I followed the Women’s Day magazine directions online for this Jello cake recipe. However I needed a larger cake. I used a 9×13 pan and made two layers of white cake. I was nervous about keeping the cake cold and needed to do most of the decorations the day before so I prepared the blue Jell-O as a jiggler and then placed it in the cake one hour before the party.
Just a warning-it is hard to decorate the cake in humid weather. Any decorations with chewing gum or roll ups will start to wilt as soon as the cake warms to room temperature. Since this was for a five year old party I used skittles and fruit Twizzlers. I was scared they would eat the gum if I used Chiclets for the tiles. Also because a peanut allergy kid was attending the party I used only fruit candies- starburst skittles etc…
Simple Jello Cake Recipe
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Nicole W., Shirley, NY
I made this cake from a jello cake recipe for my Niece’s pool party. I made two round cakes and cut out a circle in the top layer. Then I filled it with blue jello. I iced the cake in white icing. I placed M&M’s around the outer edge of the “pool”. Cutting sour airheads I made beach blankets and pillows out of starburst candies cut in half.
The teddy grahams had bathing suits on them using gel icing. The diving board pole is a candy stick and the diving board is a piece of gum. I also put gummy life savers and extra teddies in the jello pool. With extra white icing I added blue coloring to make waves on the sides around the cake. The extra jello I placed in a bowl and added life savers and teddy swimmers for other children to eat as well.
Cool Barbie Cake
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Michelle T., Canterbury, CT
I used two cake mixes for a 16×11-inch cake. I let it cool completely, inverted the cake onto a large board and removed the pan. Using a serrated knife, I cut and scooped out an oval from the center of the cake, a shallow lake, leaving a thin layer of cake on the bottom (also leaving enough room for Barbie’s to sit on the sides of the lake).
For the Jello cake recipe, I stirred 3 cups boiling water into 3 boxes of Berry Blue Jell-o gelatin in a large bowl until it was completely dissolved. Then I stirred in 3 cups cold water. Next, I refrigerated about 1-1/4 hours, until it was slightly thickened. I poured thickened gelatin into center of cake.
I refrigerated about 3 hours or until it was set. After gelatin was completely set I frosted the cake and crushed Graham Crackers and sprinkled them on the cake to make it look like sand. Then I put Barbie’s on the cake with their legs in the gelatin. I also put 2 Gummy Lifesavers on each of their arms, to look like bubbles. I put gummy fish, gummy ducks, a gummy turtle, and a gummy alligator in the gelatin. The last touch was I outlined the lake with blue liquorish. My four-year-old daughter loved this cake. I can’t wait to make another one, I have already thought of more Jello cake recipe ideas.
Awesome Swimming Pool Cake
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Tobie F., Davis, CA
I made this Jell-O cake recipe for my son’s fourth birthday party. We were having it at a local pool. I made a total of 3 cakes using mixes; 2 were rectangles and one was a circle, which I cut in half to make the half-circle area of the pool. You can get creative with the shape of the pool too.
Scoop out a sloping layer of cake to make the pool area and then frost the entire surface with cake frosting. Put the cake into the refrigerator for 2-3 hours (I put it in overnight) so the frosting hardens.
To make the water of the cake use two boxes of blue colored Jell-O (lime green would look pretty too). Prepare both boxes of gelatin according to the Jiggler recipe on the packages.
Cool the gelatin in the fridge for about 60-90 minutes until it seems a little thicker. It will then be ready to pour into the “pool”. Cool in the fridge for another 2-3 hours.
For the decorations I used fondant with added food coloring for the towel flip-flops and the treetops. I used pretzels for the tree trunks licorice for the step and diving board handles and a graham cracker for the diving board. I used graham cracker crumbs for the sand and painted white gumballs with food coloring for the beach balls. The floating inner tubes are gummy lifesavers.
The toy umbrella is the only thing that isn’t edible. This Jell-O cake recipe turned out great!
Amazing Pool Party Cake
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Eyelette B., New York, NY
This idea came from the birthday theme “A Pool Party”. You would need: 2-packs of vanilla waffle cookie, 2 packs of M&M candies (either one color or all colors), 1 box of Teddy Graham cookies, 1/2 cup of blue icing, 2 cups of white (buttercream) icing, 6 gumballs (will be beach balls), 3 strips of gum (roll a small part to look like a pillow), and 3-6 jelly ring candy.
Bake one 12-inch round cake and let cool. Add blue icing to the top of the cake (NOT SMOOTH/FLAT), remember it’s water. Add enough white icing to the side of the cake so that the waffle cookie stick. Zipzap some of the white icing on the top of the cake to look like a boardwalk. Add M&M’s to both sides of the boardwalk.
Next position the gumball and the stick of gum, and jelly ring candy where you want them. Finally, position the Teddy bear cookies around the boardwalk, in the water, inside the jelly rings and on the sticks of gum. ENJOY!
Coolest Jello Cake
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Sarah S., VA
This Jello cake recipe was the hit of my sons 4th birthday party. It was done with two 10″ round cakes. I dug out a kidney shape from the cooled cake, iced the whole thing with a white crumb coat. Then I prepared 2 packages of Jello with a total of 2 cups of water (one hot and one cold).
I stirred Jello in an ice bath until it began to thicken and then poured it into the kidney shape to make the pool. I iced the cake with light blue icing, and then used bright blue icing to paint waves on the sides. In addition, I used teddy grahams with icing swimsuits and other candies to decorate the cake.
I bent one red Airhead candy into the shape of a water slide and filled it with melted white chocolate and blue sugar crystals then chilled it to keep its shape. This pool Jello cake recipe was a little time consuming but all of the oooohhhs and aaaawwes made it well worth it!
Refreshingly Cool Birthday Cake
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Angela M., Chardon, OH
I used two boxed cakes and baked them in 9×13 pans. I put them one on top of the other then I hollowed out the top one to make room for the “pool”. Then, I iced them lightly and then put them on the fridge for a few hours. Next, I lined the pool with foil to avoid any leaks and filled it with blue Jello.
I returned them to the fridge and then when the Jello set, iced and decorated the cake with Polly Pocket figures from my daughter’s collection and a plastic beach cake decoration set! I decorated the sides with “goldfish” crackers and sprinkled graham cracker crumbs on the top for sand. This Jello cake recipe was a real hit at my daughter’s luau birthday party!
Fun End of the Year Cake
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Michelle F., Mullins, SC
I used this pool cake idea for my son’s 2nd grade end of the year pool party. After searching for pool cakes and the best unique birthday cake idea, I found a pool cake made with Jello in the center. I was not sure how my son’s 2nd grade classmates would like Jello mixed with cake so I came up with my own design.
Since the party was going to be at an in ground pool I wanted the cake to resemble that. I used 1 cake mix baked in an 11×9 pan. I used white butter cream icing ( Wilton ‘s recipe) to icing the entire unique birthday cake. Next I used a toothpick to outline the shape of the pool.
Once I had the outline, I used blue decorators gel to fill in the outline, just squeeze it on the cake and spread it with a small spatula (decorators gel can be found in the baking section of the grocery store).
I then outlined the blue “water” with Wilton tip #47 (the smooth side) – the water effect can also be created by using a Jello cake recipe.
Teddy Grahams
Next I used a small tip paintbrush to paint the icing swimsuits on the Teddy Grahams. (Hint: Know where you want to place your Teddy Grahams because some do not need full bathing suits for example: the teddy grahams laying on the towels and raft only need front suits and the Teddy Grahams in the inner tubes only need tops for the girls and no suit at all for the boys.) I also used Wilton tip #1 to pipe faces on the Teddy Grahams.
Diving Board
To construct the diving board I used a piece of square candy (I used Now or Later candy), a stick of chewing gum and 1 gummy lifesaver cut in half. I used dabs of the white icing for “glue”. I then used more gummy lifesavers as inner tubes both in and out of the water. Some of the bears I placed in the tubes and some I put on top – again using the icing to secure them.
Raft
For the raft in the pool I used Fruit Streamers, these look very realistic because they are made up of individual strings, which resemble air chambers. For the “towels” I used different colored Fruit by the Foot. I used kitchen shears to fringe the ends and again used the icing to secure them.
Finishing Touches
I purchased a small package of foil umbrellas and set them between the towels. Then I used Wilton tip #32 to pipe white starburst around the base of the unique birthday cake and presto I had my Pool Party Cake! This unique birthday cake was really easy and fun to make, and everyone loved it!
Splashy Pool Cake
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Mariana S., Colombia
Read Mariana’s “Party-Tale”: The story behind the cake…
Cool Birthday Cake for a Swimmer
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Laura R., Irvine, CA
I used this created this pool cake for my niece’s Birthday. She is a swimmer and wanted that to be her theme.
First I baked a chocolate cake per her request. Any size will do, as long as it’s square. Then I frosted and filled with buttercream icing. Next I used rolled fondant slightly colored with a hint of grey and a small fondant cutter for the squares around the pool. I took some ivory color and painted between the squares to give the illusion of concrete.
Instead of using a Jello cake recipe for the water, I mixed piping gel with a touch of blue color to create the swimming pool splashing a bit on either side. I used yellow and blue buttercream icing for the lanes.
I created the swimmer, life support ring and towels with rolled fondant (white colored to what I wanted). Notice the hair coming from the back of the swimmers cap. I love that part. I used tip 233 by Wilton.
Easy Fish Pond Cake
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Laurie L., Dedham, MA
I used this Jello cake recipe for my boyfriend’s mother who had just built a fish pond in her backyard; this was not the easiest cake. I made Jell-O and put Swedish fish in it. When I took the Jell-O out to transfer it to the cake it broke in pieces so that is why there are a lot of lily pads and greenery in the pond itself, you learn from trying.
Awesome Pool Cake With Chiclets
Pool and Jello cake recipe by Tomara B., Boynton Beach, FL
I found this Jello cake recipe on the web, and I thought it was so cute. So I made it for my kids when they finished their swimming lessons for the summer.
You prepare a regular cake according to the package, and then in the center I cut out the circle for the pool. Then I frosted the entire kid birthday cake. Then I prepared the blue Jell-O and poured it into the pool and refrigerated it until it was set.
Finally, I assembled the Chiclets candy around the pool for tiles, and added candy and fondant for the accessories.
