18 Beautiful Mermaid Cake Ideas Perfect For A Birthday.

Looking for Mermaid Cake Ideas? Whether you’re simply looking for inspiration to place an order with your local baker, or whether you want to recreate one of these cake designs yourself, you’re in the right place. Here, you’ll find 18 beautiful mermaid cake decorating ideas, including easy designs with instructions to recreate these beautiful cake ideas.

How to find a mermaid cake idea suited to your cake-decorating level?

I’ve come up with a system. The cake ideas are presented to you according to their level of difficulty. There are three categories :

What Are Beginner Cake Ideas?

These are the easy cake ideas. If you’ve never decorated a cake before (or only did it once or twice), these are the cakes that you should pay attention to.

• What you’ll find: Beautiful cake ideas that only require basic cake decorating techniques. This is a great place to start your journey.

What Are Intermediate Cake Ideas?

Low Intermediate Baker: If you are confident that you’ve mastered the cake decorating basics, such as how to smooth a cake, but feel like you still have a lot of techniques to learn apart from this foundation, this category is perfect for you.

• What you’ll find: Mermaid cake ideas that require both basic decorating skills and one or two more advanced techniques. This is a great place to grow your cake-decorating skills.

High Intermediate Baker: If you’ve mastered both basic techniques and several more advanced cake decorating techniques, these cake ideas are made for you.

• What you’ll find: Stunning cake ideas that can be fairly challenging, but are a great place to get even better than you already are.

What Are Advanced Cake Ideas?

If you consider yourself an experienced cake decorator and have mastered most of the decorating techniques, including the use of fondant, then this is the perfect place for you.

• What you’ll find: Showstopping and challenging cake ideas, perfect to sharpen and maintain your skills.

The Grading System

Finally, I’ve also assigned a grade of difficulty to each cake inspiration: 1/5 being the easiest design and 5/5 being the hardest. You will find this to be particularly helpful if you happen to fall in the Beginner or the Intermediate Cake Ideas categories.

Growth Tip : This list is great a place to set goals about your cake decorating skills. Pin this post and come back later to tell us how far you’ve come in your cake decorating journey !

How to recreate these mermaid cake ideas?

What cake recipe should you use?

To recreate these cake ideas, you will need a trustworthy cake recipe. You have several options.

Adapt your favorite cake recipe

There are a lot of ways to adapt a cake recipe. You mainly have three options to tweak your favorite recipe :

• You could change the flavor of your cake recipe: with citrus zest, the essence of your choice, or turn it into a chocolate or carrot cake for example.
• You could add a filling: a caramel sauce, a flavored homemade whipped cream, ganache, or buttercream.
• You could also add some texture: oreo bits, crumble crumbs, nuts, or fresh fruit for example.
• Finally, you could also personalize your frosting.

You could also play with the color of your cake batter. A rainbow cake or a piñata cake would be a great idea for a mermaid-themed cake.

Be careful, if you’re a beginner baker, having to figure out both your cake design and creating a new cake recipe could be overwhelming. Therefore, I always recommend taking your learning journey one step at a time.

Look for a cake recipe

Where? You can ask friends, or family or simply look on the internet. You have to keep two things in mind :

• The recipe has to be suitable for cake decorating, especially for cakes that require stacking or carving (intermediate and advanced cake ideas).
• Once again, if you’re a beginner baker, be careful not to put too much on your plate and choose a recipe suited to your current level.

Use my cake recipe recommendation

To create a mermaid-themed birthday party, I feel like a Funfetti cake would be a perfect match, which is why I recommend you try the recipe from Sally’s Baking.

What you will love about this recipe :

• It’s perfect for beginners
• It’s perfect for cake decorating
• It suits the mermaid theme perfectly.

How to follow the instructions of the designs.

For the cake designs in the beginner category: I’ll provide written instructions on how to recreate the cake ideas presented to you. I’ve also included quick video tutorials about the basic techniques such as how to smooth a cake.

For the designs in the intermediate category: I’ll provide some advice and quick video tutorials to explain the more complicated techniques to you

For the advanced category: you are an experienced baker, at this point, and you will find great opportunities to put this experience to use. To be completely honest, I cannot make myself several cake ideas from the advanced category, so trust your abilities and go for it.

Find the perfect mermaid cake idea for your baking skills.

Growth Tip : If you aim to get better at cake decorating, you should choose a cake idea that feels sligthly above your current cake decorating level. Get out of your comfort zone !

Mermaid Cake Ideas Perfect for Beginner Bakers

Here, you’ll find 3 easy mermaid cake ideas perfect for beginner bakers.

Easy Little Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 1/5.

This Little Mermaid cake design is the perfect idea for a beginner baker. As a newbie, cake toppers are your best allies, and you should make the most of them.

What you will need:

• Enough frosting to cover your cake.
• Little Mermaid cake toppers.
• Seashell cake toppers (you could easily DIY them using fondant and silicon molds, as shown in this quick tutorial.)
• Golden and blue ball cake toppers.

How to recreate this cake?

1. First, you must crumb-coat the cake to avoid any crumbs in your final design. Apply a thin and even coat of frosting with your offset spatula all around your cake.
2. Smooth it with your bench scraper, holding it at a 45-degree angle on the cake while spinning your turntable. Your bench scraper isn’t supposed to move, only turn the table.
3. It doesn’t have to be perfect as it only is the first coat. Chill the cake 20 to 30 minutes in the fridge (until your frosting sets).
4. Then, apply a thicker coat of frosting and repeat the smoothing operation. Fill in any gaps and smooth the cake again. Repeat this operation until the cake looks smooth enough for you. Here, you’ll find a video tutorial of the covering process, if needed.
5. Chill your cake again for 15 minutes.
6. Cut the top edges of the cake with a hot knife to get sharp edges.
7. Finally, decorate your cake with your cake toppers.

What you’ve learned :

Covering a cake in frosting is the foundation of most cake decorating ideas and you’re now able to do it yourself. And, even as a beginner, with the help of cake toppers, you can make your cake look amazing.

Easy Ariel Cake

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Difficulty Level: 1/5.

This cake requires a little bit more work than the previous design but is still very beginner-friendly.

What you will need :

• Enough frosting to cover your cake.
• Little Mermaid cake toppers.
• Mermaid-themed cake toppers (you could easily DIY them using fondant and silicon molds, as shown in this quick tutorial. )
• A piping bag with an open star piping tip (such as the 4B by Wilton)
• Crushed biscuits.

How to recreate this cake?

1. First, you must crumb-coat the cake to avoid any crumbs in your final design. Apply a thin and even coat of frosting with your offset spatula all around your cake.
2. Smooth it with your bench scraper, holding it at a 45-degree angle on the cake while spinning your turntable. Your bench scraper isn’t supposed to move, only turn the table.
3. It doesn’t have to be perfect as it only is the first coat. Chill the cake in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes (until your frosting sets).
4. Then, apply a thicker coat of frosting and repeat the smoothing operation. Fill in any gaps and smooth the cake again. Repeat this operation until the cake looks smooth enough for you. Here, you’ll find a video tutorial of the covering process, if needed.
5. Slowly press your crushed biscuits to the bottom edge of your cake, while your buttercream cover is still fresh. You can place a baking sheet under your cake to catch any falling cookie crumbs.
6. Then, chill your cake again for 30 minutes.
7. Cut the top edges of the cake with a hot knife to get sharp edges.
8. With your open star piping tip, pipe a few dots of buttercream wherever you want.
9. Finally, decorate the cake with your cake toppers.

What you’ve learned :

An easy way to elevate the look of your cake is to add texture to the buttercream cover. You can easily do it using any kind of crushed cookies.

Paint splatters and strokes are popular and easy ways to elevate the look of your cake designs.

If you’re looking for more easy cake ideas to recreate, you can check out the other girl birthday cake ideas lists.

Mermaid Cake Ideas for Intermediate Bakers

Here, you’ll find 11 mermaid cake ideas perfect for intermediate bakers.

Two-Toned Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 2/5 (Low-Intermediate)

To give a mesmerizing look to your cake designs, you can easily play with the color of your buttercream cover, just like with this beautiful two-toned cake.

A little guidance

To recreate this effect, rather than covering your cake with one colored buttercream, split it. Next, once you’re done with your crumb coat, apply one color to the top half of the cake, and the other one to the bottom half. Finally, smooth it all as usual.

Violet Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 2/5 (Low-Intermediate)

Adding texture to a cake is the perfect way to elevate its look. This cake looks both elegant and festive.

A little guidance

To recreate this fault line, all you need is to add a second layer of buttercream on the bottom third of your cake, once your buttercream cover is set. Next, smooth it as usual. Finally, use a cake comb as you would a cake scraper to recreate the texture. Make sure to clean your cake comb between each passage.

Gradient Mermaid Cake.

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Difficulty Level: 2,5/5 (Low-Intermediate)

Gradient cakes are not hard to recreate and give any cake a beautiful finish.

A little guidance

To recreate this gradient effect, simply apply your colored buttercream as you would for a two-toned cake. Then, use your spatula to blend as much as you can the demarcation. Finally, smooth your cake. If you think the gradient isn’t as blended as you wished, keep blending with your spatula until satisfied and smooth again.

Blue And Green Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty level: 2,5/5 (Low-Intermediate)

If you’re looking for a little bit of originality, playing with the colors could be a good idea. While blue, pink, and purple are typical colors used on mermaid cakes, green could be a way to make your cake design stand out.

A little guidance

To recreate these two-toned buttercream piping, add your blue and green buttercream on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll it into a sausage. Cut its tip and place it in a piping bag with your piping tip. Finally, pipe as usual. You can follow this quick tutorial if needed.

Striped Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 3/5 (Intermediate)

Here’s a third way to play with the colors of your buttercream, to give even more personality to your cake design.

A little guidance

Once again, this technique is quite similar to the two-toned cake. Here, apply your three colors the same way you would with a two-toned cake. Make sure to use a piping bag to get demarcations as neat as possible. Then, smooth it all as usual.

Mermaid On The Beach Cake

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Difficulty Level: 3,5/5 (High-Intermediate)

This stunning mermaid cake uses two techniques to create such a mesmerizing finish: watercolor buttercream and stencils.

A little guidance

You can easily recreate the watercolor effect following these watercolor buttercream and buttercream stencils tutorials.

Pink Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 3,5/5 (High-Intermediate)

With its different textured buttercreams, colors, and shimmers, this cake has a lot of character. It would be perfectly suited for a teen.

A little guidance

To recreate this cake design, you can use a cake stencil as explained in the previous design, and a paper tissue to recreate the rough texture. This design is all about layers, so always make sure the last buttercream layer is perfectly set before moving on to the next one.

Iridescent Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 3,5/5 (High-Intermediate)

If you’re looking for a refreshing and colorful cake design, this cake might be the one.

A little guidance

Use a buttercream stencil with different colored buttercream to recreate this beautiful scale pattern. To recreate your cake toppers, you can either use fondant or chocolate.

Cute Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 4/5 (High-Intermediate)

Once you’re ready to take your cake-decorating techniques to the next level, you can learn how to cover a cake with fondant. This cake is the perfect opportunity.

A little guidance

My three tips when covering a cake in fondant are the following:

• You should pay extra attention when preparing your cake. Make sure it’s leveled, and your buttercream (or ganache) should be very neat to get a cleaner finish.
• You should roll your fondant to a thickness between 1/8th inch and 1/4 inch.
• You should keep in mind that your first attempt probably isn’t going to be flawless, but it’s perfectly fine because practice will make your technique perfect.

Finally, here’s a detailed video tutorial, that’ll teach everything you need to know about this technique.

Handpainted Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 4/5 (High-Intermediate)

If you’re not scared of hand painting, and you’re looking for a more mature version of a mermaid cake, this design is perfect for you.

A little guidance

To paint your fondant mermaid tail, you can use melted cocoa butter and mix it with edible petal dust to create your edible paint.

Tiered Mermaid Cake

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Difficulty Level: 4/5 (High-Intermediate)

If you’re hosting a big party, but don’t want a too complex cake design, this tiered mermaid cake is the one you’re looking for.

A little guidance

When making tiered cakes, you have to pay extra attention to the structure of the cake. Therefore, you should always use a sturdy cake board for each tier. You should also support the bottom tier with dowel rods or bubble tea straws cut to the height of the cake. Finally, you should ensure each tier is leveled before stacking them.

Mermaid Cake Ideas for Advanced Bakers

Finally, you’ll find 4 complex mermaid cake ideas for pro bakers.

Mermaid Number Cake

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Difficulty Level: 5/5

This mermaid number cake might look easy to recreate, but it requires a lot of work, especially when you start adding elements like the seashell macarons. But, if you’re looking for a stunning cake design suitable for a smaller party, this beautiful cake is the perfect one.

Mermaid Princess Cake

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Difficulty Level: 5/5

If you’re hosting a big party, this kind of tiered cake really is the perfect opportunity to unleash your creativity.

Mermaid Scales Cake

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Difficulty level: 5/5

With its pearl and golden seashells and seahorse, this mermaid cake looks like a real treasure.

Under The Sea Cake

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Difficulty Level: 5/5

If you’re looking for a showstopping mermaid cake, this one is perfect for you. It will require a lot of fondant work, but the result will be worth it.

Did you enjoy these mermaid cake inspirations? Sharing is caring!

Please let me know in the comments and/or tag me on Instagram @theperfectcakeidea. I’d love to see your creations. And, don’t forget to pin this post so you can come back to it.

Pin this post and come back to it later.