3D Minecraft Fondant Birthday Cake
Minecraft is a game where you can explore, create, discover, mine and craft a whole world. In the game it takes patience to build anything. This cake is the same it takes 1,280 tiny fondant squares to make this 3D minecraft logo.
minecraft cake instructions
To start with you will need to make a cake. You can use a packet mix or if you’d prefer homemade like I do, then try either the vanilla cake recipe or the chocolate mud cake. Depending on the depth of your cake tin you will need to make two or three square cakes and then stack them on top of each other, sandwiched with buttercream to make a cube.
The cake I made once trimmed down, before icing was 15cm (5.91 inches) x 15cm (5.91 inches)
Trim down the edges to get an exactly square shape slightly smaller than your template and then smother in buttercream (buttercream recipes are here).
Use paper towel to smooth off you sides and sharpen your corners. See the video for a demonstration on how to do this and the rest of the cake.
You can purchase fondant or make your own, fondant recipe is here. Then you will need to colour it into your greens, browns and grey. If you have not worked with fondant before there is a post on fondant basics here. Allow approx 200g (7.05 ounces) of fondant for each colour.
Print the side template below. Cover it in baking paper and roll out one of your colours to the size of the white square. Using a pizza cutter cut strips and then turn to cut squares. The lines in the blue section will act as you guidelines for this. Repeat with all of your colours.
Click on the link below to download the block template free.
Take another piece of baking paper and lightly grease using butter or margarine or crisco, wipe off any excess with a paper towel. Place one edge of the paper along one edge of the white square on your template and sticky tape into position. Then line up your squares one row at a time to cover the white area, remember to add green squares at the top.
Lightly dampen the fondant using a paintbrush. Slide your baking paper onto something firm but thin, like cardboard. Line up the bottom edge with the base of the cake and then lift up and push into place. Remove the cardboard and use a fondant smoother to flatten, then peel off the baking paper. When you do the top green section do not put water on it, instead put the cardboard on top of it, and flip it over. Then put in position on the cake and slide the cardboard out of the way. Then finish the other sides in the same manner as the first.
If you have left over fondant you can make more squares and use on pieces of cake or chocolate honeycomb squares.
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Hi Ann,
Love the detailed info! How many recipes of fondant are needed to create the Minecraft cake?
Hi Wendy, double to recipe if you’ve done cake decorating before or triple if not, better to have spare than not enough.
This cake is amazing!! I’m going to try making it for my nephew, but I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind.
How much fondant did you use for your cake? I’m not sure how many batches to make.
If I make the mosaics in advance, how should I store them (fridge or counter, wrapped or unwrapped)? Do I brush them with water once they are complete, or just before I put them on the cake (which will be a week or two later), or both? I’ll be using marshmallow fondant.
Many thanks!
Karla
Hi Karla, if you make the squares and put them together on the template then leave them uncovered to dry out. Brush lightly with water before putting onto the cake. The only thing to be careful of if making ahead it sometimes the moisture from the fondant can cause the paper to crinkle which will leave a crinkle make on your squares so you may want to out it together on some acetate instead of baking paper.
How much fondant is tricky, I am getting better at remembering to weigh fondant when make cakes but didn’t do so for this one. I am sorry
Just wanted to send you an update on the Minecraft I did using your tutorial! Thank You so much!
Awesome amy, I love it, thanks so much for sharing
Hi Ann! I just wanted to thank you so much for providing all the information to make this cake – the video, the templates, everything! I just made a vegan version for my son’s 11th birthday and it all went smoothly, all down to your perfect instructions!
My son absolutely LOVED it, one he’ll never forget for sure!
Thank you!!!!!
Looks amazing Debbie, I am glad that your son loved it when he saw it. Thanks for the link back 🙂
Hi there
I have downloaded your template to make this cake and was just wandering, did you use 3 or 4 shades of brown and green and if so, can you remember how many of each shade.
I am goingto make this cake but i was thinking of having the tiles made out of chocolate as I know a chocolate maker and was just wandering on numbers
Hi Chantal, yummy chocolate sounds great. I used four browns, a small amount of grey and three greens
Hi, thanks for this tutorial, really helpful! I maybe shouldn’t ask this but, hope much would you charge to make this in a 6 inch square?
Thanks very much
Hi Jo, What you would charge for this cake would depend on the country you’re in, I would suggest looking up other bakeries websites in your area to see what they charge for detailed 3D cakes. While not particularly difficult this cake is time consuming.
Thanks very much for this tutorial! I have been asked to make a 4 inch minecraft cake for a fiend’s surprise birthday and was wondering how I could make it look so realistic!
One thing, it’s only going to be a 4 inch sqaure, could you tell me how to adapt your chocolate cake recipe so I don’t end up making far too much!
Thanks again
Jo
hi jo a 4inch cube (64 inches squared in volume) the cake here is 5.9″ (205 in squared) so you need to divide the recipe by three.
Hi Ann,
I am going to attempt to make this cake this weekend!! I wonder if you can help me with the measurements for the Vanilla Cake Recipe.
You say for example 1 1/4 cups, what is this in grams or ounces? Im from the UK and am a tad confused with the cup measurements!
Thanks
hi tasha, 1 cup = 250ml next time i make the vanilla cake i will weigh out the ingredients and add the weights.
I love this amazing Minecraft cake – and will try and make one for my son´s birthday coming up (a Tuesday). I´m just not sure how long time in advance I should make it? How long for the fondant to set properly on the cake? And I guess it´s best served directly from the fridge?
Hi Gitte, You can serve it straight after putting the fondant on or you can make it the day before and store in the fridge depending on what suits your schedule.
Just want to say THANK YOU for the Minecraft Template! I have been pulling my hair out for DAYS thinking how I was going to do this cake!!! You are a LIFESAVER!! I can’t wait to do this cake now!
Great to hear Amy, make sure you take a photo, you can upload it here in the comments section : )
Hi, how long would you leave to complete the cake from start to finish ? In other words could it be done in one evening after college or should I spread it over a few evenings ? Thanks
Hi Charlotte definitely spread it over a few evenings. Perhaps one evening print the templates, colour your fondant and double wrap it in ziplock bags to store. Next evening make all you squares and arrange them. Next evening make you cake, cover in frosting and add your squares.
Hi Ann
I am really excited about trying this. Could you please advise – I see above you suggest a great way of spreading the load over a few days. If I make the squares and arrange them, how do I prevent them from hardening overnight before assembling the next day?
Hi Natalie if you are making ahead you could just let them harden if they are in the right places this may make it easier to put on the cake.
WOW! This cake is great! It took a bit longer than I had planned, but it turned out great, and my stephson loved it (his friends too..)
I am not very fond of fondant, so I made it with marzipan; really easy to work with if you add CMC. I am very thankful for the template, it was a big help!
Now I am looking foreward to the firetruck-birthday in april : )
Got any tips?
: )
Glad it worked Annette, I am doing a truck cake for my 2 year olds birthday, but he wants a dump truck. For a fire truck make all your details ahead and leave them to harden. Buy pre-coloured red fondant (or you’ll have a pink firetruck) oreos make good wheels, if you want them more real looking you could cover them in fondant. If you want it to sit up off the board like a real truck you need something under the cake, a rectangle that is the truck shape and then something smaller down the middle supporting it.
Hi Ann, Thank you so much for posting these tutorials. I am experiencing a slight disaster with this cake and I am wondering if you could give me some advice?
I have prepared my fondant mosaics a couple of days ahead and they look amazing. I would hate it all to be spoilt by my next problem. I baked the mudcakes and have stacked them with icing between into the cube shape. I have smeared my buttercream icing all over the cake. At this point do you put it in the fridge for the butter cream to harden slightly before trying to smooth off the edges with paper towel and fondant smoother? When I put my paper towel on, smoothed it and then tried to peel the paper towel off it took half the butter cream with it. Will refrigerating it for a couple of hours solve this problem and still allow the fondant mosaics to stick?
I’m panicking now ….
Thanks in advance, Renee 🙂
Hi renee, yes that should help with that problem, are you using the butter cream recipes from here or a different recipe?
hi. I love this cake and thank you so much for the tutorial. I have a 3 tier 3 sibling birthday cake in April and the top will be this in a 4″ square. However, i will be out of town up til Tuesday but in the week before. Do you think it’d be easier to do this section of the cake the week of the cake or cutting out all the squares the week before and working with dry squares when laying out the grid on the cake say Friday before the party? I’m just thinking i need more time and will need to cut the squares ahead to save time that week…? Thanks so much and love your site and will be following it!
Hi Sarah, yes you could cut all the squares ahead and arrange them onto the non-stick baking paper, the only problem I can for see is sometimes the paper crinkles from the moisture in the fondant so the underside of the squares may have ridges. Alternatively you could make the whole tier ahead of time and freeze it if you are going to do that you may want to use some simple syrup in the cake to make sure it is moist, see the princess cake post for the recipe and that video shows you how to use it.
It’s Cristin again…I never did tell you –I live in Northern Kentucky just outside Cincinnati in the states. Like you I love doing the cakes for my kids–often people tell me I should start a business —but I think this is just a passion I do out of love and would probably stress to much if I was actually getting paid and be very TIRED ….lol You are very talented. Wish I lived near you and could see yours in person. Thanks again. If you have any ideas for a 14 year old boy let me know….
Yes, it is time consuming making great cakes, and they always look so much better when made with love for your own child rather than by the clock in a business trying to use cheaper ingredients and quick cakes.
Ann—I DID IT!!!! I am so excited that I actually completed it and it all worked out–the fondant squares were fine once they rested and it all went on the cake perfectly. The last side went on the cake just 2 hours before the start of the party–always down to the last minute it seems no matter how much I plan or do in advance….a very rewarding challenge though (my husband thinks I’m crazy) I am so GRATEFUL for all your advice, recipes, techniques and wonderful cake model with instructions to duplicate. It was a huge hit at my son’s 12 year old birthday party! I LOVE your chocolate buttercream frosting as well–I could have eaten the whole bowl…lol I wish I could show you a pic of how it turned out. BTW what part of Australia do you live in—I have friends in NSW–I lived there for a month in the early 90’s–loved it and hope to get back again some day. WONDERFUL people I met like you….. Thanks again—-now I have until March to attempt my next cake for my other son.
Wonderful Cristin, I am so glad it worked for you and that your son loved it. I would love to see a photo, you can upload a picture with your comment here just click on CHOOSE FILE below the comment box and it will upload with your comment.
I am in NSW. One of my boys has a bday in March too, but it is my youngest so he wants a raa raa cake.
Ann- Cristin here in the states at 3am on Sat. I am stressing bc I am trying to cut the single colors on the grid and I am making sure you did this on parchment paper—correct??? Mine are sticking and I am so stressed and not sure if I should continue or put cornstarch or shortening underneath???Also I slid a pice of thin cardboard underneath to transport them to the table and will probably cover them with plastic wrap until I all are made. The party is Sun at 2pm and I m hoping you have some advice bc I m not sure what to do? Will they be ok if they sit and rest a bit–it looks like underneath that they are not cut through …sos Thanks. Also the second step is on parchment paper as well correct not wax paper??
Hi Cristin, I used non-stick baking paper. If they are sticking then yes add some cornstarch or icing sugar. You can leave them to rest, if you leave them uncovered they will set hard which will make them easier to move without mishaping them but I don’t think they will stick as well to sheet for transferring to the cake.
THank you Thank you Thank you Ann for the answers and guidance. I truly appreciate it and hope that my cake will turn out almost as amazing as yours did. I am still nervous about using my marshmallow fondant but will give it a go. I’ll let you know how it turns out. 🙂 I am also making a rice krispy creeper “cake” and some kind of “eye” cookies from Minecraft that my son loved. Wish me luck I get some sleep…lol
What size cake pans did you use for the Minecraft cake and for the grid is that to size or do I need to enlarge it? I am going to attempt it this weekend and am trying to prepare. How long did it take you and what would you reccomend doing ahead–they party is Sun afternoon. Thanks so much
My cake was 14.5cm x 14.5 x 14.5 I suggest that you use a cake tin bigger than that so that you can trim it down to size making a perfect cube. And try baking three layers instead of two, if you have extra you can always trim it down.
This cake will take quite a while to decorate, it is not hard just tedious – leave at least 4 hours.
Things you can do ahead – mix all the fondant colours, then double wrap in plastic and store in an airtight container.
Print the template – it is to size for the cake size that I used but if your cake turns out a different size when covered in buttercream you may need to enlarge or shrink it.
Make your cakes and cover in buttercream and freeze – this may help you with getting is square as you can slice off frozen buttercream if you have extra bits sticking out, defrost the cake before adding the fondant or it will ‘sweat’ as the condensation from the cake forms on the outside.
you could also cut the square and arrange on the grid ahead of time – the only thing I am thinking is sometimes the baking paper crinkles if it is moist and tehat leaves a mark int he fondant so perhaps use something else like thin clear plastic.
hi anne,
my buttercream is soft so im scared the cubes will slide off.. what can i do? i read somewhere i should refrigerate it but wont it condense the cubes when it comes back to room temperature?
Hi Yasmin, yes you can refrigerate it, and yes you are right it does cause condensation or ‘sweating’ on the fondant once you pull it out of the fridge but that dries off after an hour or so.
I love this cake & am looking to try it for my son’s birthday. Is it possible to make the square fondant ahead of time-maybe 2 or 3 days in advance before assembling it on the cake? I have a very busy weekend & don’t really have the time to make this cake in one day.
Hi Kateq yes you could cut the square and arrange on the sheet ahead of time – the only thing I am thinking is sometimes the baking paper crinkles if it is moist and tehat leaves a mark int he fondant so perhaps use something else like thin clear plastic.
Hi Ann,
Your Minecraft cake is mind boggling – it looks just like the LEGO Minecraft cube! Thank you so much for this great idea for Minecraft maniacs like my 6 yo son Aidan. I’ve just started working with fondant and this looks easy except for the sheer number of tiny squares required. Last year I made a Creeper mask at my son’s request, using green construction foam sheets and then painted with tiny squares, so I have a feel for the colors and mosaicy mindset required. Thank you for sharing your great ideas and skill!
Hi Leslie inSiliconValleyCA, Yes it is tedious rather than difficult. The only hard part if you are new to cakes is getting a cube cake with straight sides and icing – I would suggest baking larger than you want and then trimming to size. Make more layers than you think you might need and then you can always trim it down, better than running out of cake.