Hi bakers!!!

just like every year I'm preparing myself for my daughter's birthday party. She will be 4 this year and wants an Ariel cake.

I found this picture online; and she saw the picture. With that voice that melts my heart she said it is exactly what she wants!!!! too bad for me because it seems like a very complicated cake. Here is the link:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/536702_371857852852018_469065911_n.jpg

any tips, advices, clues, etc will be really APPRECIATE it!!!

thaks!

Maria

I draw out all of my cake plans/colors, etc. Your daughter is 4 and I think as long as she never sees that picture again you can probably take the concept of that cake and change it to meet what level you are at. I would use candy clay to make the figures if you want to make all those figures. I also saw a great tutorial on her for making waves. If Ariel is the most important character to her then I would focus on that being the bigger part of the cake.  It looks like they either carved the cake part or they had a pan that shape. I am not a super professional and I am just learning as I go. I just made figures for a wizard of oz baby shower cake out of the candy clay and it wasn't to bad. I hope this helps you out.

AHow much time do you have? That's a lot of figurines & the shells will need some time to dry.

AI ask because we can give lots of tips if we have a good amount of time before her birthday. If not, lets scale it down a bit.

Thank you for the tips CakesbyEggers.

DeliciousDesserts, I have plenty of time. Her birthday is not until next month.

AGreat! Make those shells right now. Use a mix of gumpaste & fondant. CakesbyEggers was girth about cutting the shape. I've never seen a pan like that.

My sons Dr. Seuss cake took 2 weeks of makin figurines. Do as many as you can & take your time.

If you have any specific questions, let us know & well do our best to help.

Also, looks like lots of layer on of color on cake & shells. Jus a little tip. Start light & add layers of color.

I would guess that your four year old doesn't care if the figures and shells are edible or not.  If it was me, and I don't work with fondant, I would hit up a craft store for the appropriate shells and a couple little cheapie bottles of craft paint to do the shells and hit up a bakery to buy some Ariel figures.  Then you can just focus on making the cake and the cool water/swirls/flowers, etc.  If you coudn't find mermaid dolls, you could buy some little barbie type dolls and add the crown and tail on them.  Just some cheating ideas.

Yes start on the figures right away, don't forget to insert a toothpick underneath each figure, dry them on a styrofoam block, then when you add them to the cake the toothpick will secure them in place.  The shell needs to be completely dry too.  It looks like it was hand painted with food gel, do that only after it has sat several days to dry.  It also looks like the water was airbrushed the green and blue highlights added wtih a brush, again with food gel.  The white waves would need to be royal icing to get the stiff texture.  King Tritan kind of looks scary, I would omit him all together and have Ariel in the center with a smile, she kind of looks like she is in trouble on this cake.  I would make a regular shaped cake, then add fondant shapes on top to give the wave effect, then add a final fondant layer over the cake/fondant waves supports. Good luck!

Oh My!!! you guys are awesome!!!!! thanks!!!!!!!!

Does anyone know about that wave tutorial that CakerbyEggers mentioned?

AThat kind of looks like the petal pan - maybe with a little carving so it's not so perfect? I'm not sure if this is the tutorial mentioned above but hopefully it helps :)

http://cakecentral.com/a/waves

You could use one of these:

http://www.tgftoys.com/Disney-The-Little-Mermaid-Ariel-Figurine-12350.htm

or

http://www.shopping.com/Disney-Disney-Little-Mermaid-Figure-Set-7pcs-Ariel-Figurine-Playset/info

remnant3333,

Thank you!. That was my very first cake!!

Jadedlogic, thank you for the link! that is very helpful, I don't remember seeing it before.

shanter, great links, thanks!!

thanks everyone for being so kind and helpful!!

Hi!If you want to widen your knowledge in making cakes I think you should take a class about making cakes so that you will learn all the techniques that will surely help you to improve your cakes not just that you can also use that knowledge in any kind of party.Get more information

Here is a video tutorial on how to make a mermaid on you tube by Elizabeth marek http://m.youtube.com/#/watch/?v=Dekc12CT_2g&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%2F%3Fv%3DDekc12CT_2g

Also if you can get some shell molds you can use candy melts and use luster dust on them. They also have fish and shark molds. Some bakery supply places have inexpensive ones. 

One more thing for coral you can use purple candy melts and make coral shape on parchment then use purple nonpareils on top. Hth. 

If you mmicrowave colourful royal icing you get lovely coral-like rocks, pink blue and yellow work really well :-)

I saw them locally at a cake supply store in my area. Thanks!!

I'd like to thank everybody for their responses. My daughter finally decided she wanted an Ariel doll cake which I made and it was probably a lot easier!!!

thanks everyone!