This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
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!
Pirate Ship Cake
Believe it or not, this Pirate Ship Birthday Cake was our VERY FIRST POST here on Favorite Family Recipes (way back in 2007). I made this cake for a birthday and thought it was the coolest thing ever! So, I took pictures and put it up on this blog for the family to see. Hilarious, right? We have come a LONG way since this was posted! Anyway, back to the Pirate Ship Cake. This looks darling in real life.
Get Creative with Your Pirate Ship Cake
This recipe really gives you a chance to be creative! You can add plastic pirate figures, gold coins and gold sprinkles, whatever you can to make it the best pirate cake ever! (These links give an example of what’s available on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
If you want to really 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.
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.
Princess or Barbie Birthday Cake
Our princess or Barbie cake is easier to make than it looks. The cake is baked in a bowl that is used for the skirt of the dress. The princess or Barbie doll is inserted into the upside down cake, and then it just requires some basic piping on of frosting to decorate. Click on image for recipe.
Hamburger Birthday Cake
A Hamburger Birthday Cake is just the ticket for the hamburger lovers out there. Two round, yellow cakes are the hamburger buns, a frosted chocolate cake is the burger, and fondant and frosting are used for the toppings and condiments. It looks like a hamburger, but tastes like a delicious frosted cake.
Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Another birthday surprise treat are these Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes. The cake batter is poured into ice cream cones and baked in the oven. The frosting on top looks just like ice cream! This is the perfect birthday cupcake. It is easier to eat than a slice of cake or a regular cupcake, so there is less mess.
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).
Nutrition Information
Did you try this recipe?
Share It on Instagram!
Mention @favoritefamilyrecipes or tag #favoritefamilyrecipes!
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!