DIY Halloween Cakes and Cake-Walk for Dolls!

Now that Fall has arrived, it’s time for Harvest Festivals and school Halloween carnivals.  One of my favorite memories has always been the cake-walk!  Fingers crossed you would land on that lucky number and take home a sweet treat…and no tricking was required.   I wanted to recreate this fun activity for my daughters to enjoy with their dolls.  First, we needed some cute cakes for the dolls to win.  Today I will share with you how to make a DIY  “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” sheet cake and a DIY Halloween frosted Bundt cake for your American Girl dolls.

Below are pictures of real cakes that were used for inspiration.

I purchased a small wood tray from Michaels that measured a little over 1x3x5 inches.  This made a perfect size for a doll sheet cake.  I didn’t want to create a circular cake since I just made two in the Unicorn Café series.

Frosting was made by using Kwik Seal Plus caulk and orange paint.  Remember that the color darkens when dry.  The caulking was applied to the wood with a regular frosting spreader and allowed to dry for 24 hours. Once “frosting” was dried I glued the “cake” to a cake board.  The cake board was created by using a glue stick and gluing a piece of white card stock paper over a piece of thin cardboard.

While the “frosting” dried, I went to work creating the cake toppings.  The decorative toppings were made out of polymer clay.  I used my clay extruder and extruded strands of green and purple clay.  I twisted these pieces to create pumpkin vines.  I used my clay rolling machine on the largest setting ( 1 ) and rolled out yellow clay.  I used my 2 inch fondant cutter and cut out a circle.  I cut off a bottom portion of the yellow circle to create a flat surface for a moon.

I used a leaf silicone mold from Mold Muse to create pumpkin leaves.  You can find this mold here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/92703067/silicone-mold-leaf-leaves-polymer-clay?ga_search_query=leaves&ref=shop_items_search_2    The moon, leaves, and vines were baked at 250° for 8 minutes.

I hand rolled balls of orange polymer clay into various sizes.  I used a flat edged clay tool to score vertical lines down the balls of clay.  After lines were placed, the top and bottom of ball was slightly pushed together to flatten to create a pumpkin shape.

Small pieces of green polymer clay were hand rolled out.  Then each piece was slightly twisted.  A stem was cut to desired length.  I used a small rounded clay tool to create a dimple in the pumpkin top where the stem would sit.  I slid in the stem.  The stems will adhere with baking.  The pumpkins where baked at 275° for 12 minutes for the smaller pumpkins and 15 minutes for the larger ones.  I did have one stem come off after baking and I simply used E6000 epoxy glue to hold in place.  The pumpkins range in size from 1-2 cm.

For the black frosting piping I used strings of tiny round black beads found at Michaels.

I printed out my snoopy head onto 65 lb card stock paper and cut it out.  You can find your Snoopy Silhouette here: It’s The Great Pumpkin Snoopy Silhouette.  The silhouette was cut down to needed size and I used a glue stick and glued to the polymer clay moon.

I then used E6000 epoxy glue and glued the moon, pumpkins, vines, and leaves into desired places.  Use a few pumpkins to stabilize the moon more firmly.

***Tip*** Leave beads on string and glue into place.  Use a tiny pair of manicure scissors to cut excess beads off once glue is placed.  This saves a ton of time!

Below is a picture of the real cake used in the doll sized Halloween Bundt cake.

To make the doll sized Bundt cake I used a mini silicone Bundt cake mold.  I already had this mold on hand; I use it to make ice cubes for my punch bowl.  Add a little colorful flower or fruit to the center and your bunch bowl is much more festive.  Each mold measures about 3 inches wide.

I tried to use polymer clay in the mold but this particular mold was too flimsy.  I decided to use Crayola Model Magic clay.  The clay was conditioned by hand and rolled out in a 5 inch circle.  The clay is laid over the Bundt cake mold of choice.  The clay is pushed down into the mold and the edges folded inward.  I chose to push  clay into mold this way to avoid any clay seams. Turn mold over and push on mold.  I placed my index finger in center of mold and completely inverted the mold.  ***Tip*** I did use a small amount of Pam nonstick baking spray over the center pole of the mold to prevent sticking.

I love how the Crayola Model Magic clay already has texture.  I can’t wait to make more of these cakes and leave them plain.  It turned out so pretty!  Leave the model magic cake to dry.  I let mine dry 72 hours.  Model magic clay never dries to a fully hardened state, but it will become very firm.  Patience is the key with air-dry crafts!

I used Tulip Slick fabric paint as my colored icing.  I also use this paint to resemble drizzled chocolate.  I love the fine tip.  I first added the purple paint and let dry for 4 hours.  Then I added the orange paint and let dry another 4 hours.  I purchased this paint at Michaels.  I always use a coupon.  I have seen this paint be available and slightly cheaper at Walmart.

This little cake turned out super cute and was very easy to make.  I think it looks very close to the real thing!

The cake-walk table is set!  See here for instructions on the DIY cupcakes: http://brandyshappyhome.com/diy-polymer-clay-halloween-cupcakes-for-dolls/

Get your free doll cake-walk printables here: dolloween-cake-walk-game-and-sign-printable

For more information on the folding table used as the cake-walk table see here: http://brandyshappyhome.com/doll-tailgate-folding-table-and-food/

All of the adorable Halloween doll dresses that the dolls are wearing in this post are from Dresses for Dolls!  You can find the shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dressesfordolls

Craft on!