Leprechaun Hat Shamrock Reveal Cake

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

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.

It’s perfect for 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.

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

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.

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.

Remove 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.

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.

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.

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.

Frost the entire cake and make it really smooth.

Cover the cake with green fondant.

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

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.

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.

Printable Recipe Card – Leprechaun Hat Cake

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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 1/4-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 1/2-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. 

You can also find a lot of fun St. Patrick’s Day recipes, here.