Pool Party Cake Recipes

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners. Prepare the cupcakes according to the package directions. Transfer to cooling racks and cool completely.
• In a clean mixer bowl, combine 1 1/2 tubs of the frosting and about 1/4 teaspoon blue food coloring. Beat until smooth and no streaks remain, adding more color if needed to make a light blue frosting.
• Dollop a tiny bit of blue frosting on the bottom of the liner of one of the cupcakes (this will help anchor it to the serving tray), then dollop a generous amount on top of the cupcake. Anchor the cupcake to a serving tray large enough to hold all 24 cupcakes. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, arranging them in a 4-by-6 cupcake grid with the edges touching.
• Using an offset spatula, smooth the blue frosting across the tops of the cupcakes, adding more as necessary, so it appears as 1 layer and the individual cupcakes are no longer visible. Smooth the remaining blue frosting on the sides to cover the cupcakes but not the liners.
• Put the remaining 1 1/2 tubs white frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe the outline of a rectangle in white (about 5 by 7 inches) closer to one short edge of the cupcake grid to make the pool. Pipe around the outline of the rectangle all the way to the edges of the cupcake grid with white, leaving the inside of the pool blue. Smooth the white frosting with an offset spatula.
• For the decorations: Arrange a row of blue candy-coated chocolates on the white frosting around the perimeter of the pool, then arrange another row of blue candy-coated chocolates around the outer perimeter of the cupcake grid. Fill in between the 2 blue rows with rows of white candy-coated chocolates to make the pool deck. Chill the cake 30 minutes to set the frosting inside the pool.
• Meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the blue gelatin until dissolved. Combine a mixture of water and ice in a measuring cup to make 1/2 cup. Stir into the dissolved gelatin until the ice melts. Chill the gelatin mixture while the cake chills. After 30 minutes, pour the gelatin into the pool. Chill until completely set, about 2 hours.
• Cut 2 strips of sour candy belt, each slightly larger than a graham bear, to make beach towels. Lay 1 bear on each towel and arrange them to relax by the pool. Add a drink umbrella over each to shade them from the sun.
• Cut the candy necklaces open where they tie to make 2 long strips. Cut 2 strips the same size as the length of the pool and arrange them over the gelatin for lanes. Gently pull out and discard the strings, keeping the candies in straight lines. Arrange 3 bears around a jawbreaker in the pool to play a game of volleyball. Stick a bear in each gummy ring candy for floaties and add to the pool.
• Cut the chocolate chew into 4 pieces crosswise to make legs for the diving board. Cut a 1 1/2-inch piece from the white taffy and attach it to the legs to make a diving board. Set at the deep end of the pool and press a bear at the end, ready to dive in.
• Cut the green taffy into a rectangle a little larger than a bear. With the back of a paring knife, score lines in the taffy to resemble the puffy parts of a blow-up raft. Stick a bear on the raft and add him to the pool. Stick the remaining bears in the pool to hang out.

Steps:

• Grease two 9-in. round baking pans and line with waxed paper; grease and flour the paper. Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 21-26 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Pour cold water into a 2-cup measuring cup; add enough ice cubes to measure 1-1/4 cups. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Discard any remaining ice. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until soft-set., For frosting, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and salt. Beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth and fluffy. Set aside 2 tablespoons frosting for decorating. Place one cake on a glass or plastic board. Frost top of cake with 2/3 cup frosting. , For pool, cut a 5-in. circle (1 in. deep) in the center of second cake (save removed cake for another use). Place over frosted cake. Slowly pour gelatin into circle. Frost top and sides of cake., For ladder, cut licorice into two 4-in. pieces; gently press 1-1/4 in. apart into frosting, looping top ends for handles. Cut three 1-1/4-in. pieces of licorice for ladder steps; press into frosting. Decorate sides of cake with Swedish Fish and Peachie-O's. , For pool steps, use a small amount of reserved frosting to attach four wafer candies to board. Trim two Air Head candies and bend into chair shapes; with frosting, attach Runts to chairs for legs. For table, attach remaining wafer candy to a lollipop stick; push into cake. Place chairs on cake and board., For diving board, spread frosting between two Now and Later candies; attach gum to top of candies with frosting. Cut Life Savers Gummy in half; attach to sides of gum. Place on cake. , Arrange Smarties on cake for pool tile. Place a line of Smarties on gelatin to form a buoy rope. Place octopus candy in pool. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until gelatin is set.

Steps:

• Prepare cake batter and bake in 13x9-inch pan as directed on package. Cool completely. Invert cake onto platter; remove pan. Use serrated knife to cut and scoop out shallow rectangle from center of cake, leaving 2-inch border of cake on all sides and thin layer on bottom. Reserve removed cake for snacking or other use.
• Add boiling water to gelatin mixes in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1-1/4 hours or until slightly thickened. (Or, see Shortcut Tip for quicker set method.) Pour into center of cake. Refrigerate 3 hours or until gelatin is firm.
• Frost borders of cake with COOL WHIP. Decorate with remaining ingredients as desired to resemble a swimming pool. Keep cake refrigerated.

Steps:

• For the cake:.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a half-size sheet pan (18 x 13 inches) with parchment paper.
• Tip the cake mix into a large bowl. Add the eggs, vegetable oil and water (in the quantities given on the box of the cake mix). Stir together until smooth. Mix in enough blue food colouring to get a vibrant blue colour.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spread out into an even layer and bake for 15-20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Once baked, set the cake aside on a wire rack to cool completely.
• Prep the ice cream:.
• Let the vanilla ice cream soften for a few minutes then scoop it into a large bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon to soften to a buttercream-like texture. Crush the cookies into rough chunks and add to the bowl of ice cream with the rainbow sprinkles. Stir together until combined.
• Layer the cake:.
• Cut three rectangles of cake using a rectangular (10 3/4 x 5 1/2-inch) ice cream cake pan as a guide/template.
• Line the ice cream cake pan with parchment paper.
• Place the first layer of cake into the bottom of the ice cream cake pan.
• Spread half of the ice cream mixture over this in an even layer.
• Top with a second layer of cake followed by an even layer of the remaining ice cream mixture. Finally, top with the third layer of cake. Cover with a layer of parchment paper and.
• freeze for at least 5 hours, or overnight, until solid.
• For the blue frosting:.
• Once the cake has frozen sufficiently, prep the frosting. Pour the heavy cream and sugar into a large bowl. Add enough blue food colouring to make a vibrant blue colour.
• Use a whisk to beat the heavy cream until thickened to soft peaks.
• Assemble:.
• Remove the frozen cake from the cake pan and turn out onto a serving plate. Remove the parchment paper.
• Cover the top and sides with the whipped cream, making swooshing wave patterns on the top using a small spatula or butter knife.
• Decorate with the finger wafers around the edge of the cake. Place a few gummy rings on top with graham cracker bears inside them. Add a few candy balls to resemble beach balls and add a few more graham cracker bears to the top of the cake like they're swimming.
• Serve immediately.
• Leftovers can be kept frozen, covered for a week more (but keep in mind that the cookie bears on top will soften once you defrost it again).
• Tools:.
• Buy the Pampered Chef pan here: https://www.pamperedchef.com/shop/Bakeware/Silicone/Ice+Cream+Cake+Pan/1551
• OR use a silicone loaf pan (10.5 x 6 x 2.5 inch). Just line with parchment paper leaving some overhang at the edges so you can lift the cake out of it once frozen.

Steps:

• Preparation:.
• You'll want to get all of your ingredients prepped! This includes your two 9" vanilla cakes, pineapple curd, buttercream, uncooked spaghetti, fondant in three shades and candy melts for decorating details. I used Swiss meringue buttercream for this recipe for the mini pineapples and the decorated cake. You'll want the buttercream colors in yellow, green, and two colors of your choice.
• Pro tip: at least for the top of the cake, go for either white or blue so the pool stands out.
• Fill, crumb coat and frost cake:.
• Get ready to fill and stack the cake. In this case, I'll use alternating pineapple curd and buttercream.
• Pro tip: alternating between curd and buttercream stabilizes the next cake layer.
• Decorate by adding stripes:.
• You can achieve these stripes with a frosting comb. First, Apply frosting with your first color. Second, go around the cake 3 times with the frosting comb. Third, Add the second color and scrape off excess frosting!
• Start adding the pineapple border:.
• Note: Pipe even dots around the border of the cake using your favorite tip. Here I'm using a Wilton 32 tip. Finish the pineapple by adding the green leaves on the pineapple.
• Pipe pineapple greens using a Wilton 352s tip in green of your choice.
• Create the pool:.
• Mix corn syrup and your favorite blue and spread across the cake.
• Create your fantastic Pool Party flamingoes:.
• Start melting your candy melts for the beak, eyes and wings.
• You can use any non-frosted donuts for the body of the flamingoes.
• Prep three donuts in 3 different shades of pink fondant.
• Mold your flamingo heads and tails using fondant.
• Insert spaghetti. Dip nose into white candy melts. Dip nose into black candy melts and eyes.
• Pro tip: you'll want to make sure no one eats the spaghetti but they're safer than sticks in your cake because they're food safe!
• Placing your flamingoes:.
• Start placing your fondant-covered donuts on the cake where you'd like.
• Insert flamingo heads and tail.
• Create flamingo wings.
• Add wings to flamingo pool floatie.

Steps:

• Begin by making the ice-cream base of the pool cake. Let the ice cream soften at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes, then ask your kids to help you spoon it into an 8-inch round springform pan, souffle dish, or plastic container. Pack the ice cream into the mold and smooth out the top. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight. After the ice cream has frozen solid, unmold it by dipping the container quickly into a pan of hot water; if necessary, you can also loosen the edges of the ice cream with a knife. Invert the mold onto a large plate and carefully lift off the pan to reveal the ice-cream cake. Your kids can then carefully place the fudge sticks (we alternated plain and chocolate-peanut butter) along the sides of the ice-cream pool cake, the cookies will resemble the panels of an aboveground pool. Return the cake to the freezer while you prepare the whipped cream. To make the blue whipped cream waves, pour the cold heavy cream into a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until the cream begins to thicken and soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat until stiff. Mix in several drops of blue food coloring. Frost the top of the frozen cake with the blue whipped cream, then return it to the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes or until set. Next, let your kids turn the cake into a bustling pool with gummy ring inner tubes, Gobstopper beach balls, paper umbrellas, and plastic swimmers. Add a licorice ladder with licorice rungs (use decorators' frosting to glue it together). Now it's time to take the plunge into the pool cake. For best results, serve it immediately and do not let it stand at room temperature for long. Store leftovers in the freezer. Feeds 10 to 12 hungry swimmers. Tips: To add variety, you can layer different flavors of ice cream or mix in candies (chocolate fish, anyone?). The trick is to loosen the ice cream without melting it, so don't hold the mold in the hot water for more than a few seconds. Ask your children to work quickly while they place the chocolate cookies around the outside -- otherwise, they'll have a melted "pool" of ice cream. For foolproof whipped cream, chill the bowl and beaters in advance. Take the kids with you to buy pool accessories at a party supply store, suggests Gail. "They have a better concept than we do about what makes good pool toys." If you can't find plastic swimmers, call Sugarcraft at 513-896-7089 or go to www.sugarcraft.com to place an order.