I made this pig birthday cake for my sister’s birthday. The cake was requested by her husband for her 33rd birthday. And he let me decide on the theme for the cake. He knew I would choose something sarcastic or humorous and was perfectly ok with it.
I simply love it when I am left to decide on the design of cakes. It allows me to come up with something unique for the cake design. And that was exactly what I did for this cake.
My sister used to be nicknamed ‘piggy’ at home. So I decided there could not be a better theme for her than a piggy themed cake for her birthday.
The design of this birthday cake was inspired by this hippo in a bathtub design created by Maisie Parrish in her book Fun and Original Character Cakes. I decided to use some of the elements of that design into my pig birthday cake and changed the hippo to a piggy.
I must say, this was a super cool cake to decorate. This was partly because I got a good chance of getting on at my sister. And also partly because I got to decide on the birthday cake design. The cake itself was the hot tub. The rest of the decorations were all in fondant and gum paste.
All in all, I hope you will find this pig birthday cake design as exciting as I did decorating it.
How to Make the Pig Birthday Cake
These were the main supplies I used to decorate this cake:
- Cake – the cake was baked in oval-shaped cake pans. I used my butter pound cake recipe for the cake.
- Buttercream – Buttercream was used to fill the cake layers as well as to crumb coat the cake.
- Fondant – The entire pig birthday cake was covered in fondant, including the cake board. I used Satin Ice in white, red, pink, and blue. I also tinted some white in moss green for the tiny leaves on the cake board.
- Gum paste – I used very little gum paste in this project ie to make the headwrap for the fondant piggy. I tinted the gum paste in Ivory food color.
- CMC powder
- Flower plunger cutter – I used this to cut out the tiny flower on the pig’s head wrap.
- Square plunger cutter – I used the largest cutter for the checkered pattern on the cake board.
- Pizza cutting wheel
- FMM Block Letters cutter
- Wilton Pattern Press set
- Sugar craft knife
- Fondant glue
- Shortening
Baking the cakes
- I started by baking the cake first. For this pig birthday cake project, the cake made up the bathtub. And I baked it in 2 oval-shaped cake tins and that was the closest shape cake tin that I had to that of a bathtub.
- You can also bake the cakes in round cake tins and then cut them out into oval shapes before carving the bath tub out of it.
The checkered cake board design
- While waiting for the cakes to bake, I prepared the checkered cake board. To achieve the checkered pattern on the board, I simply used my square plunger cutter and cut out a reasonable amount of pink and white squares. I then arranged them on my cake board that has been generously applied with shortening. The shortening acted as glue to hold the fondant cutouts in place and also made it easy to re-position the cutouts without affecting their shape. For best results, let the cut outs dry out a little. That way, the squares don't lose their shape as you lift and arrange them on the cake board.
- For the edges, I went on and added square cutouts even though parts of them were sticking outside the cake board. I carried on attaching the squares until the entire cake board was covered. And then I turned the cake board over. I used my pizza cutting wheel to trim off all the excess square cutouts that were sticking outside the perimeter of the cake board.
- And then I turned the cake board over again and left it aside for later use, while I decorated the rest of the pig birthday cake.
Carving the hot tub cake
- Once the cakes were baked and have cooled down, I leveled and sandwiched them together with buttercream. I then trimmed and refined the shape of the cake to assemble that of a bathtub. To do this, I rounded the top edges of the cake. This was to become the bottom of the cake (i.e. the bathtub). And I did it this way as it was so much easier to carve the cake this way. With the cake still in the same upside-down position, I applied a thin layer of buttercream. After that, I covered it with white fondant.
- I smoothed the fondant well, trimmed off the excess and then, turned the cake over onto a cake board. Upon turning, the bottom of the cake was now the earlier rounded top of the cake and the earlier bottom of the cake has now become the top.
- Next, I added the trimming to the top edges of the bath tub. To do this, I rolled a long thick piece of white strip. And I attached it all round the top edges of the bath tub. I then carefully lifted the bathtub and transferred it onto my earlier prepared pink and white checked cake board. I placed the bathtub cake towards the end of the cake board. This is to allow some space on the front on the cake for the birthday wordings.
The 3D fondant pig
- And then I made the pig topper for the pig birthday cake. I used pink tinted fondant and added some CMC to it. This is so that the piggy would hold its shaped and dry firmer. I started with the body and then made the head. After that, I added all the facial features including the towel wrapping. I made the towel with gum paste. Gum paste is much more elastic and was able to be twisted without tearing.
- I attached the head to the body using glue and added both its arms. And then I placed the body (without the legs) onto the bathtub cake. I positioned it such that the head was resting on the edge of the bathtub.
- Next, I formed the legs and added them on. Next, I added the large blue fondant brush which I attached to the pig’s hand using glue. The brush bristles were made with tiny white hand-shaped balls.
The bubbles in the hot tub cake
- After that, I pinched lots of white fondant pieces in random sizes. I formed them into smooth round balls and added them randomly into the bathtub. Where needed, I used shortening to them to hold them in place on the pig birthday cake.
The birthday cake wordings
- With that, the pig and the bathtub for the pig birthday cake were done. Next were the birthday cake wordings. I cut the letters in white using my FMM block letter cutters. I arranged them on a brown plaque which was cut by hand using the pizza cutting wheel. For added deco, I used my old Wilton pattern press tools to press the scrolls designs around the edges of the brown cut out. I attached the letters plaque on the cake board, right in front of the hot tub cake.
Hand rolled roses
- Finally, I added some tiny hand-rolled red roses and hand-formed green leaves on 3 sides of the fondant plaque cut out. I secured these in place on the pig birthday cake board with fondant glue.
And with that, the pig birthday cake was complete.
Hope you enjoyed this sharing.
Like this pig birthday cake idea? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:
- Pig in Mud Cake - A Cute Birthday Cake Design
- Gold Lace Square Wedding Cake - Decorating Tutorial
- Baking Essentials List
- Dog Birthday Cake for Doggie Loving Kids
- Lion Cake Design
- Penguin Cake for Triplets
Recipe (Printable)
Here is the full printable version of my pig birthday cake recipe and decorating guide.
📖Recipe
Pig Birthday Cake - A Cute Piggy Cake Design
A cute pig birthday cake with a 3D fondant piggy in hot tub shaped cake. A cool cake decorating idea and tutorial for a pink pig themed cake.
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Yield: 1 8 inches by 6 inches cake
Equipment
- Flower plunger cutter
- Square plunger cutter
- Pizza cutting wheel
- FMM Block Letters cutter
- Wilton Pattern Press set
- Sugar craft knife
- Shortening
- CMC Powder
For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.
Ingredients
Cake
- 300 g self-raising flour
- 300 g castor sugar
- 300 g butter at room temperature
- 5 eggs at room temperature
- 75 ml milk
- ⅓ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Frosting and Decoration
- Buttercream
- Fondant
- Gum Paste
Instructions
Baking the cake
- Preheat oven to 170 °Celsius.
- Beat butter and sugar till soft and creamy for about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in the sifted ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with milk, starting and ending with flour.
- Finally, add in vanilla essence and combine well. Pour batter into two greased and floured cake pans and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the top of the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. The cakes are done when a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes come out without any wet batter.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool completely before icing and decorating.
The checkered cake board design
- While waiting for the cakes to bake, prepare the checkered cake board. To achieve the checkered pattern on the board, I use a square plunger cutter and cut out a reasonable amount of pink and white squares. Arrange them on the cake board that has been generously applied with shortening. The shortening acts as glue to hold the fondant cutouts in place. For best results, let the cut outs dry out a little. That way, the squares don’t lose their shape as you lift and arrange them on the cake board.
- For the edges, go on and add the square cutouts even though parts of them stick outside the cake board. Once the entire cake board is covered, turn the cake board over. Use a pizza cutting wheel to trim off all the excess square cutouts that are sticking outside the perimeter of the cake board.
- Turn the cake board over again and leave it aside for later use, while you decorate the rest of the pig birthday cake.
Carving the hot tub cake
- Once the cakes are baked and have cooled down, level and sandwich them together with buttercream. Trim and refine the shape of the cake to assemble that of a bathtub. To do this, round the top edges of the cake. This will become the bottom of the cake (i.e. the bathtub). With the cake still in the same upside-down position, apply a thin layer of buttercream. After that, cover it with white fondant.
- Smooth the fondant well, trim off the excess and then, turn the cake over onto a cake board. Upon turning, the bottom of the cake will now the earlier rounded top of the cake and the earlier bottom of the cake will now become the top.
- Next, add the trimming to the top edges of the bath tub. To do this, roll a long thick piece of white strip. Attach it all around the top edges of the bath tub. Carefully lifted the bathtub and transfered it onto the prepared pink and white checked cake board. Apply some fondant glue to the cake board, where the hot tub cake is to be placed. Place the bathtub cake towards the end of the cake board. This is to allow some space on the front on the cake for the birthday wordings.
The 3D fondant pig
- To make the fondant pig, start by mixing some CMC powder into pink tinted fondant. The CMC will help the piggy hold its shaped and dry firmer. Start with the body and then make the head. After that, add all the facial features including the towel wrapping. The towel is made with thinly rolled gum paste. Gum paste is much more elastic and can be twisted without tearing.
- Attach the head to the body using glue and add both its arms. And then place the body (without the legs) onto the bathtub cake. Position it such that the head rests on the edge of the bathtub.
- Next, form the legs and add them on. After that, attach the large blue fondant brush to the pig’s hand with some glue. The brush bristles are made with tiny white hand-shaped balls.
The bubbles in the hot tub cake
- To make the bubbles, pinch lots of white fondant pieces in random sizes. Form them into smooth round balls and add them randomly into the bathtub. Where needed, use shortening or fondant glue to them to hold them in place.
The birthday cake wordings
- For the birthday cake wordings, cut the letters in white gum paste using the FMM block letter cutters. Arrange them on a brown fondant plaque. The plaque can be cut by hand using the pizza cutting wheel. For added deco, I used my old Wilton pattern press tools to press the scrolls designs around the edges of the brown cut out. Attach the letters plaque on the cake board, right in front of the hot tub cake.
Hand rolled roses
- Finally, add some tiny hand-rolled red roses and hand-formed green leaves on 3 sides of the fondant plaque cut out. Secure these in place with fondant glue.
Nutrition
Calories: 4767.6kcal | Carbohydrates: 523.8g | Protein: 68.5g | Fat: 271.7g | Saturated Fat: 163.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15.7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 72.1g | Trans Fat: 9.9g | Cholesterol: 1470.9mg | Sodium: 3218.7mg | Potassium: 786.9mg | Fiber: 7.2g | Sugar: 305.6g | Vitamin A: 8812.5IU | Calcium: 407.1mg | Iron: 6.9mg
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And that's that. My super cool and cute pig birthday cake.
Happy Decorating 🙂
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