed at how smooth you are able to get your buttercream, I’m still in the process of perfecting my smoothing techniques!

    Reply
  2. jfolzman October 1, 2010 at 7:41 pm

    Love it, giving it a try this weekend!

    Reply
  3. Melissa Diamond October 1, 2010 at 8:35 pm

    Thanks Lauren!

    Jill, I just added the video version of me making this cake to the site–you can find it in “Favorite Tools & Tips”!

    Reply
  4. kraftychristy October 19, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    That is too cute! I’ve got a birthday coming up soon, and I think I’ll try this. Love, Love, Love this site!!!!!!

    Reply
  5. Melissa Diamond October 19, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    Thanks Christy–yes, you should try it! I’m so glad that you like the site—welcome!! You are our 300th member! Woo hoo!! Love those nice big round numbers!

    Reply
  6. Dorothy November 13, 2011 at 8:25 pm

    I Love this idea for a gift !Thank you for the smoothing idea I Love it and will try on my next cake!Job well done God Bless! Dorothy

    Reply
  7. Melissa Diamond November 14, 2011 at 8:37 am

    Thanks Dorothy!

    Reply
  8. Nivi June 28, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    Hi
    I was wondering will it hold up? since we’re freezing it so much, but it looks so much better and bet it taste better than fondant.

    Reply
  9. Melissa Diamond June 28, 2012 at 6:05 pm

    Hi Nivi–It will hold up just fine. You just freeze until the frosting is just firm….you don’t want to freeze the cake through and through or you’ll run into condensation issues.

    Reply
  10. anna murphy March 25, 2013 at 7:06 pm

    Hi, I was wondering what cake recipe you used and what size tins? Thanks, Anna

    Reply
  11. BeBe March 25, 2013 at 7:14 pm

    Hi Anna, this cake is three 8 inch layers, and we used the white almond sour cream recipe (a doctored cake mix). Using your favorite recipe would be fine.

    Reply
  12. Joan October 4, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    How do you think it would taste if I iced the cake all over in a chocolate ganache and then used buttercream for the “lid”? Would that look and taste OK or should I just stick to all buttercream, like you did?

    Reply
  13. Melissa Diamond October 4, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Hi Joan– I think it would be great! ;0)

    Reply
  14. Charlene John June 17, 2014 at 9:09 pm

    I just want say thank you for teaching me and I love love this site

    Reply
  15. BeBe June 17, 2014 at 9:21 pm

    Hi Charlene, thank you for your nice comment about the site!!

    Reply
  16. yetti January 21, 2015 at 6:17 am

    Sooo beautiful…im trying this for my daughters birthday…thank you so much.and thank you,so very much for the frosting ideas.

    Reply
  17. sherry March 27, 2015 at 6:08 am

    Thank You, great idea, beautiful cake

    Reply
  18. Penelope April 2, 2015 at 4:17 am

    This is a lovely idea, will try this for my Son’s girlfriends birthday!

    Reply
  19. Cynthia June 12, 2015 at 11:25 pm

    I was just wondering …is it possible to achieve this with shortening?

    Reply
  20. Melissa Diamond June 13, 2015 at 12:11 am

    Hi Cynthia, I’ve never tried this with a shortening based frosting. It isn’t ideal because butter based frostings become so much firmer when chilled and so there is less chance of accidentally denting the frosting when applying and removing the parchment.

    Reply
  21. mandy September 23, 2015 at 5:49 pm

    i love this will do it soon.

    Reply
  22. ranty October 12, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    it’s great tutorial,i’ve to try it.thank u

    Reply
  23. Cristy October 27, 2015 at 7:39 pm

    Muy bueno el tutorial gracias muchas gracias.

    Reply
  24. adv24 October 28, 2015 at 6:08 am

    did you use royal icing for the writing or buttercream?
    well done !

    Reply
  25. Melissa Diamond October 28, 2015 at 9:23 am

    Thanks for your replies! @adv24– The writing is done in buttercream.

    Reply
  26. nisha August 18, 2017 at 6:12 am

    hello, admin,
    this is a nice cake amazing tutorial
    thanks for sharing

    Reply
  27. ProfessorCupcake March 7, 2021 at 12:17 pm

    Hi,
    I used your method to make a present box cake for my Dad’s birthday, it looked AMAZING!!! It was a lot easier than it looked! I’ve been making cakes for about 10 years now, and this is my ALL TIME FAVE.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I made the pieces in advance out of fondant a few days before!

    Reply

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