Dr. Seuss Hat Cake

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

• 4 8" nonstick cake pans
• 10" nonstick cake pan
• Parchment
• Favorite cake recipe, enough to bake four 8" cakes and one 10" cake
• Favorite buttercream frosting recipe
• 10" and 8" cake rounds
• Cake dowel rods
• 2 #1A frosting tips
• Wilton icing spatula
• Wilton red food coloring

DIRECTIONS:

1. Trace the bottom of each nonstick cake pan with parchment paper, cut out and place inside each pan.
2. Make cake mix and bake following recipe.
3. Allow cakes to completely cool. Cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap once cooled and chilled in the fridge for a few hours. Chilling the cake makes it easier to cut and level each layer.
4. Mix buttercream following recipe. Place 10" cake on 10" cake round and frost cake with white buttercream. Measure and cut four dowel rods to the same height as the 10" cake. Place 8" cake round on top of you 10" cake to mark where dowel rods should be placed. Place them off center straight down into the cake.
5. Place 8" cake on 8" cake round. Frost the 8" cakes with white buttercream and stack the cakes together. Measure and cut four dowel rods to place inside your 8" cakes. The cakes just need a crumb coat because they will be covered in white and red frosting.
6. Place 8" cake layers on top of 10" cake.
7. Prepare two icing bags with #1A icing tip in each. Fill one bag with white buttercream and the other red. Color icing with red food coloring.
8. Working from bottom to top, start with red and squeeze a quarter size dot on to the cake. Take icing spatula and pull the dot of frosting horizontal on cake. Repeat with alternating white and red frosting along cake to create stripes.
9. Use the same technique with red frosting on top of the cake.