Penguin Cake – a sprinkle coated penguin cake that is too adorable for words! A new cake decorating tutorial by our contributor, Erin Gardner.
This precious little penguin cake is the perfect treat for a winter birthday or small holiday celebration. The idea for this guy was born from my sprinkle girl cakes. I imagine they’re all hanging out together in some fabulous sprinkle universe. Just like his sprinkle girl cousins, your sprinkle penguin cake can be customized in a number of ways. Add some cute chocolate sunglasses, change up the color of his hat, or use different candy sprinkle shapes like stars or mini trees to decorate it. You could even stripe the hat by alternating sprinkle colors as you fill it in.
Sprinkles can soften the longer they sit in the fridge, so I suggest finishing your penguin the day you’d like to serve it. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container on the counter or in the fridge, depending what kind of buttercream you use.
PENGUIN CAKE
a tutorial by Erin Gardner
Supplies:
- 6-inch round single layer cake
- 1 cupcake
- Plain buttercream
- Toothpick
- White nonpareils
- Black sprinkles
- Red sprinkles
- Snowflake sprinkles (or whatever shapes you like)
- Small pearl sprinkles
- Black buttercream
- Piping bag
- Small round piping tip (optional)
- 2 large pink confetti sprinkles
- 1 orange Starburst candy
VIDEO TUTORIAL
PREP THE CAKE
Ice your cake with a thick layer of plain buttercream.
Use a toothpick or skewer to draw a half moon shape across the top of the cake for the hat area and kind of an open-bottom heart for the penguin’s face. Don’t stress too much about making the cake smooth, all flaws will be covered with sprinkles.
ADD THE SPRINKLES
Set your cake plate or platter on a baking sheet to catch any sprinkles that fall off the cake. Use a spoon to fill the penguin face area in with white nonpareils. Use the back of the spoon to spread and smooth the sprinkles. Whenever I’m working on a sprinkle design, such as this penguin, I find it’s easier to start with the largest area that needs to be filled in, working out from there.
Add a layer of black sprinkles for the penguin’s skin in the same way. If any should escape into the face area, just use the toothpick to lift it away. Fill in the hat area with red sprinkles.
Top the cupcake with a layer of plain buttercream and dip it into the red sprinkles to coat. Adhere the cupcake to your platter with a dab of buttercream.
DECORATE YOUR PENGUIN CAKE
Cut the starburst into two making a diagonal cut. Add one of the Starburst triangles as the penguin’s beak and two round pink confetti sprinkles for his cheeks.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with black buttercream. Pipe two little semi-circles for the penguin’s eyes. Decorate your penguin’s hat with snowflake sprinkles or any other shapes you like!
Enjoy your adorable sprinkle coated penguin cake!
This cake is so stinkin’ cute!