Giraffe Baby Shower Cake
Today I'm going to demonstrate a cute Giraffe Baby Shower Cake!
It is such a cute and cheerful cake that would work on cakes of any size, whether single or double tiered.
Table of Contents
Double Barrel Cake
Double barrel cakes (aka TALL cakes) are a huge trend in the cake world these days. I see them everywhere, and I love them.
They are fabulous standing alone, and they always add a boost of drama when used in tiered cake designs.
The basic idea here is that you are stacking two cake tiers as usual, with cake board and doweling/bubble tea straws in between. The difference is that the two tiers are the same size, and therefore once the cake is frosted or covered in fondant, you have the illusion of one extra tall cake.
Since we've had requests both for double barrel cakes as well as a tutorial on how to cover tall cakes with fondant, we thought we'd demonstrate both in this video. We also needed some fresh new shower cake ideas and so I went with a theme that would work great with a baby shower (as well as a young birthday)!
PART 1
How to construct a double barrel cake and how to cover it with fondant.
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Materials
For the Double Barrel Cake~
8 inch cake layers for the double barrel cake--Use what you like, but I used 2 fat layers on the bottom portion, and 3 thinner layers for the top for a total height of 7 inches.
6" cake layers for the top tier (I used two fat layers)
Cardboard Cake Circles-- I used four 12 inch cake circles to create the base (glued together). I used two 8 inch cake circles--one beneath the 8" tier, and another in the middle of the double barrel cake. I used one 6" cake circle.
Dowels/Bubble Tea Straws- I used 6 bubble tea straws and one central wooden dowel (sharpened)
Frosting and Ganache-- We used our fluffy vanilla buttercream as our filling between layers. We used chocolate ganache (a 2:1 ratio of semi-sweet chocolate chips to heavy cream--aka our "Simple Spreadable Ganache")
Fondant- We used Satin Ice fondant to cover our cake.
Freezer paper: Parchment paper or acetate would work also. We used this to support our "wrap". We also used this as a template for the wrap.
Vinyl covering: optional-- We like "The Mat". This is optional but it does help to prevent the fondant from drying out if you have any time between cutting out your wrap and actually placing on the cake.
Vegetable Shortening: This is helpful in rubbing over the ganached cake before placing on the wrap. We also used a light coating on our freezer paper.
PART 2
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For the Giraffe and Baby Block Decorations
Tylose Powder: I kneaded some tylose into my fondant for the baby blocks. You could also use gum paste.
Gum paste: (Optional) --You will want to make your giraffes from either gum paste or fondant with a good amount of tylose kneaded into it. It's important that the giraffes (especially the tall one) dry firm and strong. I like Satin Ice brand gum paste.
1 ½ inch square cutter (or something close) for our baby blocks.
Vodka or lemon extract- This is to mix with our coloring gel to create a "paint". Something with a high alcohol content is important because it dries very quickly. We prefer vodka.
Alphabet Cutters- We used these for our alphabet blocks.
Fondant Smoothers- Helpful for creating straight edges for the blocks, as well as for smoothing the fondant on the cake
tylose or sugar "glue" (or your edible glue of choice)
Food coloring pen- To draw on the eyes of the giraffe. A toothpick dipped in "paint" or a small paintbrush would work too. So would a "real" pen if the giraffes won't be consumed (I wouldn't recommend eating the giraffes anyway--not very tasty if they are gum paste!)
Miscellaneous Supplies
Rolling Pin for rolling fondant and gum paste
x-acto or other sharp knife
pizza wheel: Optional, for cutting away excess fondant. (Pizza wheels don't pull on the fondant as much as using a knife does.)
turntable: Optional, but really such a lifesaver if you plan on doing a lot of cakes!
Bench scraper- Optional, but good for smoothing the ganache and creating a nice straight edge.
Spatulas- Your preferred spatulas. I used a smallish 9" one.
Paint brushes- (Optional) I used for painting on our giraffe pattern. Another option is edible ink pens or fondant cut outs.
***A note about our baby blocks~ I was truly *inspired* by a written tutorial on baby blocks that I found on YouTube, which was posted by Inspired by Michelle. This also lead me to her amazing website, ;
If you want to do just 3 (2") layers of cake instead of 4, do you recommend using a cake board and straws for that too, or will it hold on it's own?
I do have Firefox 12. I usually try to stay up to date on these things. Today I at least have a black box but no controls. I will try downloading a different browser to see if I can view the videos.
I was wondering why you did not put a dam of icing on these cakes and were the cakes ok? I love the giraffes!!!!
@Rose Bakes---Hmmm....I usually say to dowel every 4-5"...you would most likely be fine, but there is a little more risk with each inch that you add without additional support. If you decide to try it, I personally wouldn't try it with tiered cakes...just single tier. I also wouldn't try it with anything 6" or less...since you don't want the cake to be as tall as it is wide without support--it may topple.
*Also, keep in mind that inserting that board midway helps keep the serving sizes more manageable. A 6" tall slice of cake may not easily fit on the plate ;0) Hope this helps!
@Iris-- I almost always dam everything--- but not everyone does. In the past several months I've done a lot more pressing down firmly on the assembled layers as an additional way of "speed settling" the cake. I do think that this also helps to keep bulging in check. I also feel that I have some extra freedom when I ganache my cakes rather than frosting with buttercream beneath the fondant, as the layer of ganache seems to prevent bulging.
So, the short answer is that I was just experimenting. I didn't have any bulging issues, but I'm not abandoning the damming method just yet. Still more experimenting to do!
For some reason I can't pull up either video on my IPad. Any suggestions?
Hi Ghada, it should be working now. Let me know if it isn't.
Could you do the "double barrel" technique with square or sheet cakes? Wanting to do this for a wedding cake where the bottom layer is half-sheet cake sized.
Thanks.
A tip for Aussie Bakers - don't try and hammer a dowel through our STD boards - they are not the same as these foam/card types - you will end up in a huge mess. Our boards require pre-drilling and most Aussie decoraters will commence with a presentation board with a 9-12mm wooden central dowel glued in and the cakes are then threaded OVER the dowel. It goes up through the top tier too (finishing about 1inch shorter than total height of cake)
This also helps to make sure both cakes are perfectly centred
We also do like an extended wrap fondant cover and just fold over/in the top edge that will show under the top tier - trimmed off and smooth with fondant smoother - you don't need to be concerned with what will end up UNDER the top tier.
This method ensures you retain your nice edge on the top of your double barrel and leaves it seamless.
Just ANOTHER take on what you have done here :)
Thanks SkippyBaker- You are right, there are other ways to do the double barrel. We discussed doing the "fold over" method but decided to go this route to demonstrate how to create a smooth top, since so often double barrel cakes either stand alone or are top tiers. It's good to have choices though! I'm sure we'll demonstrate the "fold over" in another video.
Good to know about the boards in Australia! I didn't realize that you all don't have boards there that will accept a sharpened dowel. Sounds like a great reason for us to do a tutorial with the wooden base & dowel already in place. ;0) Thanks for your input.
@Ashley--Yes, you can do the same technique with square cakes. I've seen some very pretty ones! For the sheet cake, were you thinking a two layer 12x18 stacked onto another 2 layer 12x18? --I don't think I've ever seen an extra tall sheet cake...but as long as there is adequate support, it seems doable (but very heavy!) ;0)
Thanks for the reply. I plan on building/decorating the cake at the reception hall so I won't be transporting or carrying it.
Your site is AMAZING! Thank you so much for all your time, effort and incredible creativity.