Mermaid Cocktail Cake
A cut above the endlessly-popular Mermaid cakes - make this delicious Mermaid Cocktail Cake, infused with Blue Curacao and Malibu rum!
Servings: 24 servings
Calories: 765kcal
Equipment
- Baker's floured cooking spray (Optional, but I prefer this spray to parchment rounds)
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (8" would work, but moving the cake is easier with a larger circle)
- Cake leveler (or a serrated knife and a ruler)
- cake scraper or pastry cutter (to smooth frosting)
- 5 Cake dowels or large plastic straws I usually use dark straws (so they're visible when cutting the cake)
- Ruler (for spacing dowels or straws and centering top tier)
- small circle cutter (optional; for mermaid scales - you can also use a piping tip or bottle cap)
- Squeeze bottle (or additional piping bag; for cake drip)
- Martini glass (Martini glass – these cake layers bake dense enough to hold a real one but feel free to use a plastic martini glass if you’d rather – I found mine at the Dollar Tree!)
- 2-3 Silk flowers (optional – mine actually came with my glass set, but you can find similar ones here!
Ingredients
Mermaid Cocktail Cake layers
- 4 ⅞ cups all purpose flour
- 4 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ cup unsalted butter (or 3 sticks room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups egg whites (about 10 eggs, or use egg whites from a carton to avoid wasting the yolks)
- ¾ cup buttermilk (room temperature)
- ½ cup vodka
- ½ cup Malibu rum
- ¼ cup Blue curacao
- 1 Tablespoon lemon extract
- 1-2 small drops blue gel food coloring (optional)
- 1-2 small drops teal gel food coloring (optional)
Mermaid Cocktail Frosting
- 12 ounces cream cheese (1 ½ packages, softened)
- 1 ½ cups butter (three sticks, softened)
- 9 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons vodka
- 1 Tablespoon Blue curacao
- 2 Tablespoons Malibu rum
- 2-3 drops teal gel food coloring
Cake drizzle
- 1 Tablespoon lemon extract
- additional ½ cup each vodka and Blue curacao
Cake Drip & Decorations
- 4 ounces blue candy melts
- 2 ½ Tablespoons heavy whipping cream my favorite brand is super thick; you may need a bit less depending on the thickness of your cream
- 4 ounces Fondant (I colored white fondant, but you could use a multicolor pack like this one)
- 1-2 cup crushed graham crackers ( or nilla wafer ‘sand’ to spread around your cake base!)
- 5-6 large sugar pearl sprinkles (optional; to make candy melt / sprinkle 'oysters' to decorate)
Instructions
Mermaid Cocktail Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8 inch round pans and two 6 inch round pans with baker's floured cooking 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 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 egg whites and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk, vodka, Malibu rum, and blue curacao in two installments, on a low speed. Add in lemon extract 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 between 5 bowls if you want colored layers – I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, and I had about 675g in my 3 large layers and about 450 in my smaller ones. Color the large base layer blue, the middle layer and one small layer teal, and the tops light blue. It will already be slightly blue from the liqueur, so whether to add any more color is up to you! Transfer batter into the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 35-37 minutes, (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing cake layers from pans, and cool completely before stacking and decorating. Place cake layers into the freezer for 45 minutes, to accelerate the cooling process. (While you’re waiting…make your frosting!)
- (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 before trimming. If you try to trim the layers while they’re still warm, they will crumble apart.)
Mermaid Cocktail Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with vodka, blue curacao, and rum until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. Add gel color and beat until well combined.
Assembly
- Place a smear of frosting on your large cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your large first cake layer in the center of the circle. I wanted a bit more of a liqueur kick to the cake layers, so I used a bottle to infuse each one with about a few tablespoons of a mix of ¼ cup each vodka, Malibu Rum, and Blue curacao and a bit of lemon extract. Optional but recommended!
- Spread the layer with frosting. Add your next cake layer on top, and repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Next, repeat the same process with your smaller cardboard circle and cake layers. Of note – if your circles aren’t pre-center-punched, be sure to grab a dowel or straw and make your own hole in the exact center of the circle! This will allow you to center the tier on the base tier later on.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading 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. Don’t stress too much over smooth icing on your base layer; you’re covering it in fondant scales! I struggled getting the sides smooth on my smaller one. Using a bit of tape to hold my cake circle still and using the base circle as a guide for my bench scraper work fairly well!
Decorating
- Color fondant if needed - I used blue, teal, light green, and yellow. Roll out fondant with a bit of powdered sugar until it’s just a few millimeters thick. Cut out circles and adhere them to the cake, starting at the base and working your way up. I used 7 layers with about 26 circles per layer (a lot of circles!) but if your punch is bigger than mine you won’t need so many.
Okaaaay. The stacking process!
- I watched a few tutorials before I started, but ‘How to Make a Tiered Cake’ by Chelsweets was my favorite. To place cake dowels (to ensure the top tier doesn't crush the lower one, as well as keep it centered), it helps to have a ruler handy!
- Push dowels/straws down into the base tier just over one inch from the cake edge, placing them evenly at quarter intervals around the cake. Place your last, tallest straw or dowel into the exact center of the cake, making sure to keep it straight up as you press down.
- Now you’re ready – center the hole in the bottom of your top tier cake circle over the tallest dowel and let the top tier gently down onto the base tier. The dowel will poke into the center of the top tier to hold it in place.
- Pat yourself on the back; you did it! I found that my cardboard cake circle showed more than I was happy with, so I piped some frosting onto the base of the top tier with a small star tip to hide it.
Cake drip
- Place heavy cream and candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on 50% power in 30-second intervals until smooth, stirring in between until liquid and smooth.
- Cool until still liquid but no longer hot (you don't want to melt your frosting). Transfer to a squeeze bottle of a small piping bag.
- Slowly drizzle ganache around the edge of the top tier, pausing about every inch or so to let the mixture drip down the side. Pour a few tablespoons over the top of the cake and spread gently with an offset spatula, then turn your martini glass over and center it on top of the cake.
- (Optional - pipe a bit of frosting onto a few of your leftover candy melts and add another one on top to make a ‘clamshell’ with a sprinkle sugar pearl if desired!) Add on a few flowers and a bit of crushed graham cracker ‘sand.’ Dramatic effect. ;)
- Step back and admire your amaaazing cake! Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 765kcal | Carbohydrates: 99g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 38g