Coolest Willy Wonka Birthday Cake

I made this Willy Wonka birthday cake for my son’s 4th birthday! Every year I try to top the last one and this year my son made it as difficult as he could for me… lol.

The theme was chosen by him and every detail was requested by him as well. He did want an actual chocolate river (on the floor) at his party. I made him settle for one on the cake that would definitely be less messy. :)

How I Made This Willy Wonka Birthday Cake

The top tier is a 4 inch round cake (I baked the layers a little higher then normal). It is iced in buttercream with some fondant circles decorating the sides.
The border is just some gumballs placed around the cake.
The 2nd tier is a 6 inch cake, also iced in buttercream. Plus, I added some fondant mushrooms around the sides.
The border was piped with a grass tip.
For the chocolate river flowing down the front, I made a chocolate ganache. I allowed it to cool enough to still pour, and ensure it did not run all over the place.
Once the ganache set a little, I piped some more on to make the river heavier and keep it neater.
The topper is a chocolate bar that I tore open one corner of. I then melted some milk chocolate and piped it over the corner of the chocolate bar (pretty thick so it doesn’t break when pushed into the cake).
I then printed a Wonka label and golden ticket and attached those to the bar.
The lollipop in the background was bought at a local dollar store. I unwrapped it and added his age on it. Unfortunately the lollipop was too heavy and didn’t make it thru the entire party. It fell off the cake later (oops). :)
The bottom tier is a 10 inch round cake that I chose to ice in his favorite color …blue.
His name was hand cut out of fondant. I found a fun font online, printed each letter out, and cut them by hand out of fondant.
I then wet the top and dipped them into some non-pariels sprinkles. I found a wilton water brush online that I absolutely love for these kind of fondant projects.
I bet you are wondering what the Oompa Loompas are made of? Well, they are chocolate of course! :)
I printed pictures in the height I wanted.
Then I taped them to a cookie sheet and covered them with a piece of wax paper.
Next, I melted chocolate wafers in various colors and traced over the Oompa Loompa prints I made!
I let them set and then placed them onto the cake.
Finally, I added tons of candy details to the cake to complete the Wonka theme.

I wish I had recorded or got a picture of my son’s reaction to his cake. It was definitely priceless! I was able to fit everything he requested onto the cake somewhere, but most important were those Oompa Loompas.

Thank you and enjoy! I added a few other views of the cake as wells as some fun extras.

How I Made This Willy Wonka Birthday Cake

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