Today I show you how to make an amazing Moana Cake, based on Disney’s Moana movie. If you haven’t had time to watch the newest Disney movie yet, all you need to know is that Moana is the main character and has taken it upon herself to save her island of Motunui. Along the way she has to battle the strength of the ocean, which is why I chose to create isomalt waves for the cake board.
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I was excited to make this cake as I’ve spent 100% of my day dreams thinking about warm, tropical places here in cold, snowy Canada. We have had a record year of snow fall and I can’t tell you how tired I am of shoveling. Today we were shoveling for 8 hours! We have our house, Paul’s mom, and my parent’s places to do. Needless to say, I’m exhausted!
If you’ve been following my blog/channel for a while, you would know about my new found love for isomalt. In case you haven’t been, isomalt is a sugar substitute used in cake decorating or sugar art. I find it easier to work with than with regular sugar.
When it came to adding elements to this cake, I knew I had to make waves out of isomalt. But how was my problems! To create the large, curved shape, I placed a silicone mat over top of a round jar and poured the isomalt over top of it and let it cool completely. Once the isomalt is cooled, it is easy to remove from the mat. Be gentle when touching and moving the waves as they are quite fragile. I briefly thought about adding white isomalt to the tips for the crest of the wave, but decided white icing would be much easier. I’m not advanced in my isomalt skills to conquer two colors yet.
The other element of the cake that I am most proud to brag about is the grass skirt. Humble, eh? I immediately knew that I was NOT going to cut up all the pieces of fondant needed for the grass skirt, and somehow, using the fettucini pasta attachment came to mind. It made the cutting process so simple.
How to Make a Moana Cake
Ingredients/Materials:
- Prepared tapered cake (Vanilla cake recipe)
- Vanilla buttercream white, & blue
- Fondant- orange/gold, red, ivory
- Moana Doll
- Blue Isomalt Nibs
- KitchenAid Pasta Attachments
Procedure:
- Cover cake in vanilla buttercream.
- Using a fettuccine pasta maker, cutout strips of grass/fettuccine with the orange fondant. Attach the pieces to the lower portion of the cake.
- Roll out ivory fondant into a 9″ round scalloped circle. Using a tiny square cutter, remove small squares from each scallop to mimic lace. Transfer the piece of fondant to the cake, so that the grass portion shows through underneath.
- Cut out small flowers in the orange fondant and attach to the ivory portion of the dress with water.
- Roll out a rectangular piece of red fondant and cover the doll’s torso area with it. Attach the fondant piece together at the back of the doll.
- Remove a small amount of cake from the center. Place the doll into the hole in the cake.
- Roll out small scalloped circle of ivory fondant. Remove mini square sections as done in the larger circle. Cut a small oval shaped opening from the center of it, and cut a slit from the oval, to the edge of the fondant circle. Wrap this piece of fondant around the waist of the doll.
- Using a 1/2″ rectangular piece of red fondant, wrap the fondant around the doll’s waist to complete the sash. Melt isomalt nibs according to package directions (30 second intervals) and pour over a round/cylinder object that is covered with a silicone mat. These will be the waves. Allow them to cool completely before removing them from the silicone mat.
- Cover a 12″ cake board in buttercream covered with graham cracker crumbs, and blue buttercream. Place isomalt waves into the blue buttercream.
- Cake is best consumed within 2-3 days.
