7 Steps to a Cute Hello Kitty Fondant Cake

Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan) and grease and line two 20 cm (8 inch) round tins with baking paper. Beat 225 g softened butter with 350 g caster sugar for 3 to 4 minutes until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, followed by 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together, then fold into the batter in three additions, alternating with the milk, starting and ending with flour. Divide evenly between the tins and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack until completely cold — warm cake melts buttercream and ruins fondant.

Beat 250 g softened butter on medium-high for 2 minutes until pale and creamy. Add 500 g sifted icing sugar in two batches, beating on low first so it does not cloud the kitchen, then on high for 3 minutes. Beat in the remaining 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk until the buttercream is smooth and spreadable but still holds its shape on the spatula. This firm consistency matters: fondant needs a stable base, so do not thin it to a soft, whipped texture.

Trim the domed tops off both cold layers with a long serrated knife so they sit dead flat. Spread about 150 g of buttercream over the first layer, stack the second on top cut-side down, then apply a thin crumb coat over the whole cake to lock in loose crumbs. Chill for 30 minutes, then apply a second, thicker coat and scrape it smooth with a bench scraper, aiming for sharp top edges — every bump telegraphs through fondant. Chill again for 30 minutes, until the buttercream is firm to a light touch.

Set aside 750 g of white fondant for covering the cake and keep it double-wrapped in cling film so it does not crust. If colouring your own, knead pink gel colour into about 200 g of fondant for the polka dots, and a deeper pink or red into 100 g for the bow, adding the gel a toothpick-dab at a time until the shade is even with no streaks. Knead 1/4 teaspoon of tylose (CMC) powder into every 100 g of the bow fondant so it dries firm. Wrap each colour tightly — fondant left in open air for even 15 minutes develops a dry, cracking skin.

Knead the 750 g of white fondant until pliable, then roll it on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar into a circle roughly 40 cm (16 inches) across and 4-5 mm thick — wide enough for the 20 cm top plus both sides. Roll it loosely back over your rolling pin, lift it over the chilled cake and drape it so it is centred. Smooth the top first with your palm, then work down the sides in sections with a fondant smoother, gently lifting the excess outward as you go so it never folds against itself. Trim the base flush with a pizza wheel or sharp knife, then polish the whole surface with the smoother in circular motions.

Roll the pink fondant to 2 mm and cut 8 to 10 circles with a 2-3 cm round cutter (the wide end of a large piping tip works too), then attach them over the cake in a loose, random polka-dot pattern using a barely damp brush — too much water dissolves fondant. For the signature Hello Kitty style bow, roll the red fondant to 3 mm and cut two rectangles about 10 x 6 cm; fold each into a loop, pinch and pleat the open ends, and prop the loops open with scrunched kitchen paper for 30 to 60 minutes until they hold their shape. Cut two short tails with a notched V at the ends and a small strap for the centre. Assemble the bow on top of the cake, slightly off-centre toward one edge, fixing each piece with a dab of water or edible glue.

Hide the trim line by rolling a thin rope of pink fondant (or use a real ribbon secured with a dot of buttercream) and pressing it around the base of the cake. Add any final touches in the same colour family — a few white fondant hearts, tiny cat-ear shapes cut freehand, or a name plaque cut from white fondant with the letters piped in pink royal icing. Remove the kitchen paper from the bow loops once they are firm. Let the finished cake sit at cool room temperature for at least an hour so every decoration bonds before you move or transport it.