How’s that for a title?! When I was researching cakes for my daughter’s Mickey Mouse birthday party, I found that most of them required a fancy Wilton pan and/or frosting or fondant chock full of red and black food coloring. Neither of those qualities worked for me because A) I didn’t want to drop $20 on a one-time use pan and 2) ew. Instead, I found a way to make a cute Mickey Mouse Cake without the fancy pan or added food coloring. And, as a bonus, it was both easy and delicious.
How to Make a Mickey Cake
Supplies You Will Need
You can see how nicely the proportions of the standard round cake pan and the dollar store pans work together to make the classic Mickey Mouse silhouette. Dollar Tree sells the foil pans 4/$1 so I doubled them up to make them more sturdy.
I used a Pinterest trick to make baking the cake even easier. Instead of following the directions on the cake mix package, I just added 1 cup of water and 6 ounces of Greek yogurt to the mix. I used Chobani’s Vanilla Chocolate Chunk, but plain Greek yogurt would work too.
The trick definitely made the baking process super quick, but I am not sure if I am sold on it or not. I used the absolute cheapest box mix I could find, and I think that might have screwed up the texture of the cake. It was not as light as I would have liked. I will try the Greek yogurt trick with a less cheapskate mix and let you know how it turns out.
I mixed up a double batch of the batter to make the cakes and the We’ve Got Ears cupcakes. I poured batter into the pans, trying to keep the depth of the batter even among the three pans.
I baked the cakes at 350 for 32 minutes, and they were perfectly done.
Ooh! The marks left by the foil pans would make perfect guidelines for truck wheels! ((Filing away for the future))
How Do You “Frost” the Mickey Cake?
I cut each cake into two layers, smooshed chocolate Bettercreme frosting down, and restacked them. Then, in a stroke of brilliance, I decided to replace the typical icky black frosting with… wait for it… CHOCOLATE GANACHE! Ganache is so easy to make and tastes SO much better than standard frosting.
I think the cake turned out especially well, and there was no need for a special cake pan or gobs of colored frosting.
Mickey Mouse Cake
- Chocolate cake mix
- 6 ounces of Greek yogurt
- 1 cup water
- Mix all ingredients together until blended. Pour into one 8 inch round pan and two 4 inch round pans, all greased. Bake at 350 for 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Flip out of the pans, cool and frost.
Chocolate Ganache
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 9 squares of semi-sweet baker’s chocolate
- Coarsely chop the chocolate and put in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream JUST to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk until melted. Pour the ganache over the cakes until it just cascades over the sides. The ganache will harden as it cools.
You might like these other Mickey DIYs:
DIY IRIDESCENT MICKEY MOUSE SHIRT
Wait…food coloring is gross but boxed chemical cake mix isn’t?
I was referring to flavor. I like the way box mix cakes taste, but hate food coloring taste. To each his own.
Hi Jessica,
Cute cake. The marks left on the ears reminded me of Ohhh Toodles from Mickey mouse clubhouse :-).
Priscilla R.
Thank you for the idea. I have a 2 year old that LOVES Mickey Mouse. The thought of black frosting and how it stains would of been a nightmare. =)
Store bought icing has to be at least as bad for you as food coloring, not to mention the cake mix.
I wasn't baking the cake to eat health food. 🙂 I happen to think chocolate ganache TASTES better than black food coloring. That's why I made the switch. Thanks for the comment.
You said you doubled the cake mix then said you only need one cake mix. I’m confused, do I use one or two?
Sheesh people. She is making a cake, ingredients to suit yourself. Thanks for the idea, our two year old will love this Mickey cake tomorrow. Thanks again for sharing.
Thanks for sharing looking for a cake for my grandson who loves mickey mouse, will definitely use this idea.
Fantastic! I hope he has a happy birthday!