Disney Frozen Birthday Cake

This themed birthday treat adds the WOW factor for any Frozen fan celebrating another year...and the surprised guests commented that it tasted as good as it looked!

My daughter just had a birthday and she wanted Disney's Frozen movie as the theme. I wanted to meet her request, but without spending a boat-load of money on themed party. I decided I would make the cake, and it went even smoother than I expected. Here is how I made this cake, for any other cake-decorator-wannabes out there...

Ingredients

3 boxes White Cake Mix (the ones with pudding in the mix so cake stays moist)

9 Eggs (for the cake)

3/4 cup Vegetable Oil (for the cake)

3 cups Water (for the cake)

4-5 containers White Frosting

Food Coloring (I used Purple & Blue from McCormick's Neon! set, Classic Blue, & Classic Green.)

Rounded Star Decorating Tip

1 bag Edible Pearls

Directions

Make the first cake mix according to the directions on the box, then add the Neon Purple food coloring (about 6 drops) and mix until even color.

Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans and pour half the mix in each.

Bake per the box instructions for 8-inch round pans.

Once fully baked, remove from oven and flip onto cooling surface.

Make the second cake mix following the same steps above, but using the Neon Blue food coloring.

Make the third cake mix following the same steps, but using no food coloring.

Once all cakes are completely cooled, it's time to assemble...

Place a dab of icing (acts as an edible glue) on the surface you are building your cake on, then place one of the purple cake rounds on top of it. Be sure it is in the exact position you desire, because as you build the cake up you won't easily be able to move the foundation.
Using a serrated blade (bread knives work well), cut the rounded top off of your bottom layer so that you have a layer of cake that is the same height all the way around.
Spread a thin layer of white icing on top of the bottom layer, then place one of the blue cake rounds precisely on top to form the second layer of cake.
Cut the rounded top off the second layer.
Spread a thin layer of white icing on top of the second layer, then place one of the white cake rounds carefully on top to form the third layer of cake. Your bottom tier of the cake is now constructed!
To make the top tier of the cake, get something round (approx 6 inches diameter) to use as a stencil...could be a salad plate, a bowl, a scrapbooking tool, whatever you can find.
Using the stencil and a fine-point blade, cut the remaining 3 cake rounds to the smaller size.
Now assemble in the same manner as we did the bottom tier: purple layer, cut off rounded top, thin layer of icing, then blue layer, cut off rounded top, thin layer of icing, then white layer.

Next we need the colored frosting. Up to this point I had used 1 container of my frosting. Since the majority of the cake is blue, I emptied 3 containers of my remaining icing into a mixing bowl, added a few drops of the Neon Blue food coloring and mixed until even colored.

Using a spatula or an offset spatula, cover the bottom tier of the cake with a thin layer of blue icing (does not need to be neat, since it will be covered up with swirls).
With the same color icing, frost the top tier of the cake - I chose to pipe this icing with a flat decorating tip, but you could choose any tip or simply use a spatula for this as well (might want to make it a bit thicker since this is the only layer on the outside of the top tier). Refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up the icing.
Using a couple pancake spatulas or some other broad & flat utensils, lift up your top tier and carefully place it on top of your bottom tier (most smudges you should be able to cover up with your swirls).
Time for the swirls on the bottom tier. Using a rounded star decorating tip, pipe consecutive swirls around the "neck" of the bottom tier. Each swirl should start at the base of the top tier, span about 1/3 of the way down the bottom tier, and touch the side of the previous swirl. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up the icing.
The lightest shade of blue frosting is now complete. Add to the light blue icing another 8-ish drops of Neon Blue and 3-ish drops of Classic Blue. Mix until even colored.
Pipe the middle row of swirls using this slightly darker shade of frosting. The top of these swirls should touch the first row of swirls and span the next 1/3 of the bottom tier. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up the icing.
This shade of frosting is finished. Mix in another 15-ish drops of Neon Blue and 10-ish drops of Classic Blue and 2-ish drops of Classic Green to achieve the darkest shade of blue frosting.
Pipe the bottom row of swirls with the darkest color. The bottom of the swirls should be flat against the surface of the base. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up the icing.

Using a round decorating tip (even a zip-loc bag with a hole cut out of the corner works), pipe strands of white icing from the middle of the top tier to varying lengths down the side of the cake to resemble icicles.

If desired, place edible pearls around the cake.

If you have some miniature Frozen toy figurines, they make great cake toppers! (I recommend sanitizing them in bleach water prior to using on the cake.)

Tips

Might want to pipe the swirls bottom-to-top, instead of top-to-bottom so that gravity doesn't cause the top swirls to "melt" into the bottom ones, as I experienced. ;)

I suggest making the darkest icing first, and adding more white icing to lighten it up as you go. I did it the other way and I had a difficult time achieving a darker shade of blue after the second row of swirls.

Be sure to adhere to the refrigeration steps in between piping the frosting to keep it from wilting.

Feel free to experiment and, most importantly, have FUN!