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This Pirate ship birthday cake will be a HIT at your kid’s next birthday party. Get all hands on deck and set your sails toward the kitchen!
Featured with this recipe
This pirate ship cake is where it all began! It is the first post that we ever posted on the site and it became a huge hit among our families. This pirate ship cake is fun, creative, and tastes even better than expected! Make this delicious chocolate cake for your next pirate birthday and you will have all the rave reviews!
From baking the cake, frosting it in a few different colors, then decorating it just like a pirate ship turned out over the top amazing! It may look like it took me hours and hours to make but it is easier than you think. Get your baking hat on and let’s make this simple and easy pirate ship cake together with step-by-step instructions to guide you all the way through!
Easy Pirate Ship Cake Ingredients
Get ready to think like a pirate and create the best ship to take out on the ocean! We started out using a box cake mix for the chocolate cake and bought store-bought icing to make this even easier. This pirate cake is cut into a ship and ready to be decorated now!
- Round cakes – Either make a homemade chocolate cake or use a store-bought cake box mix. I used a 9-inch round cake tin that was greased and floured before pouring the cake batter into it. Bake in the oven then set aside.
- Chocolate icing – Again, make this simple with store-bought icing or you can make a homemade chocolate frosting.
- White icing – This will blend with the blue food coloring making waves under the ship. Make homemade vanilla frosting or purchase your favorite brand of canister in the baking aisle.
- Blue food coloring – Liquid or gel food coloring will give the right amount of blue that is needed for the water coloring in the ocean.
What you Need to Decorate the Pirate Ship
Time to be creative and feel the pirate vibe! You will want to think of a treasure chest, treasure map, gold, and all the pirate theme decorations you can think of. Have fun and think outside of the box about what you can use and create within your own home!
- Pepperidge farm pirouette cookies – These are for the cannons on the side. Cut the cookies into three sections to have six cannons total, three on each side.
- Hershey candy bars – Unwrap Hershey Bars and place them on top of the cake as the floor of the deck to fit.
- Plastic pirate figurines – You can find these at a local store or party store. Use frosting as glue to hold down the pirate’s feet in the cake.
- Wooden skewers – These are for the masts to hold the sails. Having them open looks like they are on the ocean with the wind hitting them.
- White or black paper for sails – These are easy to make with the skewers going through the poked holes of the paper.
- Pirate flag – Trace or print the pirate symbol onto white paper for the ownership of the pirate ship.
- Pirate map – We printed and burned the edges of the map to look more authentic. You can either put this under the cake on the tray or roll it up too.
- Gold coins – Place the gold coins around the area of the cake. Chocolate gold coins or plastic gold coins work great!
How to Make a Pirate Ship Cake Step-by-Step
To make it even more realistic, I added a tray that the pirate ship can rest on then added the treasure map and treasure chest that could easily be transported to where the party was happening. Follow these step-by-step ways to make this easy pirate ship cake quickly and easily for your next party!
- Preparing the cake – Cut both of the cakes in half. You will have 4 semi-circles, but you will only use 3 for the cake. Set 4th aside for extra cake slices. Put frosting on each half and layer them. Wrap in plastic and freeze for 1 hour.
- Cutting and shaping – Remove cakes from the freezer. Trim off about an inch of the most rounded part of the cake on an angle so the front of the ship is higher than the back of the ship. Turn the cakes upright, as shown.
Decorating the Pirate Ship Chocolate Cake
These are just some ideas to get your creative side started! Add your personal touches to the pirate cake making it your very own!
- First – Frost the deck of the ship or the top of the cake with a light layer of frosting. Place the skewers on the cake.
- Deck – Unwrap Hershey bars and place them on top of the cake as the floor of the deck to fit.
- Boarder – Frost the sides of the cake in one of two ways. You can simply spread frosting on the cake or use a star tip. Use a star tip to put a top border around the top of the cake (ship deck).
- Masts – Cut 7 sails from the paper, then slip them onto the skewers and pinch them so it looks like they are billowing in the wind.
- Cannons – For the cannons, cut 2 Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Cookies into three equal sections. Place a candle in the center of each cookie so the wick end is sticking out about half an inch. Push three cannons into each side of the cake. Make sure that the surface on which the cake rests is impervious to wax, as the burning candles will drip.
- Yarn – Add yarn for the rope around the masts.
- Pole – For the front bow part (the pole) use a full Pirouette cookie or a pretzel stick. Tie a rope, using jute or yarn, from the end of the cookie to the top of the mast.
- Pipe – Marble blue food coloring into white icing, making it look like water. Pipe it on with a star tip, like waves, along the bottom of the boat.
- Pirates – Place pirate figurines on the deck with a little frosting under their feet so they will stick to the deck. Place gold coins around the cake.
Get Creative with Your Pirate Ship Cake
Decorate your pirate ship just the way you like it! Go above and beyond or make it simple. Either way the cake is delicoius and the pirate ship is going to be an amazing display for any party!
- Decorate – This recipe gives you a chance to be creative! You can add plastic pirate figures, gold coins, gold sprinkles, or whatever you can to make it the best pirate cake ever!
- Display – Place the cake on a cookie sheet or board covered by a pirate map.
- Frosting – If you want to take it to the next level you could add more of the blue frosting around the sides and put plastic sea creature figures! The possibilities are as endless as the open sea! Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
“We made this for a birthday party and oh my gosh was it a hit. Super cute and fun. I loved that it was easy to make!”
-Meagen B.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make sure to follow the package instructions on how long to bake the cake for and at what temperature for 9 inch cake pans. To avoid over cooking and buring the cake you can use a toothpick to stick into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done. If it has cake batter still on it, bake a few minutes longer.
This is always a common question when it comes to pirate ships. Yes! They were real, however, I am not sure if they continue to be the same type of ship and pirates in these modern times. They have said that there was a pirate ship that was discoverd off the coast of Wellfleet, MA.
More Fun and Delicious Birthday Cakes for Kids
Need more inspiration for a fun birthday cake or cupcakes for our next birthday party? With a little creativity, you can make something memorable that your child will love.
Pirate Ship Cake
Ingredients
- 2 (9 inch) round cakes prepared and baked
- 2 1/2 cups chocolate icing
- 2 cups white icing
- blue food coloring
Decorations:
- 3 Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Cookies
- 4 Hershey candy bars
- plastic pirate figurines
- 3 (10 inch) wooden skewers
- white or black paper for sails
- pirate flag (you can find one online and print it)
- pirate map (optional)
- gold coins (optional)
Instructions
- Cut the cakes in half. You will have 4 semi-circles, but you will only use 3 for the cake. Set 4th aside for extra cake slices.
- Put frosting on each half and layer them. Wrap in plastic and freeze for 1 hour.
- Remove cakes from freezer. Trim off about an inch of the most rounded part of the cake on an angle (the bottom of the ship) so the front of the ship is higher than the back of the ship. Turn the cakes upright, as shown.
- Optional: place cake on a cookie sheet or board covered by a Pirate map.
- Frost the deck of the ship or top of the cake with a light layer of frosting. Place the skewers (masts) on the cake.
- Unwrap Hershey Bars and place them on top of the cake (around the masts) as the floor of the deck to fit.
- Frost the sides of the cake in one of two ways – you can simply spread frosting on the cake or use a star tip. Use a star tip to put a top border around the top of the cake (ship deck).
- Cut 7 sails (3 inch by 5 inch) from the paper, then slip them onto the skewers (masts) and pinch them so it looks like they are billowing in the wind.
- For the cannons, cut 2 Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Cookies into three equal sections (so you have 6 cannons). Place a candle in the center of each cookie so the wick end is sticking out about a half an inch. Push three cannons into each side of the cake.
- Make sure that the surface on which the cake rests is impervious to wax, as the burning candles will drip.
- Add yarn for the rope around the masts.
- For the front bow part (the pole) use a full Pirouette cookie or a pretzel stick. Tie a rope, using jute or yarn, from the end of the cookie to the top of the mast.
- Marble blue food coloring into white icing, making it look like water. Pipe it on with a star tip, like waves, along the bottom of the boat.
- Place pirate figurines on deck with a little frosting under their feet so they will stick to the deck. Place gold coins around the cake (optional).
Do you have a recipe for the chocolate cake?
We just used a boxed chocolate cake mix!
This is so creative & awesome!! My kids would die over this!! Thank you!
This was a show stopped cake for sure! Just beautiful!
This cake is so cute, yet still easy to make. My little cousin loved it!
This is adorable! Your directions were really clear, I hope to be able to make this for somebody soon!
We made this for a birthday party and oh my gosh was it a hit. Super cute and fun. I loved that it was easy to make!