I made this beautiful cake for my granddaughter Zoe’s 3rd birthday. She requested a “Rapunzel” cake – part of her love of all things “Princess”!! In fact, a REAL PRINCESS was invited to her party – how fun was that??

My grandchildren were eagerly waiting for her at the windows.

Finally!

I’ve seen some amazing characters created for cakes – most made out of fondant. They are truly works of art! But few can sculpt these beauties for their own cakes made at home. So for this cake, I used a toddler doll version of Rapunzel, which I bought at my local Walmart. It even came with her adorable little chameleon friend Pascal!! This helped create an amazing cake for a 3 year old, and she can have the doll and toy to play with later!

I had to overcome a few structural issues in constructing this cake. First of all, I had to secure a long wooden skewer to the doll, under her dress. This would be inserted deep into the cake (about 3″), so I wouldn’t have to worry about the doll tipping over! I secured it with 2 zip ties, TIGHTLY under the dress.

The hair was the second issue. The doll had a braid already, but if I wanted Zoe to be able to play with the doll later – I had to cover her hair in order to pipe the “frosting hair” over it. I did this with plastic wrap. I tightly wrapped her head, leaving the crown exposed. I wrapped this all the way down her braid. I inserted another long skewer from the bottom of the braid, all the way to the doll’s neck. This second skewer extended about 3″ longer than the braid – and would also help secure the braid, and allow me to pipe her “frosting hair” right over the top of the wrapped braid.

The cake itself, has 5 thin layers of vanilla cake, 3 – 8″ layers, and 1 – 6″ cake sliced in half. For these, I used my favorite Golden Vanilla cake mix from King Arthur Flour.

While planning for a LOT of frosting on the outside, I decided that a lighter filling would be best. I made a batch of my mascarpone whipped cream. The cake would be frosted purple, so what better accent color inside the cake – than homemade blueberry jam filling! Whipped cream and blueberries – YUM!

The blueberry jam was simple, and fast. 1 1/2 c blueberries (fresh or frozen) or a mix of berries. I wanted this PURPLE, so I used mostly blueberries and blackberries, and just a few strawberries and raspberries. Add 3/4 c sugar, 1/4 c water, and 3 Tbsp corn starch. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently til thickened, for 8-10 min. Then mash the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, and refrigerate to cool.

This came out a nice, deep purple color!

Whip the mascarpone whipped topping next. Into a stand mixer using a whisk attachment, I combined 1 1/2 c cold, heavy cream, 3/4 c powdered sugar, 1 tsp lemon extract, and whipped til stiff. Then I added by spoonfuls, with mixer on med – 8 oz mascarpone cream cheese. Whip til well-blended, but don’t over-whip. Chill.

I made 2 batches of my cream cheese buttercream in a beautiful shade of light purple to frost the whole cake. Then another batch a bright yellow for the braid. I flavored each batch with lemon extract. See prior post.

Now it’s assembly time!

When using a fruit filling such as this blueberry jam, it’s important to keep it contained by piping a circle of frosting around the cake, before adding the jam, then top with a thin layer of whipped topping. Too much, and this will leak out the sides of the cake! Less is more!

Decorate as you like.

Here is the base of my cake, before the decorations!

And here is the finished cake!