Giant Donut Cake! Learn how to make this adorable, sprinkle-coated, giant donut cake with a simple step-by-step tutorial by our contributors, Mary and Brenda Maher of Cakegirls.
So, I think it’s pretty safe to say that everyone loves a good donut. They’re not just sweet little wheels of deliciousness, but covered in colorful glaze and sprinkles, they just scream fun. And well, the only thing better than a donut, is a giant donut cake. Since we’ve seen the all-occasion sheet cake time and time again, this is the perfect upgrade to whip up for a best friend’s birthday, a tween sleepover or the monthly office birthday get together.
The best part is that it’s not only easy to make but it’s really easy to customize as well. Change the frosting to chocolate and add white glaze, switch the sprinkles to neon, add drizzle, glitter or gum balls and you’ll end up with a different cake each time. You can use your favorite from scratch cake recipe for the inside, but you’ll need a good classic American buttercream recipe for the outside in order to get a fairly smooth finish. Once you add your fondant on top, you’ll want to paint it with our easy-to-make edible lacquer to get that “glazy” shine before showering your donut with sprinkles and nonpareils. Don’t worry, we’ll show you how in the tutorial below.
DONUT CAKE
a tutorial by Cakegirls
Supplies:
10″ Donut Shaped Pan
Gel Paste Food Colors, (pink, brown, yellow)
8 oz. Tub of Pink Fondant
Pastel Confetti Quins
White Non Pareils
1 Tablespoon Corn Syrup
1 Tablespoon Vodka or Clear Extract
Paintbrush
Bake your desired cake recipe in the donut shaped cake pan. Be sure to thoroughly grease and flour the pan before adding your batter so that the cake pops out easily. Once cooled, wrap in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer so that it will firm up for the icing layer. Leave the cake in the freezer until it’s very firm…about 2 hours or so.
Make your buttercream frosting while the cake is chilling. Tint 1/4 of your batch of buttercream hot pink, tint the remaining buttercream a tan color (we used brown + yellow gel paste).
Slice your cake in half. Use a spoon to dig out a trench in the middle of the cake about 1″ wide. We didn’t “scrape” the trench out, we used a spoon to “scoop” the trench out, which made it a bit easier.
Pipe pink icing into the trench. Then, use the back of the spoon to press the icing down inside the trench to make sure it’s really stuck and smeared in there. (Trust us, we didn’t do this right the first time and the filling fell out when the cake was flipped…oops!)
Place your cakes in the freezer for 15 minutes or so, until the icing in the trench is firm. Then flip the top half onto the bottom half (We just winged this, and used our hands to flip it)
Ice the donut in a thin crumbcoat layer to seal in any crumbs. Then generously coat the donut in tan icing.
Place the cake in the fridge until the icing gets firm (15 minutes or so), Dip your spatula in hot water, shake off the excess and smooth out the cake as best possible. This does not need to be perfect, in fact it looks more like a fried donut if it’s left a little rustic.
Place your cake in the fridge while you work on the next step. Use a pencil to trace your pan shape onto wax or parchment paper, this will give you a guide as to how big you should make your fondant “glaze”. Cut out the template.
Roll out your fondant bigger than the template and instead of cutting directly around the ring, cut waves around the edge of the template, which will look like drips when the fondant is put on top. If you have rough edges like we did, use your finger to smooth and soften them.
Remove your cake from the fridge and lift and place the fondant on top.
In order for the fondant to really look like glaze, we painted a layer of edible lacquer. Mix together one tablespoon of corn syrup with one tablespoon of vodka (or very high proof alcohol). Use a paintbrush to apply the glaze. Immediately add the sprinkles on top so that they stick and let the cake dry until the laquer is dry to the touch.
Voila! You now have a giant donut cake. Enjoy!
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So lovely!
Would it be possible to use ganache on top instead of fondant?
Absolutely Hayley!
I have made this cake twice in the last two weeks! Really easy to do but always seems to impress! The first time I made the cake exactly as above. The second time I substituted the ring of buttercream for a ring of strawberry pie filling so it was more like a jelly donut. Worked perfectly. Thanks for sharing your creativity ladies!
Love the idea of using strawberry pie filling Mare! Sounds absolutely delicious!!
Seriously fun idea for a cake!
I have the 9 inch Fat Daddio ProSeries 9-Inch Tube Cake Pan…. (which is rounded on the bottom). I am going to use this pan.
My question is how much batter do I use?
Would you use batter for a 2-layer 9 inch cake in one pan or would you make two separate layers
Thank you so much for your guidance.
This capacity chart from Fat Daddio’s will help you determine how much batter you need for your specific pan.
hello. Don you have to trench both side of the cake???
Does the alcohol in the glaze evaporate? It’s only a little bit, but this is for a kids party.
Thanks!
You could substitute a clear extract, like clear vanilla, for the alcohol in the glaze.
Thanks for the tutorial! I plan on making this for my son, only I’ll be adding Homer Simpson 😊
How many cups of batter do you use for this cake. Thanks!
The amount of batter you use will depend on your specific donut pan. The 10″ ring mold pan used in this tutorial has a 7 cup capacity.
This cake is adorable! I’ve been on a donut kick lately, so a GIANT donut is an awesome idea!
Hi!
Must it be American buttercream for the icing?
I live in Singapore and usually SMBC holds up a bit better in our weather.
Could I use SMBC instead of American buttercream?
Thanks!
Sure, SMBC would work just as well! Enjoy!
How much cake batter would be needed for this?
The amount of batter you use will depend on your specific donut pan. The 10″ ring mold pan used in this tutorial has a 7 cup capacity.
OK I am confused? Where are the ingredients and directions for the batter?
You can use any cake recipe you’d like – from scratch or from a mix!
wanna try this for my litlle boy
How many servings will you get from this? Thanks!
You’ll get about 12 servings from the 10″ ring mold pan like the one used in this tutorial.
Hi,
thank you for pinning this I made this for my self for my 11th birthday witch was yesterday.
Great job Reana! Happy {belated} Birthday!
The only thing better than a bunch of regular sized donuts is one big donut cake. This is adorable! The way you placed the donut ‘icing’ is spot on. It is too cute. Thank you for sharing.
Hello! Cake is fabulous I was wondering if you “trench” on both halves of the cake? Thank you so much!
Yes, you’ll want to “trench” it on both halves of the cake. Enjoy!
My daughter’s birthday theme is donuts and I can’t wait to make this! Absolutely adorable. I’m planning on making 5 different donuts to represent how old she is can I make them the day before and refrigerate?
Yes, you can definitely make this a day in advance. Unless there is something perishable in your cake or frosting of choice, then it will keep best at room temperature. Fondant can absorb moisture in the refrigerator, causing it to sweat and sag after taking it out. Hope your daughter has a great birthday!
I’m planning on making the donuts different fillings like homemade strawberry filling and cannoli filling that’s got mascarpone and ricotta. I guess I could always put the fondant top in the morning of the party
Absolutely! Sometimes fondant will do fine in the refrigerator, other times it doesn’t. It comes down to how much moisture is in your specific refrigerator. So adding the fondant on the morning of the party is the safest bet.
This cake is adorable! I have the same 10” cake pan that I’ll be using with 7 cups of cake batter. Do you recommend baking it at 350 degrees? Thank you!
Yes, 350F is perfect!
Where did you get your cake pan? I can only find traditional bundt pans that have a design, nothing smooth.
There is a link in the supply list above!
This cake is SO adorable! I’m making it in 2 weeks for my daughter’s 9th birthday. I plan on doing a pillowy marshmallow filling in the centre, otherwise keeping it the same. Would a clear butter extract (Wilton) work for the fondant? Keeping my fingers crossed it’s as pretty as yours! 🍩
If anyone has made recently and has any tips, it would be appreciated 🙂
The marshmallow filling sounds delicious! As for the clear butter extract – any clear extract will work. Just be sure you like the flavor since you’re applying it in a somewhat concentrated form and it will not bake off. A clear vanilla would work nicely as well. Hope you daughter loves it!
Hi! I used your tutorial to make this giant donut cake for my baby girl’s Dinos and Donuts 2nd birthday party, and it turned out absolutely fantastic! I used jam as filling instead of icing and I don’t think that was the greatest idea because it left a hole once it soaked into the cake. So I made it again with jam on the bottom half and icing on the top half and it was perfect! Check out the pictures here: https://turquoisetoffee.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/dinos-and-donuts-2nd-birthday-party-for-baby-j/
So happy to hear that your donut cake went well! Your daughter’s birthday party looks absolutely precious – so many great details and creative ideas! 🙌
I absolutely love this idea. Who could say no to a giant donut?
I used bavarian cream I also found a donut silicone cake mold turned out perfect!!!! Your idea for a giant donut was perfect for my granddaughter who turns two !
Can you taste the vodka on the glaze? Substitution ideas?