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This elegant hat box cake was made for a very special bride-to-be at her bridal shower.

Hat box cake design
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My son, Joshua, and his lovely fiancé, Sara will be getting married at the end of this month.  We just celebrated Sara’s bridal shower last weekend and I made this cake for the celebration.

The cake was designed to look like two hat boxes stacked on each other.   The lid on the top tier is tilted open so a bouquet of flowers can spill out of the “box”.   Additional fresh flowers where arranged around the cake to give it a pretty, feminine touch.

Hat box cake design

The cake was a vanilla sponge cake filled with a passion fruit curd, then topped with a creamy vanilla cheesecake.  It was frosted with Italian Meringue Buttercream.  The edges were decorated with strings of fondant pearls that were molded from a fondant mold.

Hat box cake design

I am never happy with my piping skills so instead of piping the design on the cake, I used a stencil.  The stencil technique for frosting works very well with Italian Meringue Buttercream.  Initially, I frosted the cake layers with pink frosting then I let it sit in the freezer for about 15 minutes to get very firm.   Once the frosting was firm to the touch, I placed a stencil over the cake and covered the stencil with lavender frosting. When the stencil was pulled off it left the design behind.  Since the buttercream was firm, the stencil did not stick to the pink frosting and I was able to pull the stencil off without making a mess.

Hat box cake design

The tilted lid on the top of the cake is simply a thin layer of cake that is sitting on a cake board.   After I frosted it, I set it on the top of the cake and used two straws to support one end of the lid and hold it open.   I stuck a wooden skewer through the other end and down into the cake to prevent the lid from sliding off the edge.

This was a fun cake to make for such a special occasion!  Next project…..the wedding cake!

See More Cake Designs

About Dahn Boquist

Dahn Boquist is a retired nurse turned recipe developer, home cook, and baker with years of hands-on experience creating and testing from-scratch recipes. She specializes in whole-food cooking with creative twists on classic dishes. When she’s not in the kitchen, she enjoys sharing meals with family, exploring the Pacific Northwest, and spending time with her grandchildren.

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10 Comments

  1. peter @Feed Your Soul Too says:

    This is absolutely beautiful work. I would love to learn how to do this kind of work.

    1. Dahn says:

      Thank you Peter, I am sure you could learn to do this, you certainly have the baking talent and that’s half the work 🙂

  2. Sarah @ Champagne Tastes says:

    This is beautiful! I love the stencil technique- that’s so good to know about!! I think your cake decorating skills are way past mine, but I might give that a shot sometime!

    1. Dahn says:

      Thank you Sarah, let me know how it goes if you do try this

  3. safira adam says:

    Wow, so innovative. i have never seen a cake like this before and it looks great!

    1. Dahn says:

      thank you Safira

  4. Jagruti says:

    OMG…I am speechless ! What a gorgeous cake, you have done splendid job..have great fun !

    1. Dahn says:

      Thank you Jagruti, we had a great time and it was a beautiful day.

  5. April J Harris says:

    What a stunning cake! I love the beautiful icing detail and the fresh flowers. The colours are gorgeous too. Your daughter in law to be must have been so pleased! Pinning as well as stumbling and yumming!

    1. Dahn says:

      Thank you April. Sara was very pleased but I have to admit, it could have been a flop and she still would have been grateful 🙂