Follow these simple steps to create a DIY Princess Cake for a Sofia the First Birthday Party. 

Is you little girl begging for a Princess Cake for her birthday party?

Does she love Sofia the First?

Then this is the DIY birthday cake tutorial for you! 

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here for my full disclosure policy.

How to Make a DIY Princess Cake

• Sofia the First Doll
• or this substitute Bathing Beauty Belle Barbie
• 3 boxes of your favorite cake mix
• 9″ cake pan
• 9″ round ceramic bowl
• Lavender Icing
• Wilton Drop Flower Tip for cake icing

Easy Princess Cake: Instructions

Step 1: Bake the Cakes

Yes, that said “cakes” because you will need four 9″ round cakes plus a half round cake to create Princess Sofia’s dress.

The four cake layers can be made from a store bought box cake but this White Almond Wedding Cake Recipe is phenomenal. It transforms a simple white cake box mix into the best cake you will ever put in your mouth.

I promise!

Follow directions on the package to bake the cakes. I filled the cake pans almost to be top to make sure the bottom of the princess cake dress would be tall enough for the doll.

Step 2: Bake the Half Round Cake

Grab a 9″ ceramic bowl to bake the half round caked.

The first time I baked the top layer of the Sofia the First princess cake it looked like a lopsided half deflated beach ball. It was so awful I hacked it up and gave it to the children for snack.

Make sure you fill up the ceramic bowl almost to the top. Place it batter filled bowl into a metal pan to prevent an overflowing cake oven disaster.

Bake until done (check it with a long wooden skewer). The half round cake maybe be slightly domed on the top. Carefully trim the excess with a serrated knife.

Flip the half round cake upside down to use as the dress top.

Step 3: Assemble the Princess Cake Layers

Since I wanted the finished cake to sit atop a smaller crystal cake plate I trimmed the round layers into a smaller circle. See my pretty blue paper template?

You will need four layers of yumminess to create a cake tall enough to cover the doll’s legs. After the cake rounds have cooled, cut the domes off the tops so the cake layers will lay evenly.

Create a hole in the princess cake for Swimsuit Belle or Sofia the First Doll with a small round cookie cutter. Punch out a circle in all four round layers.

In hindsight, the round cookie cutter was way too large of an opening. Using a serrated knife to trim a smaller hole would have been much better.

Stack the cake layers carefully and add frosting between them as you go.

Step 4: Add the Top of the Dress

Gently place the half round cake layer on top of the four round layers. Trim the edges as needed to join the top piece to the round layers.

Carefully cut a hole for the plastic wrapped doll to slide into. Use a serrated knife to make the smallest hole you can to fit the doll into.

Step 5: Add a Crumb Coat of Icing

Once the cake’s layers are joined give the entire thing a crumb coat of icing. A crumb coat is a thin covering of icing that is applied prior to the final coat. It helps to trap all the crumbs that you don’t want in your finished icing.

Speaking of icing… do not try to whip up your own version of buttercream by adding tons of powdered sugar to a pre-made tub of icing. That was a Pinterest idea that didn’t work.

{Click here} to discover my frosting secret! I promise it’s super easy!

Step 6: Place Doll Inside the Princess Cake

As the cake was baking I prepped the Princess Barbie doll by wrapping her hair and body in plastic wrap. This will protect her from all that sugary icing.

Allow the crumb coat to dry on the DIY Princess Cake then place the princess inside her soon-to-be fabulous ball gown.

You may notice that the Princess popping out my Tootsie’s cake is not Sofia the First. Last summer when I was planning the party there were no Sofia the First Dolls out yet.

So I had to settle on Tootsie’s second favorite: Bathing Beauty Belle Barbie. She had almost the same hair color as Sofia and only cost $8.

Party on a budget, remember?

Step 7: Decorate Sofia’s Princess Cake Dress

The icing design on the cake’s dress is simple large swirls with medium flowers to fill in the blank spots. It was simple to decorate with a Wilton Drop Flower Tip for cake icing.

The top of the dress is simply a lot of small flowers to cover the bodice and strips of the swimsuit.

Tootsie absolutely loved this DIY Princess cake! She proudly showed it off to all the birthday party guests.

Hopefully the tips I shared with you throughout this tutorial will encourage you to make your own Princess Cake.

Need a video tutorial? Here you go –>  “How to Make a Princess Doll Birthday Cake ~ You Really Can Do This!”.

Here’s all the Sofia the First birthday party on a budget projects:

• Simple Princess Party Favors
• How to Make Princess Play Dough
• How to Make Pompom Garlands
• Sofia the First Birthday Party Wreath
• DIY Princess Cake for a Sofia the First Party
• Sofia the First Birthday Party on a Budget

More Princess Birthday Party Ideas!

• Princess Party Hats (An Ice Cream Treat) from MomDot
• Disney Princess Tutu Favor Bags from Laura’s Crafty Life
• Princess Pink and Gold 3rd Birthday Party from Pizzazzerie

Visit Ashley @ 3 Little Greenwoods’s profile on Pinterest.

I link up with these fun parties!

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and/or is a sponsored post. I may receive compensation in the form of monetary compensation or product compensation in exchange for my review. I take pride in reviewing only products that fit my brand and will be beneficial to my readers. And while this post is sponsored or contains affiliate links, all the opinions are my own. Why do I do this? It will help me keep this DIY’ing Mama crafting for another day! For more on my disclosure policy click here.