Day 1

• Add the cake mix, eggs, water, and oil to a stand mixer, or use a hand mixer and a large bowl. Beat until blended - about 90 seconds.
• Remove about 1 cup of the batter and add a few drops of food coloring to dye it pink. Mix until the color is evenly distributed.
• Spray down the cavity of the dress mold with the cooking spray.
• Alternately add pink and the non-dyed cake batter to the pan.
• Do Not Fill all the way to the top.I was able to scoop out 6 cupcakes with an ice cream scooper and that was the perfect amount to bake inside the pan.
• If you fill the pan up, it will overflow.
• Fill a cupcake pan with the remaining batter.
• Bake the cupcakes for 15-17 mins and the cake for 45-50 min or until a skewer comes out clean.
• Let rest on the counter for 20 mins before turning over the dress pan and removing the cake from the pan.
• Once cooled place the Barbie topper into the small end of the cake, creating a hole.
• Remove the doll and freeze the cake for at least 3-6 hours, preferably overly night.
• Freezing cake helps you significantly decrease your chances of having crumbs in the frosting, particularly if it’s a chocolate cake.

Day 2 - Decorating

To make the ombre dress:

• Once the cake is frozen solid, dye 1 cup of buttercream frosting deep pink.
• Add a 1M tip to a piping bag. Snip off the tip.
• Add about ¾ cup buttercream to the bag, don’t overfill it.
• Twist the top to close and hold the bag at that end, ensuring it stays closed while you pipe.
• To make the rosette, you will first make a “star” by gently squeezing a small amount of frosting, then make a circle around the star ending at the bottom.
• Practice this a couple of times if you’ve never done it. If the cake is frozen it is much easier to remove the frosting if you don’t like it. If a “tail” of buttercream lags, STOP squeezing before completing the circle, and then you should stop the tail.
• After each row of rosettes, empty all frosting back into a bowl and add another ¾ cup of white buttercream to the colored buttercream. This will lighten the existing frosting for your next row which will be a lighter shade.
• Reload the bag and pipe another row.
• Do this 3 times until you reach the top.
• Place the doll in the hole you created after baking.
• Grab your second piping bag and fit it with a tip and coupler, starting with tip 104.
• Squeeze the leftover frosting from the first bag into the second.
• Turn the bag sideways and spin the cake while holding steady pressure and moving up and down in small quick motions. This will create the “tutu” of the dress around the base of the doll.
• Switch the tip to a size 12 or 14-star tip and then pipe stars all over the bust of the doll, creating the top of her dress.
• Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.