Even though I had a little trouble in the beginning, I am still rating this a 5 because of the finished product. Let's see...I started off making the cake in a small pyrex dish. After my cake cooled, I got ready to put barbie in and she towered above my cake. I could see all of her thighs. She was either way too tall, or my cake was too small. The next day, I tried again, using a medium pyrex dish. If I would of gone any bigger I would of had to use two boxes of cake mix. Barbie was still too tall for the cake, so it was unfortunate but Barbie had her legs amputated below the knee. Once that problem was solved, the rest was a breeze. Icing the cake was pretty easy. I used 1 1/2 cannisters of store bought icing. I dyed one of them pink and left other white. I used Phillsbury whipped white icing. This was a practice run for me. I will be making this for my fiances 3 yo daughters' birthday in a few weeks. I am very happy with the way my cake turned out. I will definitely be making this cake for many years to come. Thanks for the idea!!!

I have made this cake many times. It's perfect for girls of all ages. I use powdered sugar to dust my cake pans. It works as well as flour and tastes better.

My daughter wanted an Ariel cake so I started doing a lot of reseach as I've heard all sorts of stories (horror) making a barbie cake. The best idea was saran wrapping the legs of the doll if you don't use a doll topper, and making a base for the barbie (1 or 2) 9" round cakes so that the barbie isn't too tall for the cake. I ended up using just 1 9" round for the base and Ariel was still a little too tall. I was able to pipe frosting around her waist so it wasn't a problem. I tried adding some crushed pineapples and juice to the cake mix as I normally bake my cakes this way, but it was a disaster. The taste was fantastic, but the cake was so heavy, it was splitting everywhere. So, I would follow the directions to the tee on the cake box. I did use 2 boxes. I agree with the others that the pampered chef bowl is the best. All of this work was so worth it all. I would make this again for sure!

I made the recipe described above but also make another batch in 2 round pans. I stacked it all up, used lots of icing and it was perfect. I didn't have any problem getting the Barbie in but it did cool overnight so that may have helped. I'm no master baker but this cake really allows room for error when icing. I'll definitely make it again.

Instructions for making a Barbie cake were in our local paper. The article suggested making the bowl, then a second cake mix was used to make 2-9" layers. Stacking these made the cake tall enough for the doll.

It came out OK, foolowed the directions with the 2 qt bowl and the skirt was not big enough for a real Barbie, so I had to use a fake 'cake-doll' with no legs. The cake was still a hit though. Next time I will use an actual doll cake pan.

This cake is always a hit! Here is a Mermaidia version that I did for my daughter....*I used plastic aquarium plants for decoration and added some fairies to the sides!

My Mom made this cake for me when I was little and I loved it!

My daughter now 11, and I were talking about how much fun her Barbie cakes were when she was little, so we decided to make a hula girl cake for a Luau party. It was great! I do suggest making an extra piece in a small sauce bowl if you are using a standard Barbie instead of a cake doll. It also works well to use an empty paper towel roll to cut out the center.

this is the best recipe ever any girl that likes barbie doll's will love this color full and delight full cake but it could use a lot more work to make you're little girls day!

This is a very fun cake that I have made several times. I agree with other reviewers that this recipe needs to be "tweaked". I use the large Pampered Chef batter bowl, using 1 and a 1/2 box mixes. Barbie's legs should be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap. I use a naked barbie and pipe frosting on the body to create her bodice.

I gave it 5 starts to be an excellent idea for a little girl's birthday but I did not use the ingredients mentioned I use the recipe for the black chocolate cake from this site.

I just bought the Wilton cake mold. It is a lot easier and the dress will look like a real dress. The pyrex dish looks too bulky. Also, I bought a barbie inserter at a baker's supply store. It works better than trying to insert a actual barbie doll into the cake. The inserter is the top half off the barbie, so there is no need to break a barbie doll. The inserters only cost $2.00 and you can get any ethnicity. My daughter loves confetti cake with strawberry filling. Then I cover it in pink and white wilton fondant and place royal icing roses on it. I will post a pic soon.

Makes an adorable cake, but save yourself some grief either take Barbie's legs off or buy a cake topper. Made a double cake mix in a Kitchen Aid bowl, added a 9" layer underneath and Barbie STILL was too tall! Took her legs off, and it worked great.

This was fun to make and my six year old loved it.... but this recipe needs tweaking. I used two box mixes instead of one (white cake) Also used two pryrex bowls, one smaller than the other. Stacked them on top of each other and iced. That way I didn't have to amputate poor barbie. The smaller mixing bowl took just over an hour to cook and the larger took almost an hour and a half. In the end though they tasted good and it looked great!

I made this for my best friend's 5 year old daughter on her birthday. Everyone enjoyed it!