I have an order for a Barbie birthday cake where Barbie is coming out of the top of a two tiered cake, similar to the photo below. I want to use the whole Barbie, and not just her torso, so the little girl can keep the doll after the cake is gone. Can anyone give me some hints on how to do this? Do I need to hollow out the top tier to insert Barbie? Once she's in the top tier, I am imagining that her feet will rest on the cake board beneath the top tier, is that correct? I was also thinking I should wrap the doll's legs with saran wrap before inserting her into the cake....Any hints would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!!

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1701320

I've made several doll cakes and had one experience where the barbie was too tall for the cake! (I ended up making a platform type of base to make room for her feet - see the dorothy cake in my photos)

I would suggest measuring the barbie from waist to toes first, then you'll know how tall your top tier needs to be, like 4" or something. Maybe even cut a small hole in the center of the cake board for the top tier just to be safe, then you can slide the barbie as far down as you need to.

I never needed to hollow out the cake, just stuck the doll in. And I used whole dolls, not just the ones with upper torsos on picks. I didn't wrap mine in saran. You could, but not necessary. They wash up easy with soap & water.

That's going to be a cute cake, have fun!

I think Barbie's legs are about six inches long. You could just cut a hole in the cake board between the tiers to accomodate the legs. I wrap Barbie's legs in press and seal wrap and I also carve out a little space for the legs, because I cracked a cake shoving Barbie in there before

Thank you both for your replies!! TexasRose, did you just cut a small portion out of the top tier or use something else to hollow out the space for the Barbie?

I did one like this before and I just wrapped the barbie in saran wrap and slowly slid it down into the cake after it was covered in fondant and decorated. I didn't have a problem with cracking but I did ice the cake in ganache and then covered it in fondant so it was pretty durable. Here's the cake I did.

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1742222

If you're worried about cracking, maybe just stick the barbie into the cake before your final coat of icing, fondant or whatever you use, then take it out before finishing the final coat. That way you'll have made room for it before you finish icing the cake.

Thanks, debbief, your cake is beautiful!!! I'm icing the cake in buttercream only, but think I may try to cut out a small spot for Barbie.....since I've never tried this before and don't know if I'll have a problem with cracking the cake when inserting the doll, I'll err on the side of caution, I think.

Thanks for your hints, ladies! Here is a photo of the finished cake:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1986161

I ended up cutting a hole in the cake board beneath the top tier, because I wouldn't have been able to push Barbie far enough into the cake if I hadn't.
In the end I decided not to carve out a small hole in the top before pushing the doll in.....next time I will. My icing had crusted, and after I pushed Barbie in, I noticed some "spider web" cracks in the buttercream--not really super noticable, but probably avoidable if I had created a small hole first.

Thanks again!!