I risk sounding like a broken record here...
but it really feels like it was just the other month that I was making my daughter’s first birthday cake. Now here I am posting the 101 Dalmatians cake I made for her THIRD birthday, wondering where all the time has gone! Seriously. I swear it’s gone even faster since we had baby # 2 last year!
First - the good news!
This year my spunky little miss is finally old enough to have an opinion on her birthday party theme and cake. She was so excited to pick out a birthday cake theme; it was adorable. And she opted for 101 Dalmatians!
Now...the less good news 😉
Unfortunately, our kids birthdays are about a week apart. We for sure didn’t plan it that way; sometimes we don’t get to control certain circumstances.
I have younger twin sisters that hated sharing birthday parties growing up, so I really wanted the kids to have separate birthday parties. Unfortunately, that meant prepping cakes and decorations for two parties about a week apart.
Lord. Have. Mercy. Can you say time-consuming?
So I pretty quickly realized that for both cakes, I needed decorations that would come together and go on the cakes without a ton of time and extra effort. My decorating hours are currently limited to nap times - and those are massively unpredictable. But that’s a story for another day.
I definitely don’t trust myself to try making anything complicated out of fondant, so I ordered a pack of dalmatian figurines online. They were super cute, inexpensive, and my daughter was excited to have them once we’d eaten the cake. Win, win, and win. Bam!
For the rest of the decorations, I just used red and black fondant – and the topper that came with the decoration set that I bought on Amazon. Super easy!
Why make this 101 Dalmatians cake?
- The chocolate chip cake layers stay with the 'Dalmatian' theme - and the cake layers + Oreo filling got rave reviews. And everyone commented on how cute the cake was!
- The only time-consuming part of the decorations was the stitch marking I added to the red collar at the base of the cake. Fortunately - that’s a very skippable step. I’m not sure you can even see the stitch marking in the photos. Kicking myself a bit for bothering with it now, honestly.
- Obviously, setting up to film took a little bit of extra time, but I don’t think the actual decorating of the cake took me more than an hour.
And I’d rank my fondant skills somewhere between ‘clueless’ and ‘beginner,’ so if I can hack it - so can you!
One last quick tip before we get to the recipe!
I may be the only one to give you this advice because it's a little odd, but I'll put it out there anyway.
Frosting actually went really quickly - because my cake layers were mostly frozen. I had prepped and frozen the cake layers ahead of time - and they were still super cold while I was frosting the cake. Frosting always goes faster with really cold layers! If you're newer to frosting cakes and get frustrated with the smoothing process I put that out there in case it's helpful. 🙂 Just let the cake thaw the rest of the way in the fridge so it doesn't get wet from condensation.
Recipes, instructions, and supply links are below - happy baking!!
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Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
101 Dalmatians Cake
Equipment
- Ruler (to cut the red band / collar)
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip cake layers
- 3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (or 2 sticks, room temperature)
- 5 eggs
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened (one package)
- 1 cup butter softened (two sticks)
- 6-7 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon frosting whitener (optional)
Filling / Decorations
- 8 crushed Oreos + frosting; above
- 4 ounces Black fondant linked is the brand I used
- 8 ounces red fondant linked is the brand I used – I tried using 4 ounces and it wasn’t enough!
- Dalmatian figurines (linked is the set I used)
- Cake topper (the one I used isn't available on Amazon now - this is the closest one I could find)
Instructions
Chocolate Chip Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment or silicone rounds, and /or grease with non-stick or baker’s floured cooking spray.
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a mixing bowl or stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined.
- Mix chunks of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Pour in eggs and half the buttermilk and mix on low until just incorporated. Add remaining buttermilk, vanilla and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
- Bake for 35-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans – it helps to run an offset spatula or knife around the perimeter of the pan first. Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
Frosting + filling
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well combined.
- Remove about 1 cup of frosting for filling, then beat in frosting whitener.
- Combine reserved 1 cup of frosting and crushed Oreos; stir until well blended.
Assembly
- Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle.
- Pipe a small ‘dam’ of frosting around the outer edge to contain your filling so it doesn’t show through to the outside of the cake.
- Add filling to center of cake layer and smooth to the edges. Add your next cake layer on top, and repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now for the crumb-coat – here’s a quick video link if that’s a new term.
- Basically you’re just spreading a layer of frosting over the outside of the cake, to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 15 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and cake scraper / pastry cutter for this part. Once your cake is covered, place it into the fridge to set the frosting.
The fun part! Decorations!
- Roll the red fondant out in about a 1-inch band – I used a ruler as a guide. (If you watch the video you’ll see 4oz wasn't quite enough – just no time to order more!) Wrap the band around the base of the cake to make the red collar.
- Cut about a 6-inch band section and cut the end to a point to make the end of the collar.
- With a knife or small cookie cutter, cut out a black rectangle the same height as the collar (I used the same ruler as a guide). Cut out the center to make the buckle, and use a couple dabs of water to adhere to the cake.
- Add a tiny piece of black fondant to make the buckle center, and adhere with water to the right side of the buckle. With a toothpick, add a few collar ‘holes’ by pressing the toothpick through the fondant.
- Shape the ‘spots’ out of black fondant. I started with a couple of circle cutters for the black spots to make life easier, but you could use a shot glass or bottle cap if you don’t have circle cutters on hand. I used a cut coffee straw to make the smallest spots. Free-handing the spots is also an option. Adhere to the frosting in a bit of a random ‘Dalmatian’ pattern.
- Add your figurines – if using – and your cake topper to the top of the cake! And that’s it – congratulations on your awesome 101 Dalmatians cake!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this 101 Dalmatians cake?
Send me an email and let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!
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