I made this treasure chest cake for my son’s 3rd birthday party (pirate themed, of course). I had a lot of inspiration from this website. The key to this cake is making it look like it is half open. In order to do this, I had to figure out a way to make the lid light enough to be supported by the bottom. The trick to this, the top is not cake. The lid of the chest is an empty cereal box (stuffed with newspaper for support) and a 2 liter pop bottle (with the nozzle cut off). I wrapped these together with aluminum foil (secure the foil with tape like you would wrap a present). Poke small holes in the underside of the cereal box about 2” in from the sides and 1” from the back of the “hinged” side of the lid.
The body of the chest is made from 3 9×13” cakes with frosting between each layer. I suggest freezing them before you begin putting the cake together.
Trim the 3 9×13” cakes to the same length as the cereal box. After frosting both the lid (leaving two small areas without frosting so you can pick it up with two hands) and body of the chest with chocolate frosting, place bamboo skewers into the two holes you created in the bottom of the cereal box. The skewers should be trimmed to be the height of the chest body + the depth of the cereal box. Insert the skewers straight down (with the help of an assistant) into the chest body (off set a bit from the back of the chest – you want to be sure the skewers are well into the body of the cake so they don’t pull through and out of cake). I used the trimmings from the 9×13 cakes along with some frosting (to act as glue) between the lid and body of the chest to “prop” the lid up.
I decorated the chest with store bought vanilla frosting I colored yellow. I fashioned a key hole, hinges on the back, handles on the side, etc. I used M&Ms for accent and filled it with all sorts of edible candy treats (ring pops, candy necklaces, beaded necklaces, chocolate money, etc.). Plastic gold coins work well too – you can make stacks of coins using dabs of frosting in between the individual coins.
The cake was a huge hit! Try it for your pirate themed party. Have fun!
I’ve been making cakes for almost 50 yrs and I have never done anything that creative. WOW Shows me you are a person who truly puts your heart and soul into what you do. What lucky boys to have you as their mom. Bet Liam will always remember his 3rd birthday cake.