Shaping your Cake

Sometimes a great decorated cake is all in shaping your cake. When you transform a 13x9 cake into two triangles and form it into a Christmas tree you have an entirely different look.



If you cut two circle cakes into shapes creating a heart like so...

A heart cake can be shaped
by making one square cake and
one round cake.

you can do some great cakes by cutting your cake into whatever shape you need.

There are a lot of great cookbooks out that give directions on how to cut a cake to transform it into something else. I'll include some of these below.

Some of my favorite cakes have been done this way. For my son's birthday I made a dinosaur out of a 13x9 pan and some small loaf pans for the legs.

Another time I made an Egyptian mummy and a rocket ship. A butterfly cake can be made by cutting two triangles out of a 13x9 pan and using a small loaf pan. Your small pan is the body turn the triangles to form wings.

A snake or caterpillar can be formed out of pieces of Bundt cakes. It is a lot of fun to transform a simple cake into something totally different. I think that is why I enjoy this method the most.

You can make your own pattern for shaping the cake by finding a picture such as a coloring book page or coloring page on the internet. Cut the outline of your picture out. Lay the picture on your cake and trace with a toothpick. Cut out your cake and decorate as you'd like.

Once you cut your cake it is a matter of frosting the sides and top, then decorating as you choose.

You can use candy to make faces or pipe a simple face with icing.

Bunny shaped cake recipe

This idea works great for kids birthday cakes or for kids to decorate themselves.

If you've made a shaped cut please share it in our cake gallery for others to try.

A few tips before you cut your cake for shaping

• Bake a day before and chill or freeze cake overnight. Allow to unthaw just slightly. It is easier to cut cool.
  
• Use a bread knife for cutting.
• Plan out on paper your design or make a pattern if needed before cutting.
  

Cut up Cake Cookbooks