We’re so excited to have a video on how to make a birdcage cake! These cakes are cheerful, delicate and perfect for a variety of occasions from bridal showers, to teas & garden parties, to birthdays. This is one of those constructions that I love, because the cake itself looks so impressive, but is actually quite simple to make.
I will list the materials used and some quick notes beneath the video.
Part One
Part Two:
Materials
3 six inch layers
1 half ball cake (I used half of the Wilton Sports Ball Pan (aff.) set. It measures 6″ in diameter.)
Buttercream- We used our “fluffy vanilla buttercream” recipe but any crusting recipe will do
Cardboard cake circle (cut to just under 6″, it is placed within the cake)
Bubble Tea Straws or your dowels of choice. I used 3.
Cake base or pedestal. If you are stacking cardboard cake circles, I would stack 2 or 3.
Bench Scraper, Spatula of your choice.
Food coloring pen (I used an Americolor black pen for the birds’ eyes)
Gum Paste (or fondant with tylose kneaded in) –For creating your birds & flowers
Fondant for the bars of the birdcage
Buttercream for frosting the cake – (Most of it was tinted blue, with a little reserved to be tinted green for our ivy vines)
Coloring Gel in desired colors–I used Americolor Electric Blue for the buttercream, Americolor Deep Pink for the pink shades of flowers, Americolor Electric Green for the ivy leaves & buttercream vines)
Cutters used: PME ivy leaf cutter, cherry blossom cutter, Wilton Daisy cutters, tiny flower cutters
FMM Multi Ribbon Cutter– (aff.) I used this to cut my fondant bands/bars of the cage. The thicker bands are ¾″ thick, and the thinner bands are ¼″.
Extruder (very helpful)- We like Makin’s Ultimate Clay Extruder (aff.)
Ball Tool & Foam Pad- optional (for thinning flowers)
Royal icing- I used for adding detail to the cage–you could also use a crusting buttercream. I also used it to glue our ring to the top of the cage
Sugar Pearls-optional. I used Wilton brand sugar pearls for some of our flower centers
Piping Tip 2- For piping royal icing bead board around the cage as well as our green buttercream ivy vines.
Misc: Sharp knife or x-acto for cutting, tylose/sugar glue (or your glue of choice),
If you love bird themed sweets, don’t miss our free blog tutorial for Bird & Birdcage Cupcakes!! These are so cute and simple, and match our birdcage cake perfectly!
Hi Melissa. Fab cake. Can’t wait to see video. However only part 2 showing up on the iPad. There is a big gap where part one should be!
Hey Jackie–I re-embedded, is it better now? I have to rely on my ipad friends to let me know :0)
Awesome!
What is the plastic sheet called you have covering your fondant from getting hard? Where can I get one?
Hi Melissa. Can see it now. Thank you
Bakerstreats……
I found one on ebay called The Mat. It’s fabulous. You should enter The Mat on youtube and see how she uses it to cover cakes instead of a rolling pin.
Here is the link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fondant-Mat-Best-Tool-to-Cover-Cake-with-Fondant-THE-MAT-by-Sweet-Wise-/230761132502?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ba6f71d6#ht_1273wt_1135
@bakerstreats–We really like The Mat that Ansa mentioned above. It is food grade vinyl. If you watched the monster truck video, we used it to assist with covering the cake with fondant. We also use it to keep fondant from drying out, as in the video.
Some people use use just plain old clear vinyl which you can usually find at fabric stores— the catch is that it doesn’t have the “food safe” seal of approval like The Mat does.
U read my mind again! It is gorgeous! Guess what I’ll be doing for my bday next week???
For this cake, how much would you charge?
gorgeous as always Melissa,
Just a question, I have made the cake and buttercreamed it…but dont want to put the fondant accents on until tomorrow afternoon…. is the cake fine in the fridge until then or am I best off leaving it out to come to room temp
thanks
Hi Genelle– I usually refrigerate my buttercream frosted cakes. It would be fine to leave it in the fridge until tomorrow afternoon and then apply your accents. I find that the fondant sticks easily to the frosting after the cake has been chilled because there is just the slightest bit of moisture on the surface of the icing.
Thanks for this!! Where did you get your multi ribbon cutter? Is it a Wilton cutter?
Just saw it’s a FMM. I’ve found it!!!
Hi Melissa,
How many batches of buttercream did you use for this? x
Hi Jennie, I think we used two recipes of the Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream.
Hi Melissa absolutely love what you do. Thank you for sharing your skills.
I am only beginning cake decorating and am really loving it. I love this bird cage cake and as an excuse just to make it have decided to make it into my xmas cake for 2012. Using white icing for background and red for the cage and make the birds doves for peace. My problem at this stage is how do I get a very vibrant red coloring mix as it seems more pink than red?
Keep up your tutorials please I am loving them and finding them very inspirational.
Bernice
Hi Bernice–Thanks so much for your nice words about our site! You are asking about red fondant rather than buttercream, is that right? I gave up on tinted fondant or gum paste red a long time ago (unless just a small piece is needed.) – Many brands of fondant make pre-colored red fondant. Satin Ice Red is what I use most often.
As a side note, I use Americolor Super Red or Red Red most often when I need red coloring for buttercream, royal icing, small fondant pieces, etc. I hope this helps!
Hi Melissa,
Just wondering if you could please explain what properties a high-ratio shortnening has? I am from Australia and we don’t have many options available. Due to the hot climate here, I hardly use buttercream as a finish but would love to include them as an option rather than Fondant cakes all the time. At present I use an all butter Italian meringue b’cream which tastes great but doesn’t hold up in the heat. So in order to make a crusting b’cream I need a high-ratio shortening? Is this different to your crisco and if so what brand do you use? Thanks so much, I am so happy I stumbled across your site. Great job!!
Hi Brooke, High ratio shortening is specifically made for making buttercream for cakes. It has a very smooth and creamy texture. It contains more emulsifiers enabling it to absorb more liquid than regular shortening based recipes. It can also withstand high temperatures.
We most often use the Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream recipe substituting high ratio for the Crisco in the recipe.
Since you are from Australia, click on this link that was posted by Jenny M, a member of the site. I think you will find it helpful in finding products.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/message-boards/anything-goes/aussie-ladies-questions-on-us-products
Your cakes always look perfect! What recipe do you use, and what cake pan? Mine never seem to come out high enough. How much batter do you put in your cake pans? I’m so new to all of this! I usually end up having to bake another cake to add height, because the layers are too thin. I’m using 8×2, 6×2, etc. cake pans.
Hi Melissa
I love yours classes, but I have a Question: What Recipe do you use for this cake ? Is only one Recipe or Two ? Can I use Rings for de Layers ?
Thanks, Regards
I’m sorry, we usually receive e-mail notifications of comments left under videos but there must be a glitch. @Monica~ We used the White Almond Sour Cream cake recipe for this. Most recipes would be fine for this, as there is very little carving involved if you have a half ball pan.
@Carolyn~ We use 2″ deep pans also and fill them about 2/3 of the way full. This cake is three 6″ layers with a half ball pan on top. Hope this helps!
Hi Melissa and Bebe, I’m making this cake for a Mother’s Day brunch and would prefer to do the cage part on Saturday so that Sunday morning isn’t hectic and stressful. Is that possible? Would I have to leave the cake sitting out overnight in order to do that?
We will probably be sitting outside at a restaurant and it is forcasted to be in the 80s and the cake will most likely be sitting out throughout the meal. Should I use the high ratio b.c. recipe instead of the fluffy to help prevent melting?
I’m considering filling with lemon curd, does a cake with that have to be refrigerated?
Thanks!
Hi Jen- Glad that you are making this! I very often refrigerate my fondant and don’t have trouble. I use Satin Ice brand– not sure what you are working with, but you could always do a quick experiment by putting a piece of fondant in the fridge for several hours to make sure nothing crazy happens ;0) –
So, if it were me, I wouldn’t worry at all about placing on the fondant pieces the day before. We do refrigerate our cakes that are filled with lemon curd filling.
If your cake will be outside in the 80 degree weather, the high ratio will withstand the heat better since the fluffy does have more butter. It may be okay either way as long as it isn’t in direct sunlight…but high ratio is always going to be the safest bet. Hope this helps! Let us know if you have more questions.
Hi Melissa. Can’t see the video.
Hi yary3, I’m sorry you are having a problem. It is playing on our laptop and ipad. Are you able to view our other videos? If not, you may need to update your Adobe Flash Player, here is a link http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/downloads.html
Let us know if you continue to have problems as there are other things to try.
Hi Melissa and Bebe! I love this cake and am planning on making it in the near future for a birthday. Would you suggest dowelling it down the centre if it is going to be transported? I want to make sure it is stable.
On another note, the last 2 cakes I have made I used your white almond sour cream cake recipe. Best recipe I have ever used and I have gotten nothing but rave reviews on the taste. This is definitely going to be my go to recipe for cakes.
LOVE your site and all the inspiration and ideas you have given me. You have a lifetime member in me. Hope you had a Happy Easter ☺
Hello Shawn!
Thank you so much for your kind words, we really appreciate them!
Hmmm….on the center dowel… it is a good idea for peace of mind during transport, especially if you are traveling across town. Let me know if you have questions about hammering the sharpened dowel through and I can link you to one of our videos where we do this! (If you decide not to use a center dowel, just make sure that your cake is in the car sitting completely level. I also like to chill the cake before traveling so that everything is nice and firm.) – Good luck!
Hi,
Love learning so much from you– so excited when you give us another new tutorial. So very appreciated–question–you say you use a Wilton half ball pan to do the top of this cake. Could you please give me a link to the pan you are talking about so I make sure I get the right one. Also could you please give me a little more info. on how you cooked the cake in this pan and made it level so it would fit correctly on the cake? I’m making a 3 tier cake and this is going to be my top tier. My first and very nervous. Thank you so much for your help and time–Blessings
Hi Julia, here is a link to the half ball pan we used, http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3e30abd4-475a-bac0-5b381da1ba82e3d3. We add a rose nail that is greased and floured to the bottom of the pan to help distribute the heat and decrease baking time. We fill the pan 1/2 to 2/3 full. For the bird cage cake we used 6 inch cake pans and the half ball pan is six inches in diameter so it fit on the top with no problem. You might need to level the tops of the cakes. This is a link to using a rose nail, in case you have never used one, http://www.thatreallyfrostsme.com/2010/11/baking-cakes-with-flower-nail.html