Recipe note - prep the bubbles ahead of time!
Gelatin bubbles need about 24 hours to dry before you can remove the water balloons and use them to decorate!
I dipped my balloons into the gelatin mixture 2-3 times to make the colors bright. But for lighter colors to your balloons, you can add less food coloring and/or dip the balloons only 1-2 times. The more food coloring and the thicker the coating, the deeper the colors will be.
If you'd like a more in-depth tutorial on the gelatin-bubble-making process, here's the YouTube video tutorial I started with!
If you'd like an in-depth tutorial on getting the frosting smooth on your cake - I've got you! Here's my in-depth post and a YouTube tutorial I posted dedicated to smooth frosting!
Recipe below! Happy baking!
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Bubble Wand Cake
Do you have a little one fascinated by bubbles? Make this deliciously colorful, fun, kid-friendly Bubble Wand Cake!
Equipment
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (an 8-inch circle would work; I've just found moving cakes easier on larger circles)
- Baker's floured cooking spray (optional, but I prefer this spray to parchment rounds)
- 10-15 small water balloons (to make gelatin bubbles)
- small piping bag + star tip (for decorating)
- Small biscuit or circle cutter (or small cookie cutter/fondant cutter/shot glass – anything small, round, and hollow on at least one end will work! ;) )
- 4-6 Large and small bubble wands (I found the brightest ones I could!)
Ingredients
Bubble Wand Cake layers
- 3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cup 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 (or buttermilk powder with water is an option if you can’t find liquid buttermilk at your grocery store!)
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2-3 drops yellow gel food coloring (Save and add later)
- 2-3 drops green gel food coloring (Save and add later)
- 2-3 drops blue gel food coloring (Save and add later)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese one package; softened
- 1 cup butter two sticks, softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Gelatin Bubbles & Decorations
- 4 Tablespoons powdered gelatin
- 8 Tablespoons water
- 1-2 drops gel food coloring - I used blue and green for the bubbles, and blue/green/yellow for the bubble design on the cake sides
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract or vodka
- Multicolored sprinkles of your choice
Instructions
Gelatin bubbles
- First things first - gelatin balloons need about 24 hours of drying time! You'll want to make them a day ahead of assembling and decorating the cake.
- Inflate and tie off 14+ water balloons to about the size of the balloons you'd like to use on the cake; most of mine were 1 ½ - 2 inches or so.
- Combine gelatin, water, and lustre dust (optional) in a microwave-safe bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. The mix should become thick fairly quickly. Microwave in 10-second intervals, until melted. Divide into 3 small bowls and add food coloring. Allow to cool until no longer hot but still liquid.
- Dip balloons into the gelatin mixture, coating them close to the knot. I used paper clips and a mug rack to dry them, but you can place them knot-side-down on a cooling rack as well. Dip balloons once for a light pastel color, or twice for a deeper color (re-dip after 5-10 minutes; you may need to re-melt your gelatin mixture if it solidifies). Allow to dry 12-24 hours, until well set. Allow longer drying time if bubbles are bending/cracking when you remove the balloons.
Bubble Wand Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8 inch round pans with baker's floured spray (or grease and line with parchment rounds).
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined. Mix bits of room-temperature butter into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large lumps of butter remain, and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Pour in eggs, and mix on low until incorporated. Mix in the 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.
- Divide batter evenly between three bowls, (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, so my layers bake to the same height). and color the layers blue, green, and yellow. Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 34-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely before decorating. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled - if you try to cut them while they're still warm, they'll likely crumble or break.
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 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.
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. Spread the layer with frosting – and if you’re a sprinkle fanatic like me, add multicolored sprinkles between your layers as well. Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like - a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. Once your cake is covered, place it into the fridge or freezer to set the frosting.
On to the fun part! Decorating!
- I pushed the largest bubble wands handle-down into the back of my cake, and added the bubbles onto the top of the cake in front of them. (You'll see in the video I added a few small bubble juice vials around the gelatin bubbles - this is optional; you don't want bubble juice leaking onto the cake. :/ )
- Now make your 'popped bubbles' design - I mixed a bit of food coloring with about a teaspoon of vodka on a small plate, and dipped a small biscuit cutter into the dye and used it like a stamp on the cake sides and top. The alcohol only takes a couple minutes to evaporate, and then it looks like bubbles have popped all over your cake!
- Done and done! Enjoy!
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate, and may not be exactly accurate. Counts will be lower in all fields if the entire batch of frosting is not used.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 782kcalCarbohydrates: 101gProtein: 9gFat: 38g
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