Today, we have a CUTE Mama Bird cake tutorial to share with a “She’s on the Nest” theme! This design would be perfect for baby showers!
It all starts with a mini wonder mold cake. Wilton’s Mini Wonder Mold Pan (affiliate) can make 4 little cakes at a time.
I usually just fill one or two cavities & make cake toppers from them. These little domes are such a cute size & shape to work with, and there are tons of design options. We also used them in our coconut drink tutorial (but that’s for another day!)
Now, let’s get started with our sweet Mama Bird!
It all starts with a little dome shaped cake…
Our mini wonder mold cake is a little wide for a mama bird, so I did a little trimming, especially around the base. This is an optional step but it helped to give the bird a more rounded look.
Next, I piped our crusting Classic Vanilla Buttercream onto the cake using a Wilton tip 12.
As you can see in the photo, the little cake is “glued” to an inverted bowl so that I could have an easy platform to decorate on. This is an optional step. You could also place the cake on a waxed paper lined plate.
Smooth the frosting as best you can with a small spatula, removing the excess. I felt that I could frost at a better angle (especially towards the rounded base) with the cake boosted on the bowl.
After about ten minutes, I was able to smooth over the crusted vanilla buttercream for a nice, smooth finish.
This technique is referred to as the Viva Paper Towel method of smoothing because Viva brand paper towels have no quilting or impressions.
If you are not working with a crusting buttercream, you could try the hot knife method of smoothing, which involves freezing the little cake (just leave it on the bowl) for 10 minutes or just until firm. Then go over with a hot spatula to smooth things out.
You could also use a little texture on your bird if you’d rather! There’s really no wrong way to go here.
Look how cute!! We added mini chocolate chip eyes and piped on wings, lashes, and a beak with a small round piping tip 3.
The piping for the wings resembles scrollwork but you could also pipe buttercream wings with a petal tip 104.
I love her sweet little face! Next, we’re going to give her a little Mama Bird hat. This is an optional step but it’s such a simple one and I love the look!
To create the hat I piped a small circle of ruffles with a petal tip 104. (Remember with petal tips, the thin end of the tear drop opening is pointing out so that you get a nice thin edge.)
I finished things off with a nice dollop of frosting in the center, piped with a Wilton tip 12.
Now that our tiny Mama Bird cake is ready, it’s time to make the nest! I covered a small bowl with foil and pressed it to the depth that I needed. Of course, you want choose a small bowl that is larger than Mama Bird ;0)
Next, I filled a disposable piping bag with melted chocolate candy coating and snipped away the tip (no piping tip necessary). I piped the nest as you see below. It’s a good idea to let the chocolate “twigs” overlap in many places to create a thicker, stronger nest.
Then, I froze the chocolate nest for about 5-10 minutes or until firm. Once firm, you can easily lift it off of the foil form and onto the cake!
And here we are! I used a large closed star tip (2D) to create a ruffled effect around the sides of the cake. This is a wonderful buttercream technique to keep in mind for those days when you need to decorate a beautiful buttercream cake in a hurry!
Our Classic Vanilla Buttercream is tinted with ivory coloring.
I chilled my mama bird in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes until the frosting hardened before picking her up and placing her in the nest! Isn’t she sweet?
This design would make the most adorable baby shower cake! We hope that you enjoyed this idea and will be inspired to recreate this cake or use some of the fun techniques we demonstrated!
Make sure to check out our other free cake tutorials and videos in our Free Cake Tutorials Section! We’d also love for you to check out our full collection of tried and true cake and frosting recipes in our Recipes Section!
And finally, if you’d like to learn more about becoming a member of My Cake School, you can find all of the details in our Join section! We’d love to have you! (Members have access to our entire cake video library).
See you again soon! xo
That is adorable! I love it! Thanks for sharing!
Oh I love this, I’ll be an aunt again soon and I want to use this for a baby shower, thank you!
This is really so adorable and cute love your cakes.
Lovely cake Melissa! You really do a wonderful job out there. Thank you for sharing your experience with us :)
Oh, I love it! I have a baby shower next weekend and I was thinking about doing an extra little cake for the mom to be…..and you have made up my mind :o) Thanks Melissa
My gosh, you’ve really outdone yourself this time !!!! Wonderful!!!!!
SOOOO CUTE!!! I LOVE IT!
oh that is awesome. Even I can do that I think. :)
That is the cutest little cake! Where ever do you get your ideas? You are so creative & talented, Melissa. I enjoy My Cake School soooo much! Thank you & keep it up.
This is so sweet. I love the ruffling on the cake. Great job, as always.
IS CUTE, WONDERFUL PROYECT. I LOVE IT
It’s soooo cute Melissa, I love it, you made it looks easy to do, thanks for sharing and may I ask you about the buttercream icing that you’re using, it looks so soft and nice and it holds the shapes perfectly, can you please tell me which recipe you are using?
That is a looooovely mama bird!!!! you know my mom loves birds,so i’m thinking this is not just for bb showers! I can make it one to my mom! and maybe I can do other 2 little chicks representing my sister and me! ohhh this is an incredible idea! thank you soooo much dear Melissa! kudos on doing such an instruccional and great tutorial!
iam new to your site and girl you blow me out of the water you are just awesome iam like a kid in a candy store best 30 dollar i have spend in a long while keep up the good work
Toooo precious Melissa, I couldn’t eat it ;o) but I would have to buy it in a heart beat
I will have to try to make and take to the hair salon they are always packed. Now just to find and buy a glass domed cake stand :)
Simply adorable! I’m so happy I enrolled….I always learn something when I watch your tutorials! Thanks! And keep them coming…I love it!
Wouldn’t this be cute with those chocolate robin eggs you can find this time of year, the ones with the hard candy shell? I really love this cake! Thanks, Melissa!
CAN I USE A CUPCAKE TO CARVE THE BIRD? I DONT HAVE WONDER MOLD PAN.
Thanks everybody for your comments! -Natalie, yes, I think that you could make it work with a cupcake. If your cupcakes dome, that’s even better. I would make a few to experiment with. You could even put a cupcake on it’s side so that the top of the cupcake becomes the front side of the bird. You could also build out the icing a little when necessary, and smooth as usual.
Melissa thank you for a quick response! you are always very helpful =)
I tried soing the nest last night but my chocolate felt to thick…
Natalie–Do you mean that the nest was too thick–or the chocolate was so thick that it didn’t pipe well? As the chocolate cools, it is going to thicken–you need to reheat. However, if even a drop of water got into your chocolate–maybe that was in the bowl, or in your piping tip if you used one, that will cause the chocolate to seize and become unusable. Not sure which applies to you– it really should be a very soft, melted chocolate.
i used milk chocolate chips do i add shortning to the chocolate to pipe it?
ok last question..lol…sorry could i add a little baby bird nect to her made out of fondant? will the butter cream sofetn in?
Hi Natalie–it’s fine to add a little shortening to the chocolate. As far as the fondant bird…ideally, you could put it on close to the time that you need it, just to be on the safe side. I usually only have issues with softening gum paste or fondant decorations when the decorations are thin, and actually inserted into the frosting (especially if it is non-crusting).
Love this cake! How did you do the texture on the outside of the cake? Is it the 1M tip?
Hi Lindsay–I used a 2D tip (which is a closed star)—the 1M is an open star, but would give you a similar effect! You should try it–quick and easy! :0)
What tip did you use for the white part of the icing?
Hi Chesney, a 104 tip for the ruffle and a round tip 12 for the center of the hat
This is perfect for Mother’s Day…thank you for sharing!! So sweet and EASY!
THANK YOU I am SO Doing This ;-)
Love this design and loads of others, ur tutorials are great, thank you.
P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S!!!!!
Absolutely precious!!!!!