There’s a new cake hack in town. And it’s turning every single one of us into brilliant cake makers.
From drip cakes to sprinkle cakes and all the unicorn and dinosaur cakes in between, come see the EPIC cakes being created. And all without a single egg being cracked!
Yes, you don’t even have to bake. All you need is a super cheap $4.40 supermarket cake!
The cake hack that anyone can have a crack at
Let’s be honest, creating a cake from scratch for any occasion is a big deal. It costs a small fortune to bake a cake for a crowd and there’s all the pressure to get it right. Not burnt. Not undercooked. Just right. Eeek.
Supermarket trolley at the ready, here’s how to create your own brilliant cake. You don’t need to know much at all about cake decorating to get started – if you can make your way down the baking and confectionery aisle of the supermarket, you can blitz this cake decorating jag. Honest.
Skip the baking
Cakes from professional cake decorators can cost hundred of dollars. But this supermarket cake hack uses an everyday mud cake that costs just $4.80. Yep, UNDER FIVE BUCKS. If you don’t have a Woolworths nearby, other supermarkets sell their own versions at a similar price.
If you’re not a fan of chocolate mud cake, you can use sponge cake instead!
Hold the baking, this cake hack is all about layering
To get started, choose a pre-made supermarket mud cake in your fave flavour (we LOVE Woolworths mud cake that comes in chocolate, white chocolate and lip-smackingly good caramel). It’s recommended to buy at least TWO cakes and sandwich them together with buttercream icing to take it to a rather snazzy, easy to decorate height. You can cut the supermarket icing off to make the cakes flat or leave it on – it’s up to you.
Don’t freak out if you’ve never made buttercream icing. Just grab ready made options Betty Crocker frosting or Queen brand butter cream icing from the baking aisle.
Frame work done, let’s get icing
To achieve a professional, smooth icing finish, you don’t need fancy equipment. Use a lazy Susan turntable and a clean, rigid plastic ruler, then simply spin the cake and run the ruler around the sides. Don’t care for smooth edges? Simply slap it on with a spatula – too easy!
Now, tis is the fun bit where it’s time to flex your creative muscle and imagination. Here’s a bounty of show stopping cakes from the uber talented members of the Woolies/Coles Mudcake Hacks Facebook group.
Easy Animal Cakes
How much is that doggy in the window? Here’s an adorable cake for all the puppy lovers out there!
The largest land animal of all time, I love this dinosaur cake. Bonus points for the clever use of a giant chocolate egg (remember that for next Easter!), so much dino-terrific fun.
Cute Children’s Character Cakes
Even superheroes are making their way into these cake hacks. Batman has never looked (or no doubt tasted) SO good.
Toot toot, chugga chugga! A riot of rainbow colour and figurines of the most loved children’s band getting around, this Wiggles cake is just as awesome as the Wiggles’ big red car!
Fit for a princess, this princess tiara cake is four mud cakes tall, catering for a crowd made easy. Check out those epic piping skills! And hats off to the maker of this divine Frozen themed cake. Can you believe it’s the first cake this mum has ever decorated?!
Lolly Cakes
Sherbet cones, sour straps, snakes and Skittles, oh my! Max would have been one deliriously happy birthday boy with this colour packed, lolly loaded birthday cake!
What chocolates and lollies you can’t fit on the outside, bury them on the inside. This party cake hides a piñata party within – GENIUS!
Sometimes less is more, as seen here with this utterly adorable first birthday cake. Hacked using pastel pink icing, fancy pants sprinkles and a divine wooden cake topper, this cake hack is nothing short of divine. And doesn’t the cute-as-a-button birthday girl look pleased as punch with it?!
This gender reveal cake is off-the-charts good! Pretty as a picture, covered in 100s and 1000s, PLUS a treasure trove of lollies hiding within. This is one talented mama!
Construction Cakes
Happy as a kid in dirt, I adore the cut out detail of this construction vehicle cake. Digging out a mine of broken Malteasers is my kind of dirty work. Suitable for bulldozers, bobcats, tractors and mini Tonkas – stack ’em all! The beauty of this cake is it doesn’t matter a bit if the icing’s not perfect – the messier the better!
Unicorn Cakes
The unicorn trend remains as popular as ever. Decorated with fondant ears and horn plus piped to perfection, this unicorn cake is AMAZING! If fondant isn’t your thing, you can still deliver on that unicorn cake all the same. Glorious and ever so clever, this clever mama uses a glitter covered unicorn cake topper. Brilliant!
Cakes with edible toppers
A winning combination if ever there was one, you can’t go wrong with a cake surrounded with chocolate and strawberries. Yum!
Macarons are a popular and luxurious touch to any celebration cake. Don’t fret, you needn’t make them yourself, these wise decorators can give you all the hot tips on where to find them too!
It’s all about the drip! Beautiful and elegant, a caramel drip, classic flowers and a few well placed macarons is both gorgeous and quick to execute in decorating terms.
Who doesn’t love a doughnut? Match your doughnut and cake icing colours for a beautiful, simple coordinated look. Or combine cake and Christmas themed cookies a la this Christmas cake that’s one of my absolute favourites! A delicious and much prettier alternative to fruit cake.
Have you tried your very own cake hack? We’d love to see a picture – share it in the comments. And then browse our party section for more fab birthday party ideas.
