I FINALLY get to make a doll cake, I'm so excited!

I would love to use a real Barbie and I have the old style wonder mold pan.

Since I have never done one any pointers and tips would be most appreciated.

Should I use fondant or just BC or would RBC work too so we can actually eat it. I've never done MMF and don't know if I want to tackle a whole lot of firsts.

The cake is for my niece, my brother and SIL are divorced and I really would like to make this something spectacular and special for her. I'll only need to cake to feed about 12, would the wondermold on top of another round be just enough or still too much ~ not quite sure how many servings you get out of the wondermold pan.

Thanks

The wondermold on top of another cake will easily feed the 12. My personal vote is to use buttercream. (Like you said, to make it more appealing to eat.) I always use bc, wait 20 minutes to a half hour and smooth with a Viva paper towel.

If you want to, you can tort the wondermold and put a layer of buttercream (or any filling) in the middle. When I did this, I put a toothpick above and below the line I cut, then when I put the top back on, I lined up the toothpicks and knew it would be back to the original level.

I have no experience with using a real Barbie.

I only have the newer Wonder Mold pan so I am not sure how they differ. In my case, I have learned that altering the cake mix (if you use a box mix) to the pound cake recipe works better. Adding the extra eggs and box of pudding makes the cake more full and it easily served 12 without adding a round cake underneath. I have only used buttercream on the cake. You can do so many designs. I have only used rolled buttercream on cookies so far.

I found, when I used a real barbie, I had to make too much cake, as Barbie is unnaturally tall!

But the little girl was very happy when I handed over Barbie's clothes to her, and she realised she could keep the doll once the cake was done.

karen

If you use a real Barbie, you will have to put a 9 inch round underneath the wondermold since Barbie is so tall, but it works perfectly. I have also heard that you can take Barbie's head off and put it on the body of the doll pick....but I haven't ever tried this, so I don't know. I have used both MMF and buttercream for the doll cakes I did. MMF works perfectly because it gives the dress creases, etc, but when I do it for the younger kids I normally go ahead and do the buttercream.

If you use Barbie you will need a cake under, her legs are too long. Unless there's some reason why leftover cake would be unwanted I'd do that, personally I think the doll picks don't look as pretty as Barbie.
The doll cake in my photos is the Wondermold with an 8" cake under.

Thank you everyone for the tips.

Those that have used the real Barbies, do you just push them in? I don't want to crack the cake?

If you use a real Barbie, you need to 'core' the cake before inserting her so the cake doesn't crack. Be sure to wrap her body in plastic first so you're not picking crumbs out of her creases for years to come!

If you use a pick, be sure to alert the children BEFORE half a doll is removed from the cake. Can be a horrifying experience for kids who are expecting a whole doll!