What is a Diaper Cake?

Diaper cake is a popular baby shower gift because it’s both practical and breathtaking, it’d be the baby-shower’s centerpiece and most important, you can make a beautiful diaper cake in almost any budget.

Diaper Cake - The Perfect baby-shower's gift

Diaper cake is popular as baby shower gift because it’s practical and will do double duty as a cute baby shower centerpiece and a very practical gift for the new baby.A diaper cake is a wonderfully creative gift for an expectant mother. It is a collection of diapers rolled and stacked together to resemble a traditional tiered cake, so it looks like a multi-layered cake, the tiers of diaper cake can be 1,2,3, tiers or more, diaper cake is also garnished with baby care items such as baby socks, bottles, toys, and more.

Diaper cake is a popular Baby-Shower gift for several reasons:

• Diaper cake is original and creative. In addition, diaper cake gives your baby shower gift a personal touch
• Diaper cake is very easy to make, it’s so easy, even men can do it
• Diaper cake is a very practical gift. New parents will always need diapers and baby accessories
• You can get all Ingredients for a diaper cake at a local baby supplies store
• Diaper cake ideas are intended to be flexible so you can adapt the project to fit your budget and the needs of the recipient
• Diaper cake provides you with plenty of options, diaper cake size, and decorating ideas will make your diaper cake looks amazing and unique

Diaper Cake comes in many sizes and shapes

It can take less than an hour to make a diaper cake; the first diaper cake will probably take longer, but after making a few and learning all the tricks you’ll be amazed to see how quickly it goes. When I started to make diaper cakes I had quite some failures before I got it right. After throwing a bunch of diapers I found an online tutorial that solved all my diaper cake problems and thought me some advanced techniques that took my diaper cake for a whole new level. I’m trying to explain below how to make a diaper cake, but if it seems too complicated, I strongly recommend to view this online “course”. After viewing it you’ll know everything related to how to make a diaper cake.

How to make a diaper cake

Making a diaper cake begins with wrapping a single diaper, then adding multiple rolled diapers in a circle around that core and wrap a rubber band around it, It is easiest to start with the top level of the diaper cake, which may just be one diaper, and work down from there. So here are the basic steps for making diaper cake:

• Roll up the diapers, starting at the open top end and wrap a rubber band around it, these would be used as the inner diapers for the diaper cake
• To have a Different diaper cake layers, add multiple rolled diapers in a circle around that core to the rubber band
• Remove one or two diapers from the diaper cake base and replace with a gift, or you can crowded in beside the diapers
• Cut a circular base out of cardboard as you know how big your diaper cake will be and Place the largest layer of the diaper cake on it
• Assemble the remaining tiers of the diaper cake by inserting 1 or 2 wooden dowels through the base layer and then carefully stacking the rest diaper cake layers on top of it

The “How to make a diaper cake” instructions above are for explaining the general idea, if you’re interested in the exact “recipe” visit my post called “How to make a diaper cake“.

Diaper cake makes a great baby-shower's gift

Diaper Cake making Tips:

• Diapers are usually white, try to use color diapers to make a special diaper cake
• Add a ribbon around each layer of the diaper cake to cover the rubber bands
• Place baby’s accessories inside and diaper cake, such as baby lotion, baby wipes, pacifiers, teething rings, baby towel or baby toys
• Stuffed animal especially teddy bear is always a suggested option for the final touch for your diaper cake

I hope the post inspired you to make a diaper cake as a baby-shower’s gift. You can find detailed instructions on my “How to make a Diaper Cake” post, or take the online video tutorial.

Diaper Cake can be basic to meet any budget

I LOVE getting readers’ mails for several reasons, but the thing I didn’t expect is that in many cases I learn new things regarding my recipes. In the Mail below Janna actually improved my Fondant Recipe, You can benefit from her experience.

Janna made this lovely fondant cake following my fondant recipe, here’s what she wrote:

Janna's Fondant Cake

Hi there.

First of all, THANK YOU for all the very good information on your website. After years of decorating many cakes over the years with (unwieldy and annoying) buttercream, I decided to make the leap into the wild world of fondant, and the results were beautiful, as you will see!

The fondant tasted delicious, as did the fondant-friendly cake (everyone exclaimed with shock and surprise at how delicious the cake itself was… tender, moist, and STURDY.)
I crumb-coated it with buttercream made with butter-flavored Crisco. I chose that over butter because I knew the cake would be sitting out in the sun for a long time. It sat out, uncovered, from 10 pm last night to 3 pm today, for three hours of that in near-direct sun, and it didn’t so much as budge. It held up PERFECTLY, not one sign of melt or sweat.

It spent the entire night (14 hours!) out in open air so the fondant could dry, and it did not impact the moistness of the cake one iota. By the way, this was my very first experience with fondant, but I made three batches in total. The first fondant batch was a crumbly mess (in retrospect, too much sugar added too early), and I had to throw it away. The second fondant batch came out beautifully–it was the main covering–and contrary to your advice I did add the gel coloring and the shortening during the initial mix. I also used my Kitchen Aid mixer to do most of the mixing, using the dough hook, and did the final kneading by hand.

Adding the color and shortening at that time worked great, as did using the mixer. I also added some salt to the mix, which I do with all my frostings and fillings. It makes the sweet “pop” more. The third fondant batch was pure white to color small pieces for the design. Instead of plastic wrap, I kept tupperware containers handy which was much more convenient. May I suggest that you place more emphasis in the fondant recipe on not putting in ALL the sugar that the recipe can contain? If you do so, then once the fondant cools it is far too stiff. Advise users of the recipe that the HEAT of the fondant is the key element to easy handling.

Fondant Recipe - decorating with fondant

You may be interested to know that, for my party of approximately 50 people, I made a huge (16″) cake, which required two entire batches of batter. I flavored it using almond AND vanilla, and twice as much salt as the recipe called for.

I used my deep dish pizza pan to bake it, which fit an entire batch of batter.
Before baking, I divided the batter into six bowls and tinted each one of the colors of the rainbow. I poured in red, then orange on that, then yellow on that, etc. I made both layers of the cake like this. When I assembled the cake, I fit them together so the final color (purple) of each layer touched, so we had a big purple center with rainbow radiating out from it. It looked magnificent!

Fondant recipe - The rainbow look of the cake

My mother-in-law took a short video of the moment when I surprised our guests by slicing into the cake… I’ll send it along too. It was a fun addition to a child’s birthday cake fantasy come true! Finally, I took your (amazing) cake recipe and The cake was a humongous success at my son’s sixth birthday party.

Thanks for making my first experience with fondant such a resounding success and for making my son’s birthday party so special!

Best, Janna

Janna – Thank you very much for your mail! I actually learnt how to improve my fondant recipe, mails such as yours makes me find the time and energy to continue my blog.

Happy Cooking

My Fondant Recipe brings a lot of mails and comments, but Brandy really got me speechless.

She followed my fondant recipe, and here’s what she wrote:

I tried your fondant recipe not only was it easy, but it tasted super! Thank you so much! Here is my cake. I think it turned out pretty well considering it is only the 2nd time I have used fondant.

 

Thanks Again

 

Brandy, 35

In Washington State

The reason for me being speechless is the quality if the cake she made in her SECOND attempt with fondant!

Fondant recipe cake

I must admit that m second attempt with the fondant recipe was much poorer than this, Brandy – I’ll be happy to post all pictures of future cake you make using my fondant recipe.

If you want to read more users stories of their experience with my fondant recipe, please visit:

• Fondant Recipe – Alison’s experience
• Fondant Recipe – Amy Johnson’s experience
• Fondant recipe – Jacalyn’s Experience
• Fondant Recipe – Stephanie’s Experience
• How to make fondant – Gerbera Daisy Cake

If you make a cake using my fondant recipe you can send it to me and I’ll be happy to post it, my mail address is theduke@thecookduke.com

Happy Cooking

I love my fondant recipe, and I’m always happy to get mails from people who followed my fondant recipe to a great success.

Danielle sent me this mail after her FIRST attempt with my fondant recipe, it’s amazing that the cake she made looks SO good after the first try.

Fondant Recipe Suns cake

Here’s what she wrote:

Hi!

I just wanted to write a quick “thank you” for the great fondant recipe, instructions, and encouragement to give it a try! I have been interested in fondant for awhile. But I always heard it was too hard to make yourself and tastes bad. My younger sister found your recipe after doing random google searches. She tried it. She succeeded. She gave me the web address.

I don’t have much spare time (I have 4 kids and the oldest just turned 3!) but I got the ingredients I’d need,  just to have them on hand. The other night, I happened to have a spare unfrosted cake just lying around….and a couple of hours I could spare (sure I had better things to do, like laundry, but the cake was much more fun. The laundry waited.)

I decided to make a Phoenix Suns cake for my husband (they are currently in the playoffs and we’re big fans).  In less than 2 hours, I was able to create this fun little cake. Sure, it’s got it’s flaws, but it definitely showed me I am able to not only make fondant, but if I was really serious about it and made some time for it, I could probably do some really cool cakes! I was SO excited that the fondant actually TASTES GOOD too. My 3 year old ONLY wants to eat the fondant!

Thanks for your instructions and pictures. I probably wouldn’t have tackled it this soon (definitely not on a random Sunday night for no reason!), or at all, especially by myself without an “experienced fondant user” with me!

Thanks again!! Feel free to use any pictures/this email in any way you’d like!

Danielle

How to make fondant

So thank you Danielle for tring my fondant recipe, I’m posting my fondant recipe here again so more people can find it.

Fondant Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp of unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup of cold water
• 1/2 cup of light corn syrup (If a corn syrup is not available, you can substitute it with a sugar syrup made with 1-1/4 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water, boiled together until syrupy)
• 1 Tbsp of EDIBLE glycerin (some recipes say it’s optional, believe me, it’s a must)
• 1 tsp of almond extract (I use almonds extract in m fondant recipe, but it can easil be replaced with Vanilla extract)
• 2 lbs 10X confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp of white vegetable shortening

Fondant Recipe Preperations:

• Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and let it rest for 2 minutes to soften
• Place the bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds on High, until the gelatin dissolves
• Add the Almond or Vanilla extract
• Add the corn syrup and the glycerin and stir until the mixture is smooth and clear (if the mixture is not turning smooth and clear, microwave it for an additional 15 to 20 seconds on high and stir again)
• Sift 1 1/2 pounds of the sugar into a large bowl
• Make a hole in the sugar and pour the liquid mixture to it and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes sticky
• Sift some of the remaining 1/2 pound of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take
• Knead the fondant, adding a little more sugar if necessary, to form a smooth, pliable mass
• Rub the vegetable shortening on your thumbs and knead it into the fondant
• Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and place it in a tightly sealed container to prevent it from drying out. If the icing dries out and harden it can often be revived by popping it into a microwave oven for a few seconds and then kneading it back to life

One of the best things about this Fondant recipe is that the fondant recipe is not only simple and eas to follow, it also makes the best flavored fondant ou ever tried!

If you want to read more users stories of their experience with my fondant recipe, please visit:

• Fondant Recipe – Alison’s experience
• Fondant Recipe – Amy Johnson’s experience
• Fondant recipe – Jacalyn’s Experience
• Fondant Recipe – Stephanie’s Experience
• How to make fondant – Gerbera Daisy Cake

If you make a cake using my fondant recipe you can send it to me and I’ll be happy to post it, my mail address is theduke@thecookduke.com

Happy Cooking

Stephanie had a bad experience with the store-bought prepackaged fondant and she decided to give my fondant recipe a try.

Here’s what she wrote:
”
I just wanted to share with you how impressed I was with your fondant recipe!

Stephanie B
”
And here are the pictures of the cakes she made:

Fondant Recipe

Fondant Recipe

I think it’s a great success, I bet no one believed it’s her first attempt with fondant recipe!

If you want to try my fondant recipe you can find it in the post called… fondant recipe

You’re all welcome to send me pictures of cakes you made using my fondant recipe to theduke@thecookduke.com I’ll be happy to post it in my blog.

To see more pictures of people using my fondant recipe please visit “Fondant Recipe – Amy Johnson’s experience” , “How to make fondant – Gerbera Daisy Cake” and “Fondant recipe – Jacalyn’s Experience”

Happy cooking

Jacalyn W. had a great success with my fondant recipe, here’s what she wrote:
”
Dear Duke,

Thanks for sharing!
Jacalyn”
And here are the great pictures she sent:

fondant recipe

Fondant recipe

Fondant recipe

Fondant recipe

Fondant Recipe

As Jacalyn wrote, the fondant is shinning in some places, but it’ll be ok when the color dries.

I think it’s a great success, I bet no one believed it’s her first attempt with fondant recipe!

If you want to try my fondant recipe you can find it in the post called… fondant recipe

You’re all welcome to send me pictures of cakes you made using my fondant recipe to theduke@thecookduke.com I’ll be happy to post it in my blog.

To see more pictures of people using my fondant recipe please visit “Fondant Recipe – Amy Johnson’s experience” and “How to make fondant – Gerbera Daisy Cake”

Happy cooking

My “How to make a diaper cake” post is one of two special posts (the second is my “how to make fondant” post) that keep surprising me.
The special thing about those posts is that people get such good results, that many of them make it into a business.

Look at this Diaper cake made by Gerry G, I guess she took the video tutorial I recommended…

Pati’s Diaper Cake pictures:

How to make a diaper cake

How to make a diaper cake

And this is what she wrote:

“This is my first attempt to make a diaper cake, and WOW did I have fun!!! There are 100 size 2 diapers, 130 rubber bands, plus “gifts”. The mother-to-be loved it. This cake took me 5 hours to make. If I can do it, anyone can:) Good luck to all, and thank you for letting me share my success story. Gerry G, CA
PS
I am making a 2nd diaper cake, which I have already sold!! I did not roll my diapers, but did the fan look. I will send pics.”

Not only she’s making great diaper cakes, she also turned it into an additional income stream – WOW!

In my original “how to make a diaper cake” post I mentioned this “cheap as chips” video tutorial that showed me the in’s and out’s of how to make a diaper cake.
I never thought that following it is a way to generate more income

Gerry, thanks for the diaper cake pictures, I will be happy to get pictures of more cakes you made, diaper cake or not.
I hope you can develop your “how to make a diaper cake” adventure into a real business, my benefit will be getting the pictures to post here.

You are welcome to see another diaper cake made by one of the readers at “How to make a diaper cake by Pati” and you’re most welcome to send me pictures of cakes you made to: theduke@thecookduke.com
 
Happy Cooking

My “How to make a diaper cake” post is online for 2 years now, and nothing makes me happier than getting picture from people who made diaper cakes following my “recipe”.

This diaper cake was made by Pati B following my How to make a diaper cake post.

Pati’s Diaper Cake picture:

How to make a diaper cake

“Dear Cook Duke
 I can understand how hard it is to make the diaper cakes.  I have seen the one you tried to attempt on a site that sells the cakes.  It’s the diapers fanned out around a center, very hard to do I would think.  It was a valiant attemp.  I just made a plain old rolled diaper cake.  I did the diapers first one night.  Then my cousin and I made the cake together.  She’s my “bow” expert LOL 
It’s not too bad for a first one.
 Caption:  Diaper cake for shower 4/6/08 for my daughter Erin.  It was fun to do.”

So first of all, not only it’s not too bad, it’s actually good for a first try!

In my original “how to make a diaper cake” post I mentioned this “cheap as chips” video tutorial that showed me the in’s and out’s of how to make a diaper cake.

The thing I like about this video tutorial is that it saves you the need for first tries and takes you to a complete different level, although Pati shows us that you can make a beautiful diaper cake without any training.

Pati, thanks for the diaper cake picture, will be happy to get pictures of more cakes you made, diaper cake or not

Anyone that followed my “how to make a diaper cake” post is welcome to send me pictures to theduke@thecookduke.com
 
Happy Cooking

Many of my readers asked me how to color fondant after reading my post Fondant Recipe for the best Fondant Icing

There are two main reasons to color fondant:

1. To color fondant so the cake looks just like you want it to
2. To color fondant as the cake itself is too dark that it “shades” the white fondant color

This post is entirely about how to color fondant, if you want to make the fondant from scratch, read my previous post describing how to make Fondant Recipe

I hope this post answers how to color fondant, and I’ll do my best to answer any future questions you have.

So, How to Color Fondant:

1. Roll the fondant into a ball on your counter and smash it out a bit until it’s soft and pliable
   
2. Make a pit in the fondant, and using a toothpick add dots of icing color into the pit (use a clean toothpic each time you dip it in the color).
   
   The important thing is to add just a little of the concentrated icing color at a time and then knead it over and over until you get an even spread of the color
3. If the fondant is still too pale, use the same procedure to add in more color, but make sure you use a fresh toothpick every time you dip it into the color
   
4. Once you finish to color the fondant, shape it to the shape of disks, wrap each fondant disk in plastic and place in an airtight container so the fondant keeps soft

How to Color Fondant – Tips:

• Wear All-Purpose Gloves on youe hands before you start to color fondant, so you your hands stain-free
• To color fondant, use Gel food color and not the liquid drops that you get from the grocery store.
  Liquid food colors will make the fondant too wet and will not give the same intensity.
  (The only exception to this rule is if you’re using an airbrush, as airbrush food colors are water based. When using an airbrush you’re not brushing and the spray is so light, it won’t hurt the fondant)
• Remember that it is easier to add color to the fondant than take it out, so start with a little amounts of color and add more as you need to
• When you come to color fondant, color more Fondant than you’ll need as it’s nearly impossible to match the color again if you need a little extra fondant
• Note that the fondant colors will darken slightly overnight and will fade if Fondant is left in the light for a long time

Happy Cooking J

Like most things in life, practice gets perfection, but to make fondant is not too complicated, and given the upgrade it gives to the cake, I would sure give it a try.

Fondant recipe – How to make fondant

When you come to make fondant it’s important to use the right fondant recipe and follow it to the letter.

I know many people who tried some shortcuts on my fondant recipe and ended up with a fondant they just couldn’t take off of the table.
The fondant gets greasy, sticky or just resembles the taste of a commercial fondant, which is bad enough J

Three important tips before we move to the actual “how to make fondant” instructions and the fondant recipe:

1. When you make fondant, both the dough and the icing, make sure to make it in room temperature – Too cold or too warm room will hurt the dough
2. When you calculate the quantity of fondant icing required, it’s better to have too much fondant icing rather than too little, as leftover icing can be stored and used at a later date, or used for extra decorations
3. Make sure you make fondant on a clean and smooth working surface.
   Jewelry on your fingers or wrists or fluffy clothing could hurt the fondant’s surface

Ingredients required to make the fondant recipe:

• 1 Tbsp of unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup of cold water
• 1 tsp of almond extract
• 1/2 cup of light corn syrup (If a corn syrup is not available, you can substitute it with a sugar syrup made with 1-1/4 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water, boiled together until syrupy)
• 1 Tbsp of glycerin (some recipes say it’s optional, believe me, it’s a must)
• 2 lbs 10X confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp of white vegetable shortening

Directions how to make the fondant recipe:

• Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and let it rest for 2 minutes to soften
• Place the bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds on High, until the gelatin dissolves
• Add the Almond extract
• Add the corn syrup and the glycerin and stir until the mixture is smooth and clear (if the mixture is not turning smooth and clear, microwave it for an additional 15 to 20 seconds on high and stir again)
• Sift 1 1/2 pounds of the sugar into a large bowl
• Make a hole in the sugar and pour the liquid mixture to it
• Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes sticky
• Sift some of the remaining 1/2 pound of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take
• Knead the fondant, adding a little more sugar if necessary, to form a smooth, pliable mass
• Rub the vegetable shortening on your thumbs and knead it into the fondant
• Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and place it in a tightly sealed container to prevent it from drying out
  If the icing dries out and harden it can often be revived by popping it into a microwave oven for a few seconds and then kneading it back to life

Now you know how to make fondant, I hope the following pictures will inspire you to give this easy, tasty Fondant Recipe

But first, if you want to take your fondant recipe to the next level, you’re welcome to visit my post How to Color Fondant

And one update (11/02/09) – A few of my readers sent me pictures of cakes they made following the instructions on this post.

I advice you to go and check it out, to see what to expect when you learn how to make fondant

An update from January 15 2008:

About 6 month ago I got a mail from one of my readers asking me how to make fondant.
I never thought it’d be the most popular post on my blog…
Anyway, from the comments I get I see that many people finds it easy to make, it makes me so happy as that’s the purpose of this blog.
Now that you see that how to make fondant is very easy you can go to the next level by trying to color it (see “how to color fondant”) or get inspired with baby cake decoration ideas at my previous posts “baby shower cakes” , “children’s birthday cakes” and “more children’s birthday cakes”

I’d appreciate if you could recommend this fondant recipe using one of the social networks below.

Happy Cooking