Luck of the Irish Leprechaun Hat Cake Tutorial for Newbies

 

Looking for a creative cake to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? This Leprechaun Hat Cake is beyond perfect for this lucky holiday! 

This Leprechaun hat cake is made with dark chocolate cake layers, filled with Irish Cream buttercream, and completed with green vanilla buttercream. The best part is the finishing touches with fondant belt and buckle, a brim to the hat, and a four-leaf clover for extra luck! 

Even if you’re brand new to cake decorating with practice and these actionable steps, you’ll be able to create this St. Patty’s day cake easily at home! 

The dark chocolate cake and Irish cream buttercream is one of my favorite combinations. The chocolate cake is not too sweet, so the rich and decadent Irish cream buttercream is perfectly balanced. 

The fondant decorations make this cake amazing. Starting with the black belt with the golden buckle is everything! Then the green hat brim is matched perfectly to the buttercream color. The final piece is the luckiest four-leaf clover, and it totally completes the cake!  

I am so excited to share this tutorial with you, I’ve listed some tips for success as well as tools you may need so you can get baking and decorating quickly! 

Tips for Success: 

• Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
• A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.
• In this cake recipe, you need 1 cup buttermilk; if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use 1 cup whole milk mixed with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own. 
• I highly recommend making the cake taller, so when you are creating the tapered hat, it’s in portion to everything else. 
• You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month. 
• Food coloring gets darker over time, so it’s best to gradually add the food coloring, which is best for lighter colors.  
• You can make the buttercream a day ahead and refrigerate it overnight. Then take them out to come back to room temperature. Make sure the buttercream is at room temperature before re-whipping.

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake: 

• 5-quart, Stand Mixer with mixing bowl & paddle attachment
• 3, 6-inch cake pans or 2, 8-inch cake pans
• Offset spatula 
• 8-inch or 10-inch white cake board 
• Serrated knife or cake leveler 
• Turntable 
• Cake scraper or bench scraper
• Whisk or sifter
• Rubber Spatula
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray and Parchment Paper
• Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
• Cake Stand, optional
• Small fondant rolling pin
• Silicone fondant mat
• Fondant (green, black and yellow)
• X-Acto knife
• Small heart cutters
• Cornstarch and Vegetable Shortening

Here’s how to make this Leprechaun Hat Cake that’ll give you the luck of the Irish! 

Let’s Get Baking! 

How to Make Dark Chocolate Cake Layers

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
2. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, stir together the all-purpose flour, dark cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 
3. Add the eggs and the vegetable oil on low until well incorporated.
4. Pour in the buttermilk and add brewed coffee. Mix on medium for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
5. Evenly distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
6. Remove cakes from oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely — wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes. 

How to Make Decadent Irish Cream Buttercream 

1. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer to low and add the salt and vanilla. 
3. Next, gradually add powdered sugar, followed by the Irish cream. Mix on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
4. Before using turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles or use a rubber spatula to push out the air bubbles. (You may need to repeat this step when frosting the outside of the cake). 

How to Make Bright Green Vanilla Buttercream 

1. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer to low and add the salt and vanilla. 
3. Next, gradually add powdered sugar, followed by the cream. Mix on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. 
4. Add a few drops of leaf green gel food coloring to dye the buttercream green. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
5. Before using turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles or use a rubber spatula to push out the air bubbles. (You may need to repeat this step when frosting the outside of the cake). 

How to Assemble the Cake 

1. Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the dome of the cakes to make the layers flat and even. 
2. Add a small amount of buttercream onto the center of the cake board. Layer the chilled dark chocolate cake, cut side up onto the cake board. 
3. Add a 2/3 cup of Irish Cream buttercream over the cake. Place another cake layer cut side down over the top then repeat the process for two more layers. With the four stacked cake layers, crumb coat and freeze the cake for 30 minutes. 
4. Next, with a serrated knife, begin to shave the bottom two cake layers, carefully cut away the cake to create a tapered hat design. Move carefully as you can’t add more cake, but you can cut more off. Then crumb coat and freeze the cake for 30 minutes. 
5. Add a thicker layer of green buttercream to the cold cake. Use an offset spatula and cake scraper to make the sides as smooth as possible. Then place back into the fridge to set the buttercream for 10 minutes. 

How to Complete this Cake with Fondant Decorations

1. On a silicone mat, roll the black fondant to 1/8 inch thick into a long strip about 20 inches long by 2 inches wide, adjust these measurements according to your cake. 
2. Attach the black strip to the bottom of the cold buttercream cake, if needed, add a small amount of buttercream to get fondant to stick. 
3. Next, roll out the green fondant for the brim of the hat into a long strip about 24 inches long by 2 ½ inches wide. 
4. Attach the green fondant to the cake board, if needed, use buttercream or water to make the fondant stick.
5. To make the four-leaf clover, roll out a small piece of green fondant and use a small heart cutter to 4 create the leaves. Attach the leaves together with water, lay one heart down first, then connect each heart to make a flower. Then cut out a short strip for the clover’s stem. 
6. Then to make the belt buckle roll out a piece of yellow fondant, use an x-acto knife to cut the buckle out. (You can also use two different size square cutters to create the buckle as well). 
7. In a small bowl, mix gold luster dust and a few drops of clear alcohol to create a paint consistency. With a little paintbrush, paint the gold on the yellow belt buckle. 
8. Serve cake at room temperature and enjoy! 

You May Also Enjoy: 

• How to Make a Rainbow Surprise Layered Cake (tutorial)
• How to Make Perfect Cake Pops (free training) 
• Cake Planning Checklist (freebie)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course) 
• Cake Decorating Tool Kit (24-piece kit with free shipping)

Now that you know how to make this Leprechaun Hat cake, this will be the luckiest St. Patrick’s Day ever!

I genuinely believe that all bakers can make this cake even beginner bakers. If you are willing to try, you’ll succeed! 

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at xokatierosario@gmail.com, and I look forward to seeing your Leprechaun Hat Cake creations! 

Happy Decorating! 

Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake course. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation, so take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/online-cake-course. I will see you there.

Watch The How-to Video Below: 

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