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Narwhal Cake

We're making a Narwhal Cake from my NEW COOKBOOK - Mermaid Food! Full recipe & cookbook link below!
Narwhals are the cutest, most amusing little creatures! They are the unicorns of the sea and an absolute must in a mermaid party. This cake is so simple to make and is perfect for beginners! We are using my favorite vanilla cake recipe, which is so moist and fragrant, and topping it with the lightest, fluffiest vanilla buttercream. This cake will not disappoint!
MERMAID FOOD, MY NEW COOKBOOK! https://amzn.to/30ZCK9q
Course: dessert
Cuisine: american
Keyword: Cake

Ingredients

Cake Batter:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 large eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups sour cream or milk

Buttercream:

  • 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
  • 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • blue food coloring
  • black food coloring
  • 1/3 cup white fondant
  • 1 disposable chopstick
  • 2 pink candy melts

Instructions

Bake the cake:

  • Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and eggs one at a time, mixing with each addition.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add this to the batter in 2 additions, alternating with the sour cream.
  • Spoon the batter into 3 greased and floured 6 inch round baking pans. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. Cool completely.

Make the buttercream:

  • Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, beating with each addition.
  • Dye the buttercream pale blue. Remove about ¼ cup of the buttercream and dye it black. Place the black buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a small, round piping tip.

Assembly:

  • First, make the horn. Divide the fondant in half and roll it into long sausages. Place the sausages next to each other and wrap them together around the chopstick. Pinch them together at the top and gently squeeze to secure them to the chopstick. Place the horn on a plate lined with plastic wrap and allow to dry out while you decorate the cake.
  • Slice the bottoms off all cakes, removing any excess browning. Slice the tops off 2 of the cakes, leaving one cake rounded on top. Stack all layers, with the round layer on top. Carve the cake into a tall oval shape with a serrated knife. Spread some blue buttercream between each layer.
  • Coat the entire cake in a thin layer of buttercream. This is called a crumb coat and will help to trap any excess cake crumbs in this thin buttercream layer. Place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes, for the crumb coat to stiffen.
  • Coat the cake in a thick, generous layer of blue buttercream. Draw the narwhal’s eyes and mouth with the black buttercream. Stick the pink candy melts onto the cake as blushing cheeks.
  • Place the remaining blue buttercream into a piping bag and snip off the end to create a large, round tip. Create the fins by piping a large dollop on either side of the cake, then dragging the downwards in a flicking motion. Repeat for the tail at the back of the cake.
  • Stick the horn into the forehead area and you’re done!

Video