Learn how to make your cool Llama cake with this easy and fun tutorial!
I’ll show you exactly how to make this party a Llama cake at home. Llama cakes have taken over our Instagram and Pinterest feeds and has become the new unicorn cake!
This Llama cake recipe is made with a foolproof vanilla cake, which is a semi-homemade cake that any baker with any skill level can make and be successful. But you can easily use any of your favorite cake flavors.
I’ll teach you basic cake decorating techniques that will help you become a better decorator, but it’ll also help you feel more comfortable knowing that you can pull off a fresh cake like this Llama cake.
For example: when making the Llama’s fur, you’ll use three buttercream tricks like the basic cupcake swirl, stars, and rosettes. The combination of all three buttercream techniques makes the fur of the Llama have fun and impressive texture.
Then you’ll learn how to work with fondant for the first time or if you have a little bit more experience you’ll learn how to make tall fondant ears stand up inside the cake without cracking or collapsing.
You’ll also make a colorful flower crown to complete the super cool party llama cake!
Whether you are throwing a llama birthday party or want to create a cool llama cake for fun, this tutorial is for you!
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.
- I highly recommend making the cake taller, so when you are creating the face of the Llama, it’s in portion to everything else.
- If you are in a rush for time or you would like to break up the decorating then make the fondant decorations the day before, so the fondant has plenty of time to dry.
- You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month.
- 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.
- 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.
- Be careful not to overmix this cake batter or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Food coloring gets darker over time, so it’s best to gradually add the food coloring, which is best for lighter colors.
- Serve cake at room temperature.
What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake:
- 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
- Piping bag (I use silicone reusable bags)
- #804 Round piping tip
- 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
- Ivory gel food coloring
- Soft pink gel food coloring
- Lemon yellow gel food coloring
- Sky blue gel food coloring
- Neon green gel food coloring
- Small fondant rolling pin
- Silicone fondant mat
- Fondant (white, black and pink)
- Tylose powder, optional
- X-Acto knife
- 2, 20-gauge covered wires
- Cornstarch and Vegetable Shortening
- Heart shape cutters (2 small sizes)
Here’s how to make your own super cool Llama Cake!
Let’s Start Decorating!
Preparing the Buttercream
- Divide the buttercream in half, keep one-half white for filling and crumb coating.
- Divide the other half of the buttercream into five bowls, place the majority of the buttercream in a big bowl to color with ivory gel food color then split the remaining buttercream into four smaller bowls. One-color per bowl, color the four bowls with pink, yellow, blue and green gel food color.
Making the Fondant Decorations
- On a silicone mat, roll the white fondant to 1/4 inch thick then use a sharp X-Acto knife to cut out two long ears. Insert a covered wire halfway into each fondant ear. Rub shortening on the edges of the ears to smooth them out. Then roll out a thin piece of pink fondant to make the inner ear.
- Next, roll out 1/8 inch thick piece of black fondant and pink fondant. Cut two small heart shape out the black fondant then cut out two heart out of the pink fondant that’s slightly larger than the black hearts. Use water to attach the black heart to the pink heart. Roll out a small rope of pink fondant to connect the sunglasses. Set aside to dry.
- Roll out three small ropes of black fondant and curve each piece to make a nose and mouth. Set aside to dry.
Putting It All Together
- Layer one vanilla cake, cut side up onto cake board. Add a 2/3 cup of vanilla buttercream over the cake. Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat process for another layer. Crumb coat and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Add a thick layer of white buttercream all over the cake. Use an offset spatula to fill in any gaps with more buttercream. Then use a cake scraper to smooth out the sides of the cake. Use the offset spatula to make the top edges sharp and smooth.
- Add the ivory buttercream to a piping bag with #844 star tip, do the same for the pink, yellow and blue buttercreams. Then place the green buttercream into a piping bag with a coupler and a leaf tip.
- Use a toothpick to outline the Llama’s face on the white buttercream.
- Insert the white ears into the top of the cake then turn them slightly outwards.
- Begin to pipe stars, swirls and rosettes with the ivory buttercream all over the cake except on the face, leave that white. The different piping techniques will create a fur texture for the Llama.
- Then pipe rosettes with the pink, yellow, and blue buttercream along the top edge of the cake, this will resemble a flower crown. Add the green leaves in between the colorful rosettes.
- Add the sunglasses, nose, and mouth to the cake to complete the Llama face! Serve at room temperature and enjoy!
You May Also Enjoy:
- Mermaid Buttercream Cake (tutorial)
- Watermelon Buttercream Cake (tutorial)
- Common Baking Mistakes & How to Avoid Them (free ebook)
- How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
- Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)
Now that you know how to make your festive Llama cake, your cake and decorating skills will steal the spotlight at any party! I can’t wait to see your cake creations!
Happy Decorating!
Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake program. 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 you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/creator-program. I will see you there!
Watch The How-to Video Below:
Llama Cake
Learn how to make your cool Llama cake with this easy and fun tutorial!
Servings: 1 (3 Layer) 6-inch or (2 Layer) 8-inch round cake
Ingredients
Foolproof Vanilla Cake
- 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 whole eggs
- 1 box Vanilla Cake Mix (prefer to use Duncan Hines)
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk
Vanilla Buttercream
- 3 cups (or 6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Decorations
- Soft pink gel food color
- Lemon yellow gel food color
- Sky blue gel food color
- Neon green gel food color
- Fondant (white, black and pink)
- 2 20-gauge covered wires
Instructions
Foolproof Vanilla Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the cake mix, all-purpose flour, and salt. Set aside.
- In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
- Turn the mixer on low and add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
- Add the vanilla and milk, beat on low until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Finish by adding the remaining flour mixture and mix on medium for another 30 seconds.
- Evenly distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- 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 into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
Vanilla Buttercream
- In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low, gradually add powdered sugar, followed by the cream. Then add vanilla extract and salt. Mix until incorporated completely. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat the buttercream for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles.
- Divide the buttercream in half, keep one-half white for filling and crumb coating. Divide the other half of the buttercream into five bowls, place the majority of the buttercream in a big bowl to color with ivory gel food color then split the remaining buttercream into four smaller bowls. One-color per bowl, color the four bowls with pink, yellow, blue and green gel food color.
Assemble
- On a silicone mat, roll the white fondant to 1/4 inch thick then use a sharp x-acto knife to cut out two long ears. Insert a covered wire halfway into each fondant ear. Rub shortening on the edges of the ears to smooth them out. Then roll out a thin piece of pink fondant to make the inner ear.
- Next, roll out 1/8 inch thick piece of black fondant and pink fondant. Cut two small heart shape out the black fondant then cut out two heart out of the pink fondant that's slightly larger than the black hearts. Use water to attach the black heart to the pink heart. Roll out a small rope of pink fondant to connect the sunglasses. Set aside to dry.
- Roll out three small ropes of black fondant and curve each piece to make a nose and mouth. Set aside to dry.
- Layer one vanilla cake, cut side up onto cake board. Add a 2/3 cup of vanilla buttercream over the cake. Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer — Crumb coat with white vanilla buttercream and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Add a thick layer of white buttercream all over the cake. Use an offset spatula to fill in any gaps with more buttercream. Then use a cake scraper to smooth out the sides of the cake. Use the offset spatula to make the top edges sharp and smooth.
- Add the ivory buttercream to a piping bag with #844 star tip, do the same for the pink, yellow and blue buttercreams.
- Then place the green buttercream into a piping bag with a coupler and a leaf tip.
- Use a toothpick to outline the Llama's face on the white buttercream.
- Insert the white ears into the top of the cake then turn them slightly outwards.
- Begin to pipe stars, swirls and rosettes with the ivory buttercream all over the cake except on the face, leave that white. The different piping techniques will create a fur texture for the Llama.
- Then pipe rosettes with the pink, yellow, and blue buttercream along the top edge of the cake, this will resemble a flower crown. Add the green leaves in between the colorful rosettes.
- Add the sunglasses, nose, and mouth to the cake to complete the Llama face! Serve at room temperature and enjoy!
Notes
- Food coloring gets darker over time, so it's best to add the food coloring gradually.
- 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.
- I highly recommend making the cake taller, so when you are creating the face of the Llama, it's in portion to everything else.
- Serve cake at room temperature.
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