How to Make a Cinderella Coach Birthday Cake

I made this Cinderella Coach cake for my daughter’s 4th birthday recently and thought I’d share with you how I made it.

At least 2 days before assembling the cake you need to make the wheels as they need time to harden. Get some white or ivory fondant (sugarpaste) and knead in gum tragacanth or CMC powder, according to instructions. Make sure it’s well mixed in. Wrap the fondant tightly in a sealed plastic bag and place in sealed container, ensuring no air can get to it. Leave for at least 8 hours if using gum tragacanth powder. Alternatively you can buy ready made modeling paste.

Before starting I did a rough drawing of the coach, using the cake pan for the main coach circle. I then drew the wheels, door, etc.

It’s best to use a sugarcraft gun (or clay extruder gun) to make long rolls for this part. If you don’t have one you can roll out long strips by hand, but it won’t be as even. Use a large hole attachment in the extruder gun and push down to make long rolls of fondant.

Place a piece of baking paper over the coach drawing so you can see through it.

Work quickly before the fondant starts to go hard. Wind the roll of fondant around to form the wheel shape. Do the other wheel then put aside to dry overnight.

Repeat the process for the other coach parts – those that hold the wheels on, the side spirals and top spirals. Use a slightly smaller circle extruder gun attachment for the spirals. A few hours before assembling the cake, you need to attach the wheel supports to the wheels using a small amount of royal icing.

At least a few hours before making the actual cake, cover the cake board in fondant and leave to go hard.

For the cake itself you need a ball shape, or two pudding bowls. I used the Wilton Sports Ball Pan Set. This comes as two halves which are cooked separately then sandwiched together with frosting. The recipe I used for the cake was the same as for an 8-inch round pan, and had a bit left over. Fill as near the top of each pan as possible, then when it’s cooked, slice the top off before removing the cake from the pan, then you’ll have a level surface.

To balance the cake on, I made a small circle with Rice Krispie treat mix (Rice Krispies and melted marshmallows.)

Once the cake has cooled and you’ve sandwiched together with frosting (buttercream), attach the Rice Krispie circle to the cake drum with a small amount of frosting, then place the cake on top using frosting again.

You then need to carefully carve out eight ridges at equal distance around the cake.

Next, cover the cake in frosting (buttercream) and refrigerate for around an hour, or until it has hardened.

Take out of refrigerator and cover in another layer of frosting, this will help the fondant to stick to it.

Color a quantity of fondant icing pale pink (I used a 454g pack and had some leftover). Roll out into a circle on a board, until big enough to cover the ball.

Carefully cover the ball, smoothing into the ridges to create the pumpkin effect.

At this stage, you can dust edible lustre powder over the whole ball. If you wait until the icing has dried out it won’t stick.

Now it’s time for the wheels to go on! Using royal icing, attach the wheels to the ball and to the base. You’ll need to support them with something (I used small bottles and pots) until dried.

I only placed wheels at the front of the cake, but you can have them on both sides if you wish.

Cut an oval shape from white or ivory rolled fondant and attach to the front of the coach using royal icing or sugar glue.

Then cut a smaller half oval out of baking paper, and use as a template to cut out pink rolled fondant to stick on for the bottom door.

Using the template as a guide, cut and shape a pair of drapes (curtains) from pink rolled fondant. Draw lines on using a tool.

For the top spirals that you made a few days ago, poke four small holes in the top of the cake, and fix spirals into place using a small blob of royal icing.

Cut two small flowers from white rolled fondant using a plunger cutter. Stick to the drapes, and add a tiny squashed ball of pink fondant in the centers.

For the side spirals, again poke two holes in and secure them using royal icing. You will need to support until dried.

I forgot to take a photo of making the glass slipper, but I made it from modeling paste (fondant + gum tragacanth) a few days in advance. Then I painted it with confectioner’s glaze and sprinkled lustre powder onto it.

For the pillow, I simply shaped a square cushion shape, with rounded edges, from pink fondant. Rolled a long sausage of white fondant, which I attached around the edge, and used a tool to make diagonal indentations. For the tassels, I used the extruder gun with the multiple tiny holes disc, bunched them together and attached to each corner using a small amount of royal icing.

To finish off the door, I piped a “C” onto it.

The step was made from a small rectangle of ivory rolled fondant.

The glass slipper on the pillow was stuck down in front of the coach to finish it off.

You can edge the cake drum with satin ribbon for a professional finish.

Here is my finished cake with my daughter’s name on, made from modeling paste coloured with silver powder.

Here is a video guy showing how easy it is to make a Cinderella Carriage cake for a young girl’s birthday party.