Despicable Me 2 3D Minion Cake Decorating Tutorial
Despicable Me 2 is coming soon and my middle boy loves the cute minions, so this year he wanted a minion birthday cake. There have also been some requests from subscribers for a 3D upright cake tutorial and despicable me cake, so I filmed the making of his cake for you.
You will need:
round cake boards x 2 (one 8cm (3.15 inches) and one 15cm (5.91 inches) in diameter)
2 x 32cm (12.6 inches) cake spikes and four shorter cake spikes
base wooden or mdf cake board
Four lots of the Vanilla Cake Recipe 8 x 20cm (7.87 inches) tins, trimmed down to 16cm (6.3 inches) in diameter.
2 quantities of Buttercream Recipe in flavour of your choice
Fondant: 800g (28.22 ounces) yellow, 20g (0.71 ounces) brown, 50g (1.76 ounces) white fondant and 300g (10.58 ounces) blue (fondant recipe here, how to colour fondant here)
100g (3.53 ounces) Black fondant
Silver luster dust
Lollies and candles to go around the cake (optional)
This cake will make about 40 serves
Making a 3D Minion Cake
1. TEMPLATE: For any 3d cake that you want to make I recommend finding a picture of the character that you want to make, enlarge it to the size you want the finished cake to be and use that as your guide for sizing the cake and details. Here is the minion picture that I used, it is over two pages so you will need to cut and tape together Minion Template
2. DETAILS: Fondant details can be made up to a month in advance and left to dry out. Use the printout that you made of your character to guide you in the size. If you have never worked with fondant before watch the fondant basics video for help on colouring fondant.
To make the details for this minion cake see the video for instructions.
3. FRAME: You need a frame to support your cake.
Place your round cake boards onto the base board and drill two holes through both pieces of cardboard and through the base. Position the holes where you want the minions legs to be.
Drill two more holes one in front and the other behind the ones you’ve just done and add a short stick to each so that it sticks up above the board by 3cm (1.18 inches).
If your drill holes are not super tight then you can glue those in place. Put your smaller base board on top.
4. CAKES: Bake your cakes. For this cake I used 20cm (7.87 inches) round cake tins and trimmed them down to 16cm (6.3 inches). It took 8 cakes. 3D cakes take a deceptively large amount of cake.
5. FROSTING: You need frosting so the fondant has something to stick to. You can use ganache, I used buttercream.
6. ASSEMBLY: put your supports into place and your base cake board, cover it in a thin layer of buttercream and add your first layer of cake, add more buttercream and then your next layer of cake.
Insert a cake spike down to the cake board and mark off the level, cut two sticks to this same height so the cake is level. Poke them into the cake, add your next cake board and more buttercream. Add the next layer of cake, more buttercream REPEAT that until the cake is the height of your print out. (See the video for a demonstration).
7. CARVING: Use a finely serrated knife to cut away pieces of cake to make it the right shape. The top and the base of the minion is domed so it is fairly simple shape to carve.
8. CRUMB COAT: Cover the whole cake in a thin layer of buttercream, it doesn’t have to look pretty this is just to catch all the crumbs. Place it in the fridge and let it firm up.
9. FROSTING: Add another layer of buttercream over the top and use your pallette knife to smooth it off as best as you can. Then leave it for about 15 minutes and use some paper towel to smooth out any imperfections. Put back in the fridge.
10. DECORATE: See the video above for detailed instructions.
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by Ann Reardon How To Cook That
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Hi, Im making this cake for a friends birthday. I made the goggle and buttons etc weeks in advance with ready to roll icing but they still haven’t gone hard have you got any suggestions to make them dry out? I’ve left them open on a plate but hasn’t done anything. Thank you
Hi Lauren, what brand are you using, the only brand I have ever seen that does not go hard is duff.
Hi there!
I’m just wondering how hard it would be to add the fireman alarm thingys to the minions head?
hi cassle, not too hard at all, they kind of look plastic cup shaped so perhaps use them as a mold
Hi, this cake is amazing!! Who doesn’t love minions, right?
So my niece is turning 7 and wants a girl minion cake for her birthday.
What I want to know is: how am I going to transport this cake??
This is just awesome. Im planning to do it for my boyfriend’s birthday since we love minions so much. Im really scared because ive never done something like this before (too many cakes together, fondant and frame). And the question thats been on my head since i saw the video is: how do you do the rounded head of the minion? because i cant imagine it without getting too sharpened, like with many faces but not rounded (?) (sorry for my english, im from Argentina!)
Lots of love!
Maru
hi Maru, if you cut just a small amount off the corner the whole way around the cake and little more at a time until it is rounded.
HI!…. I´m from Argentina and I see all your videos!!. You are so artistic and you make awesome foods, realy 🙂
I like all your recipes and I don´t under much because my English not is so so good but I try to read and copy all, but of course in Spanish….
I really hope that you continue with this páge, and absolutly with all your recipes and advices-
Kisses from Argentina and me 🙂
Hi Anne!
Great looking cake and i love the detailing!! I was wondering though, if you leave the goggle parts to dry out then how do you stick them together for the final assembly? Is it just a case of simply moistening slightly??
Many Thanks
Pete
Whats the best way to shape the top of the head?
Hi Leon, I just cut a thin layer off teh edge like you are rounding it and then go around again and again until you are happy with it, little by little.
Hi Ann I just want to know how you made the minion open and close his mouth
Your videos are beautiful
lol lucy I filmed a piece of yellow fondant and put the mouth in the different shapes and then overlayed it on the video (not very well, you can see the edges)
Hi Anne i am starting to make this cake tonight!
Just wondering if i can cut the cakes in half and fill them with buttercream also, or will this make the cake to heavy? xx
Hi gemma, yes you definitely can do that.
Hi Anne. Can you suggest a good recipe for a vanilla sponge cake. I imagine it will need to be fairly solid to retain its posture.
Thanks for the Great tutorial!! It helped me make this cake for my nephew’s bday =) He LOVED IT!!!
wow this is amazing, im attempting one soon, do you have any advice for me? xx
Thanks! I’m a newbie in the baking world. This is the first standing cake I’ve made and it was a success!
My advise for anyone who wants to attempt this cake is to make sure you have a good support system in place. Since this cake stands 12″ or so tall after it’s finished. Follow the youtube video and you shouldn’t have any major issues. Good luck!
well you have done an amazing job! Im starting to make the cake tonight! Did you use Anne’s recipe for the cake? xx
Yes, I did use Anne’s recipe for this cake =)
Amazing result! Did you use 8 sandwich tin sized cakes?
I used 5- 6″ round cakes (for the body) and half of a Wilton sports ball pan (for the top of the head). I was trying to make “Stewart” from Despicable Me 2
I’ve never worked with fondant before, how did you dry out your goggle and eye decorations and how long did it take?
Hi Leon I dried them for 3 days
Hi, silly question…On your vanilla cake mix do you use plain sugar or caster sugar. Thank you
Hi, this cake looks amazing! I was just wondering what kind of oil do you use in the vanilla cake recipe? And if I were to use self-raising flour would I still need to use baking powder? Thanks
Love your work!
I just would like to know if it is possible to do the minion cake without the rods and cake stand support in the middle?
I will make the minion appear to be sitting so the legs wont need to be supported, but do you think rods and smaller cake stands in the middle are required to keep the cake from falling/sinking?
Thanks
Leon
Hi Leon, yes as soon as you go over 3 cakes stacked you would need to use the cake boards and supports or the weight of the cakes at the top squash the ones at the bottom and the whole thing may topple over when you try and move it.
Hi Anne,
I have watched this video over and over again, i’m going to be attempting to make this for my sons 5th birthday party at the end of the month!
Im a little confused as to what you used to fix your dowel rods into, was it a large plank of wood? It almost looks like you have it resting on small pieces of wood!
I need to get this right so i am buying everything now so its all sorted for the big day!
Also im going to make a cake a day from now til then, will they ne ok to freeze?
Also I understand that the cake recipe you have given is for a fairly solid cake so that it keeps well, but is it still quite a tasty cake?
Sorry for the million and one questions!
Your work is amazing!
xx
Hi gemma,
The dowels are going into mdc covered in alfoil. You can put little squares of mdc on the underside of each corner too like I did, this makes it easier to pick up the cake board and move it around. Cakes like this are quite heavy when they are finished. My favourite cake to use is always chocolate but you can use any recipe that you like. chocolate one is here… https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/chocolate-cake-recipe/
Hi Anne,
Thanks for getting back to me!
What is MDC sorry im from England and we don’t have that here.
Could i use wood? Also do you drill right through the wood/mdc or just drill enough for the poles to be sitting within it?
Also i can not find the exact same cake board sizes I can only get 4 inch and 6 inch, the cake pan i have is a 7 inch, would you advise to still trim down the cake or can i keep it the same size?
thanks x
Hi ann, I tried to make cupcakes first, and these were the ones I made. 🙂 But after like a few hours, it started to become all wet. This happens a lot whenever I use fondant. Do you have any idea how i can prevent it? 😮 Thanks! 🙂
I used the Pettinice Fondant by the way. And Liquid food coloring but not too much. Just saying coz these might be one of the reasons. 😮
Hi lzi they look so cute 😀 fondant will ‘sweat’ if you put it in the fridge and then pull it out, it gets a really fine layer of moisture on it because it is cold the warm air condensates. This is only a small amount and will generally evaporate off it left for a couple of hours. Is this what you are meaning?
Yes. 😀 Thank you so much.. ^_^ So the thing is, don’t put a fondant cake or cupcake in the fridge or hot place right? 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Anna how do you make mionion?
hi savannah, there is a video on this post showing how to put it altogether 😀
I made your minion for my great nephew’s 4th birthday. Thank you very much for your tutorial. It was the best I found. I am a very amateur cake decorator & I am definitely loving it very much! My 6″ x 2″ cake layers were exactly the size of the template but I couldn’t get legs underneath! Also I had an awful time with my fondant tearing. The yellow was fresh unopened Wilton yellow fondant. I used all I had of that yellow & that blue & it looked tacky to me. But my nephew & his wife were thrilled with it as was Kevin. Thank you!
Great job Alberta I am not surprised that he loved it. Different brands of fondant are easier to work with than others, I have done a fondant review on the website but did not have the wilton one… review is here https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/the-great-fondant-review-which-fondant-is-best/
Hi Ann,
Loved your explanation on how to make a Minion, found it really useful and taught me alot about working with fondant. In hindsight, my Minion’s goggle was way to long, I finished it at 3am and stuck it on without remembering to trim it, anyway, next time..otherwise I was really happy with it and just wanted to say thanks so much.
Best wishes, Chris
Awesome job Chris, your cake is featured on my 100th youtube video… https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/youtube-cake/
Hi Ann,
Love this cake!!! i am going to attempt to make this cake for my Son’s 5th birthday 🙂
I just tried to print out the templet but i didnt work -(
is there another link for it??
I will post pics once the cake is done. Thank you so much for sharing :))
Hi Merv, I just checked the link and it opened the pdf of the minion template. Give it another try