Coolest 4th Birthday Pirate Ship Cake

For my son’s 4th Birthday he wanted a pirate party so decided to make him a pirate ship cake set on the ocean with an island/treasure chest. Since it was my other son’s 2nd birthday as well, I had to be aware of size when creating the cake and be sure not to make way too much.

My son wanted a blue cake. His dad’s birthday was the previous month and I made him a red velvet cake, so my 4 year old decided he wanted blue which pretty much limited flavor to white for the purist blue cake.

Steps for Making This Pirate Ship Cake

  • I made the ocean in my biggest cookie sheet pan lined with parchment paper and greased. Since the cake was so big and thin, it was rather challenging to flip but I managed. I frosted it with homemade butter cream frosting also dyed blue and patted it with the back of a spoon to give the look of waves. Then I lightly sprayed with a blue frosting spray for extra depth.
  • I baked a 9×13 blue cake and one in my straightest breadpan. After they cooled I cut each in half.
  • I cut the top half of the 9×13 in half again to make a 3rd layer in the back and cut out a square from the top layer so the ship would have a rail.
  • I stacked the 3 layers of the back together with frosting between each and then frosted the front to add the bread pan halves to make a V front.
  • I trimmed all of the pieces to look more like a ship prior to frosting.
  • I used the triangles I had cut off the front pieces for a third layer for the front.
  • The middle of my ship was the only part without 3 layers. There I placed 2 thin scraps for side rails.
  • I covered all the cake in a thin layer of frosting and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
  • The next day I did another thin layer of frosting and then covered the ship in brown fondant (homemade) and I scraped the sides with a toothpick to look like wood.I then painted it brown to give more of an appearence of wood.
  • I planned to use the round tops of the trimmed cakes for the island that you “always” get and my cakes baked perfectly flat for first time ever so I had no trimmings.
  • I lucked out because I had made my other son’s cake the previous day and saved his scraps, so was able to use those for the island.
  • I lightly frosted the island and then covered it in Graham cracker crumbs.
  • I put pirouettes on the edges of the ship for a railing, used some of a Hershey bar for a plank which I attached sticking some toothpicks into the cake to help stabilize the plank while staying out of site.
  • I used an Oreo cookie with a toothpick for the steering wheel and put the captain there.
  • I stacked some Whoppers in a couple spots in the ship for cannon balls and used Rolos for cannons, four on each side because he’s 4.
  • I put in a shish kabob stick with a paper sail attached and put a pirouette above the sail to help stabilize the lookout spot which I used a piece of an ice cream cone for.
  • I put a tiny soldier tied in red fondant “rope” on the plank. It was the only toy I could find that was the right size.
  • I made 4 (again since he turned 4) shark fins out of fondant circling where the soldier would fall after walking the plank.
  • I put a pretzel stick sticking out of the front of the ship.
  • For the palm tree I used a pretzel rod and green fondant. I made a rough circle and cut slices out of it. Then, the parts I left, I cut little cuts into and seperated slightly for palm tree branches and let it dry hanging over a glass overnight.
  • I put the tree in the island with a few Whoppers next to it as coconuts.
  • I placed four pirates around on the ship and island since 4 was the magic number.
  • I made the treasure chest out of graham crackers and a scrap of cake in the middle to help fill the void and covered it in fondant.
  • I decided to have the lid closed with treasure falling out the front which I made out of balls of different colored fondant for rubies diamonds etc.
  • Lastly I put a crocodile in the water nearing land.

This was my second decorative cake and everyone raved about how awesome it was.

On the invites I did for the kids I wrote in pirate jargon and made it look old by baking in coffee and crinkling and burning the edges. I delivered them in bottles.

The kids all had eye patches, bandanas, and little treasure chests to fill with the “buried treasure” from the table.

Coolest 4th Birthday Pirate Ship Cake

Coolest 4th Birthday Pirate Ship Cake

Coolest 4th Birthday Pirate Ship Cake

Coolest 4th Birthday Pirate Ship Cake

Coolest 4th Birthday Pirate Ship Cake

Coolest 4th Birthday Pirate Ship Cake


Leave a Comment