Hi everyone, I'm completely new to this site. Hoping to get some help/tips here since I'm a beginner!
My sister is getting married soon and her shower will be Ariel themed (she's always been a huge Little Mermaid fan).
I know Wilton makes a pan where the dress part is actually made of cake, and then the barbie's head down to the torso section is plastic. I want to make one of these type cakes, but make it an Ariel barbie and make the dress a wedding dress. I've never done this type of cake before....any tips for me? Anyone know of a way to get poofy sleeves for the wedding dress (Ariel's are very poofy in the movie). Also...I think the pan comes with a little barbie head to stick into your cake. Will a different barbie work? I would need to buy the Little Mermaid barbie for the cake.....how should I attach it?
Thanks so much in advance for any tips you might have for me. I know I'm asking a LOT of questions here.

First off, WELCOME! You'll find that everyone here is very open, sharing and more than willing to help one another. It's the best site I've ever experienced!

Now, will this cake be covered in fondant or just buttercream? I haven't done one of these cakes either, but if you're using fondant...you can sculpt it on her arms to make the "puffy" sleeves.

That's the only tidbit of advice I can offer... Good luck!

Hey, here are some links to get you started:

Although I never did a doll cake but am pretty positive you can use any doll (appropiate size) of your choice for the wilton doll pan. HTH.

I just finished a Barbie cake for my daughter's sixth birthday (you can see it in my photos). I think using a real doll is preferable since they are so much prettier than the piks. I just wrapped her legs with plastic wrap to keep her from getting dirty. I didn't use the Wilton pan but that's a good option. Just cut a hole big enough to fit the Barbie legs. I prefer the look of fondant for the dress since it looks more realistic. For the sleeves, just manipulate the fondant to make a puff. Good luck. Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

Hi PinkLisa, just wanted to tell you your barbie cake looks amazing! I like your idea of carving the cake shape out of 4", 6" and 8" rounds instead of using a doll cake pan. I'm gonna hijack that idea if I ever make one

Thanks so much everyone! This is very helpful. PinkLisa, I wanted to use a real doll, but wasn't sure about how to do it without it being very messy. Plastic wrap makes perfect sense. I'm so glad I joined this site.

Real barbie is the way to go, those doll picks are so ugly. Just wrap her bottom half tightly with plastic wrap. Good luck and welcome.

And when you do frost the cake and the doll, pin up her hair in a bun or something to get it out of the way! Nothing more frustrating than hair in your frosting or frosting in your hair!

the wilton doll pan (wondermold, i believe it is called) is the easiest way to go. if this is your first cake like this, i for sure wouldn't try sculpting the cake. def use a real doll as suggested, but keep in mind that the real barbie is taller than the pick doll. so if you use the wilton pan with a real barbie, you need to stack the 'skirt' on top of a 9" round otherwise the skirt will hit the real barbie too low - instead of at her waist it ends up at her hips. the round will give you that extra high that is needed. good luck.

Hi! I did my first Barbie cake a couple of months ago and I loved it! I had a ton of fun...I used a pyrex glass bowl on top of an 8" round. I'm still relatively new to fondant and had some major MMF issues because of cheap or bad marshmallows, I think. But one thing I got a lot of compliments on in person (can't tellmuch in the pics) which would work awesome for a bridal gown was that I had a stencil and I rubbed / rolled it over the bottom dress layer to get an imprint, then I used some luster dust to highligh it...worked perfect. The cakes I've posted are the only cakes I've ever made (well, aside from a few box cakes with can frosting with cake left in the pan from my younger days) and I will say that the barbie cake was by far the easiest! (minus my mmf issues). You tube has some great videos...they will help!

HI everyone, I was just wondering if there is any tricks or difficulty getting the fondant to stick to the barbie doll for the torso section? I haven't tried it yet but I'm trying to be prepared. Thanks!

Anyone?

I brush egg white on the body. It acts as glue

Thank u! Great tip!

I just did my very first Barbie princess cake a couple of weeks ago and it turned out pretty good, I think!

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2089090

It was actually a Ballerina Barbie (she's standing on toes so it made her even taller!) and I used a Pyrex bowl and a 7" round PLUS a small wilton ball cake (to round out the top). Add the fillings and it was pretty tall.

I covered the cake in buttercream that matched the aqua on her existing bodice then imprinted a floral pattern in that. I put a rubber band on the doll legs and then wrapped her from the waist down with plastic wrap covering her feet and then plunged her down the middle of the cake like a dowel rod filling in any extra space with buttercream so it would harden and the doll would stand stiff and not lean. ( I was prepared to put a thin wooden dowel rod in front and behind if she appeared to move, but I didn't have to)

After that I draped purple fondant around the sides of the dress and hid the gathers at the waist by a hot pink waist band and bow. Lots of lustre dust, bling and disco dust and she was good to go. I put some rhinestones in her hair that matched the rhinestones around the cake board to give her a more princess-y look.

It was really pretty easy and fun to do. If I was going to cover her bodice, I think a little water or even egg-white wash would help mold the fondant to her body. Fortunately I was working with a Barbie that had an existing bodice molded on the doll so I just worked around that.