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    Home » Recipes » Decorated Cakes

    Leprechaun Hat Shamrock Reveal Cake

    Published: Mar 12, '22 · Modified: Jan 30, '23 · By: Beth · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Not only does this cake look like a Leprechaun Hat, but it also has green shamrocks hiding inside layers of white cake. This Leprechaun Hat Shamrock Reveal Cake is a perfect dessert for St. Patrick's Day.

    Blow away your family and friends by making this Leprechaun Hat Shamrock Surprise Cake for St. Patrick's Day! It is moist, delicious, and comes with a special surprise inside.

    This post was originally posted on March 13, 2014.

    Leprechauns were mythical men written about in Irish folklore who were so rich that they had to hide their treasure. If you could find what they had hidden, you would be rich.

    Of course, you'd have to find the end of the rainbow and I'm pretty sure that you yourself would need the powers of a faerie in order to do that.

    I don't know about you, but I don't have magical powers, so instead of chasing Leprechauns all over the countryside, in search of the allusive pot of gold, I decided to make a fun surprise cake instead.

    Leprechaun hat cake covered in green fondant is cut to reveal shamrocks inside the white cake layers.

    It's a perfect dessert to serve on St. Patrick's Day. The cake looks like a Leprechaun hat on the outside and has green shamrocks hidden on the inside. When you slice into the cake, each piece reveals more shamrocks.

    You'll need a small 1-inch shamrock cookie cutter and two extra deep 8-inch round pans to make this cake along with two white cake mixes and frosting.

    I chose to cover my cake with green fondant to give the Leprechaun hat a shiny and smooth finish. I briefly show you below, how I covered my cake with fondant.

    green cake batter in bowl next to a cake mix box

    Make one cake mix and color it green using Betty Crocker Gel Food Coloring

    spreading green cake batter into a jelly roll pan

    Spread the batter into a jelly roll pan and bake it in a 350-degree oven for 12-16 minutes. After it cools for a bit, put it in the freezer for an hour.

    cake batter in round 8-inch pans

    Line two extra deep 8-inch round pans with parchment paper then spray with non-stick baking spray with flour. I actually used two 8-inch springform pans that I lined with non-stick tin foil before spraying.

    Just before the green cake is ready to come out of the freezer, make the remaining white cake mix. Pour one cup of batter into each of the round cake pans.

    cut shamrocks out of a single layer of cake then arrange in a round pan

    Remove the green cake from the freezer and use a one-inch shamrock cutter to cut out 38-40 shamrocks. You will have a little less than half of this cake leftover, so enjoy a little snack.

    Arrange shamrocks, upside down (with the bottom of the stem facing up) in a circle about an inch from the edge of the pans.

    pouring cake batter over top a shamrock-shaped cakes for a surprise cake

    Pour the rest of the batter into the pans, covering the shamrocks.

    Bake the cakes in a 350-degree oven for 26-32 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

    cut domed top off the cakes

    As these cakes bake, the batter will puff up in the center and the baked cakes will look pretty funky. It's alright, as you will just cut off the bumps making each cake level.

    frosting layers of cake

    Once the cakes are cooled and leveled, you'll flip one over and put it on a cardboard cake round, spread on some frosting before flipping over the other cake and doing the same.

    frosted round layer cake

    Frost the entire cake and make it really smooth.

    covering a round layer cake with green fondant

    Cover the cake with green fondant.

    cut a circle out of green fondant to create the base of the Leprechaun hat

    Cut out a green fondant hat brim on a cake board or cake plate.

    add hat brim to Leprechaun Hat cake

    Set the fondant-covered cake in the center of the green hat brim.

    Add a black fondant hat band and make a buckle. You can simply make the buckle out of yellow fondant, or you can spray a white or yellow buckle with gold food coloring spray.

    green Leprechaun Hat cake

    When the cake is whole, no one will know of the surprise hiding inside.

    I originally made this cake for Tablespoon.com but they have removed the recipe, so I added it here. You can find more St. Patrick's Day recipes on Tablespoon.com.

    You can also find a lot of fun St. Patrick's Day recipes here on Hungry Happenings including these:

    • Candy Leprechaun Hats
    • Leprechaun Cupcakes
    • Leprechaun Hat Cupcake Cake

    Printable Recipe

    St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun Hat Cake
    Print
    Leprechaun Hat Cake

    Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with this festive Leprechaun Hat Cake. When you cut into this bright green hat-shaped cake you'll find shamrocks hiding inside.

    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: cake, St. Patrick's Day cake
    Servings: 12
    Author: Beth
    Ingredients
    • 2 boxes white cake mix with egg whites, oil, and water called for on the box
    • green food coloring
    • 2-3 cups vanilla frosting
    • 18 ounces green fondant
    • 4 ounces black fondant
    • 1 ounce yellow fondant
    Instructions
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

    2. Make one cake mix according to the instructions of the box and color it using green food coloring.

    3. Spread the cake batter into your jelly roll pan and bake it for 12-16 minutes.

    4. Allow the cake to cool for about 30 minutes, then put it in the freezer for an hour. You want the cake to be frozen pretty solidly.

    5. Line two 8-inch by 3-inch round cake pans with parchment paper then spray with baking spray.

    6. Just before the green cake is ready to come out of the freezer, make the remaining white cake mix.

    7. Pour one cup of the white cake batter into each of the round cake pans.

    8. Remove your green cake from the freezer and cut 40 shamrocks using a 1-inch cookie cutter. Save the cake scraps for a snack.

    9. Arrange the small shamrock cakes, upside down (with the bottom of the stem facing up) in a circle about an inch from the edge of the pans.

    10. Divide the remaining cake batter among the two pans, covering the shamrocks completely.

    11. Bake the cakes in a 350-degree oven for 26-32 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

    12. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool in the pans for about 30 minutes before flipping them out of the pan and setting them upside down on a cooling rack to cool completely.

    13. Flip the cakes rightside up and level each of the cakes by cutting off the domed top. Be careful not to cut off the shamrocks.

    14. Then, flip one of the cakes over (so the shamrocks will have their stems at the bottom of the cake) and put it on a cardboard cake round.

    15. Spread on some frosting before flipping over the other cake and doing the same.

    16. Frost the entire cake and make it really smooth.

    17. Roll out the green fondant and cover the cake with green fondant.

    18. Cut out a ¼-inch thick, 10-inch circle of green fondant and place it on a 12-inch cake drum.

    19. Set the fondant-covered cake in the center of the green hat brim.

    20. Roll out some black fondant and cut out a 1 ½-inch wide strip that is about 18 inches long.

    21. Lightly brush the back of the fondant strip with water then, wrap it around the base of the cake covering the cake board. Then, cut off any excess length of fondant and press the seams together.

    22. Roll out the yellow fondant and cut it into a buckle.

    23. If desired, spray the fondant buckle with gold food coloring spray.

    24. Let it dry, then attach it to the black fondant band using water.

    Recipe Notes
    • As these cakes bake, the batter will puff up in the center and the baked cakes will look pretty funky. It's alright, as you will just cut off the bumps making each cake level.
    • Store the cake at room temperature for up to 3 days. 
    • Cut into the cake to reveal the shamrocks hiding inside. 
    • Author
    • Recent Posts
    Beth
    Beth
    Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com
    Beth
    Latest posts by Beth (see all)
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    1. Michael

      February 28, 2020 at 11:20 pm

      I'm looking for the recipe for the Leprechaun Shamrock surprise hat cake, I would like to make it for my job on St. Patricks Day. Can you email me the recipe & directions.

      Thanks
      Michael

      Reply
      • Beth

        February 29, 2020 at 8:58 am

        Hi Michael,
        It looks like Tablespoon took that recipe down, so I went ahead and posted the tutorial here. I don't have a copy of the actual recipe but I used cake mixes and tubs of Betty Crocker frosting. I hope you have fun making the cake!

        Reply
    2. Sweet Silly Sara

      March 25, 2014 at 3:48 am

      So cute for next St.Patties day. Thanks for sharing another wonderful post with us at Tell it To Me Tuesday!

      Reply
    3. Cathy Lallis

      March 18, 2014 at 1:52 am

      Adorable! Happy Saint Pat's Day!

      Reply
      • beth

        March 18, 2014 at 1:53 am

        Happy St. Patty's Day to you too!

        Reply
    4. Kersten Lindhardt

      March 17, 2014 at 4:01 pm

      That's so amazing- I'm impressed!

      Reply
    5. Artsy VaVa

      March 17, 2014 at 3:19 pm

      What a great surprise hidden in the cake! It's gorgeous.

      Reply
      • beth

        March 17, 2014 at 4:03 pm

        Thanks so much!

        Reply
    6. Linnycakes

      March 15, 2014 at 8:59 am

      I love surprises! How fun it must've been to cut into this cake and see such a fun design. Pinned this!

      Reply
      • beth

        March 17, 2014 at 4:03 pm

        Thanks so much for pining:) It is always fun to see people's reactions when I cut into surprise cakes. I love it!

        Reply
    7. The Partiologist

      March 14, 2014 at 1:12 pm

      Really Beth, this takes the cake! 🙂 Off to Tablespoon...

      Reply
    8. PapaLos - The Man, The Chef, The Dad

      March 14, 2014 at 3:27 am

      Whoa! That other cake was crazy. This one is insane! Makes me wish I celebrated St. Patrick's Day more. Amazing job!

      Reply
      • beth

        March 17, 2014 at 4:01 pm

        Thanks! This was a really fun cake to make.

        Reply
      • Stephanie

        March 12, 2022 at 12:10 am

        Can you re-post the recipe? It's not listed and I'd love to make this.

        Reply
        • Beth

          March 12, 2022 at 10:49 am

          I just added a printable recipe card to this recipe. Have fun making this cake!

          Reply
    9. beth

      March 14, 2014 at 1:03 am

      Thanks, I really love how the cake turned out!

      Reply
    10. Aida@TheCraftingFoodie

      March 14, 2014 at 12:55 am

      Beth,
      I love it so much! The added hat details make it even more special!

      Reply
      • beth

        March 14, 2014 at 1:04 am

        Thanks, Aida. I loved the idea of hiding something under a leprechaun hat.

        Reply

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    Beth Jackson Klosterboer

    Welcome to Hungry Happenings!

    I'm Beth. I've been a professional chocolatier & baker for over 30 years, have written 5 cookbooks, and love creating fun food for holidays and special occasions.

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