Minecraft is a great theme for kids birthday parties! It's a game that tweens already play and love- and at a party, kids can play together by signing in to the same server (everyone will need a tablet or laptop to do this)- or you can play on an Xbox in multi-player mode. But no matter how you play, you'll want to serve this easy homemade Creeper Cake for dessert!
I like to make homemade birthday cakes for my kids- because bakery cakes can easily cost $50 or more for a cake that feeds 15 people. Plus I honestly think that homemade cakes taste better than anything purchased in a store!
I like to keep my cakes fairly simple- having figured out quite some time ago that it is just not worth spending hours and hours decorating a cake to perfection when 5 minutes after singing “Happy Birthday” it is completely destroyed.
Not to mention- many of the guests ask for a generous helping only to take 2 bites and then move on!
So if I can create a fun birthday party cake that delights my child in under an hour's time (not including baking and cooling time)- that's perfect!
Here's how I did just that- with my easy homemade Creeper Cake!
Creeper Cake Starts with 2 Cake Mixes and 2 Cake Pans
If you have a favorite homemade cake recipe- go for it! I have several, but often for birthday cakes, I will just use a store-bought cake mix.
Bake one cake in a 13×9″ pan This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. and the other in a 8 or 9″ square pan This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. (I love Wilton non-stick pans This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. for my cakes.)
The cake baked in the square pan will be taller than the rectangular cake- you can choose to not fill the pan with all of the cake batter for the second mix, you can choose to trim the cake to size after it cools, or you can choose to just allow it to be larger (which is what I did).
Assemble the Sections on a Cake Board to the Creeper Cake Shape
The first thing you'll want to do is to cut your 13×9″ cake lengthwise into two sections, about 2/3 and 1/3 of the size of the cake. Then take your 1/3 section and cut two pieces of the same length (about 4-5″ long).
On a cake board (we use a piece of wood with the ends covered in duck tape to avoid splinters but you can also use cardboard cake boards This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. ), assemble your creeper cake by placing the square cake at the top, the long body piece centered in the middle (your 2/3 section of your larger cake) and the two smaller 4″ sections for feet at the bottom.
Wipe away any cake crumbs that fall onto the board.
Cover your Creeper Cake in Green Icing
Here's where other cake decorators get fancy- they pipe on green icing in multiple shades to achieve the pixelated look of Minecraft Creepers- and if you have time for that- then awesome!
But since my goal is to complete the cake in under an hour, I simply use my favorite homemade icing recipe (see below), tint it using green gel coloring This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. , and give the top of the cake and then the sides a good coating.
If it looks good and there aren't a ton of crumbs peeking out through the icing I'll stop there, but if it needs another “coat” on top of the “crumb coat” then I will walk away, allow the icing to harden a bit for an hour and then give it another thin layer so the green icing is all that you see!
Add Creeper's Face and Feet Using Fondant
Personally- I adore fondant, and if I would love this cake even more if I decorated the entire cake in fondant- but that would add a lot more time to the job!
So to keep things simple, I purchased
black fondant
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, rolled it out to a thin sheet, and using a small sharp knife, cut out the blocks to make Creeper's face and feet. And also used it to write my son's name down on the bottom of the board!
- 1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon butter flavoring
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 Tablespoons milk (or more for thinning)
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon meringue powder (optional)
- Cream shortening, flavors, and milk in a mixing bowl. Add powdered sugar and meringue powder and beat until light and fluffy.
Note: you can purchase clear (colorless) vanilla extract This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. , butter flavoring This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. and almond extract This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. here from Wilton.
You can also order the meringue powder This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. here.
My guy was pretty excited about his cake!
Another simple idea we had was to purchase green plastic cups This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. and green paper bags This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. and add on the Creeper faces using a Sharpie!
The bags were for holding popcorn- which the kids snacked on later in the evening when they watched a movie (did I mention that my son elected to have a sleepover party?)!
Perhaps you saw my post on How to Make an Awesome Minecraft Party favor- for less than $2 each? If not- you should check it out!
And if you are looking for more great ideas for a Minecraft Party- check out this post too!
Check out some more awesome Tween Birthday Party Ideas:
- Minute to Win It Birthday Party
- “American Ninja Warrior” Party
- Art Birthday Party
- Cupcake Wars Birthday Party
- Star Wars Party Ideas for Tweens!
Check out all of our Kids Birthday Parties here:
How to Throw Your Own Kids Birthday Parties at Home!
Looking for Some Great Party Games, Crafts, & Activities for Kids?
- 100 Truth or Dare Questions for Tweens (free printable party game!)
- 50 Would You Rather Questions for Tweens (free printable party game!)
- 10 Great Birthday Party Games for Tweens (tons of ideas from around the web!)
- 10 Awesome Birthday Party Crafts for Tweens (tutorials and supplies you'll need!)
- 10 Fun Birthday Party Activities for Tweens (fun things to do at your party!)
- or Shop for These Awesome Party Games!
Rebecca says
August 3, 2020 at 10:38 pmThank you for giving me a great visual guide! I didn’t even know what a creeper was until a few days ago and this recipe was the perfect guide! It worked out great to bake the two cakes and cut them as you instructed! I added some different shades of green squares that turned out really nice. To make the squares, I melted three bowls of white chocolate chips and mixed in one drop, 3 drops and 12 drops of green food coloring and then spread the chocolate on parchment paper with a square metal spatula until it was about 1/8” thick and allowed it to just harden and then cut it into squares. I used melted chocolate to create the black eyes and mouth.
Sharon Rowley says
August 12, 2020 at 10:56 amThat’s awesome!
Anonymous says
March 21, 2016 at 10:32 amOh my gosh thank you! I have googled this type of thing so much and today stumbled upon your site by accident. Guess who gets to be the coolest mom ever this spring break 🙂