How to make a Moana Cake for Your Fabulous Celebration

My sweet girl wanted a Moana birthday party for her 5th birthday, which included a fabulous Moana cake.

The second Movie is coming out so there’s a lot of excitement over all things Moana.

This was an especially fun celebration to plan because there are so many luau ideas you can incorporate.

The cake that I created though, was the hit of the party. My daughter and her friends LOVED it. Plus it was super fun to do. You might say it simply “calls me” – sorry can’t help but do a little Moana reference.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how I made my Moana cake and how you can easily do the same. I’ll also share some other cool Moana cake ideas I’ve found.

So let’s dive in!

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My Moana cake- decorating it was a blast! — My daughter’s Moana cake. I made sugar glass waves.

My girl's Moana Birthday — My sweet little Moana

Moana Birthday Cake Inspiration

I’ve made plenty of cakes at home for my 4 using Pinterest recipes. I’ve also paid big money for fancy custom bakery ones.

I struggle though because if they’re really beautiful, they usually don’t taste that great and if they taste delicious, they’re usually not all that pretty. At least for me.

Lately, I’ve been buying a Costco cake – which I think tastes really good and then making it fancier myself at home.

I did this with my son’s Iron Man cake – actually that cake I got on sale at the grocery store. I also did it was his Batman cake. Both I think came out super cute.

I wanted to make it look like Moana was standing near the waves of the ocean.

I considered making sugar glass to look like waves. That’s what I made for my boy’s Iron Man cake to make it look like Iron Man was breaking through glass. Sugar glass dries really quickly though so you have to work fast. I decided to try isomalt instead to make my waves.

Close-up of the waves on my Moana Cake for my girl's Moana Birthday party — Sugar glass waves I made out of Isomalt which is a sugar substitute

I turned a plain Costco cake into a Moana cake for my girl's Moana birthday party, make your own with a good recipe or just get a store-bought one — I started with a plain Costco cake to make it super easy

Ingredients for Moana Cake

Store-bought cake
Brown sugar (for the sand)
Blue food coloring
Isomalt (or you could make waves from sugar glass)
White chocolate chips for the seashells (milk chocolate too if you want)
Rice paper (again optional for a different-looking wave)

Moana Cake Tools

Moana figurine
Icing spatula
Parchment paper or silicon mat
Lazy Susan tray – I just used a serving tray that spins
Seashell chocolate molds
Round Bowl

Costco cake creation — Cut out two round sections and stacked them.

Plain Costco cake into a Moana cake — There is quite a bit left-over but my kids will still eat it. I scraped off the excess icing and put in a bowl to use later around the circle edges

Making the Moana Birthday Cake Base

I bought a sheet cake from Costco but I wanted a round cake. So I used a bowl about 10 inches wide to trace my circles on the cake.
I cut out two large cake circles from the sheet cake and then stacked them on top of each other.
I scraped the excess icing off the cake and put it in a dish.
My kids and I added blue food coloring to the access icing in the bowl and then added that mixture to the sides of the cake. I used a flat cake spatula to make it as smooth as possible as I turned it on the lazy Susan spinning tray.

Boiling the Isomalt for the Moana Cake — Boiling the Isomalt and adding food coloring – this will eventually become a wave

Making the waves for the Moana cake — Spreading the Isomalt onto parchment paper to cool – this will become a wave

Moana cake ideas - add a sugar wave — Once the Isomalt has cooled some, I left it up and clipped it so the wave will stand up on its own once fully cooled

making a wave out of rice paper — Making the rice paper wave – put the rice paper in warm water with food coloring. Only takes a minute

Adding the Moana Cake Waves and Details

I added water to the isomalt (it’s a sugar substitute) and boiled it until it was ready. Added a couple of drops of blue food coloring.
I then poured the isomalt mixture onto parchment paper and used a spatula to get the shape I wanted. Once it started to cool a little I folded the parchment paper over slightly to make a wave.
I then clipped the paper to a bowl to hold it in that position until it cooled completely.
My kids and I also put rice paper in warm water with blue food coloring and laid them on parchment paper to dry to add a different-looking “wave.”
Once dried and cooled, I added the isomalt and rice paper waves to the top of the cake along with brown sugar sand.
Put your Moana figurines on top and add chocolate seashells from the molds and you’re set. I just added Moana to the top but you can add Maui or whatever other Moana figurines you’d like.
I ordered the sea-themed candle and thought it was the perfect addition!

Pro Tip Note

Do not make the waves too top-heavy. That happened to me and my big wave kept falling over. I finally broke the darn thing accidentally. Lighter wispy looking waves will fair better.

The pineapple palm tree I made for my daughter's Moana party

Along with the Moana Cake you've got to have fun drinks for a good Moana birthday celebration

Moana Birthday Party Inspiration

Our Moana birthday party inspiration will help you plan a fun and memorable party for your little one. I enjoyed making Moana boats for the kid’s snacks.

I also made a huge palm tree fruit board out of pineapples which served as a massive centerpiece. We made a Moana-themed drink station with coconut cups that the kids loved.

As far as entertainment, my daughter’s big sister led everyone in a hula dance tutorial which was absolutely adorable. And it was free entertainment which was the best part!

As far as a craft, my mom was getting rid of a bunch of sand dollars she’d collected through the years. She sent them to us. I grabbed washable paint from the Dollar Tree and a Dollar tree palm leaf disposable tablecloth.

The kids painted the sand dollars and I think they came out great!

Other Adorable Moana Cake Design Ideas

Source: @cakesbyjoannecharmand

Moana cake add Moana figurines to the top

Source: @princess_disney_everything

Source: @bluesheepbakeshop

source: @elegateaucakes

Moana cakes and cupcakes featuring pua details with a touch of humor

source: cakesecret.co.uk

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Conclusion

This was such a fun birthday theme and my sweet 5-year-old felt so special. This was the first time we had a friend birthday party – we usually just do family. So she felt extra big.

I highly recommend adding a Moana theme to your next celebration.

I can get really stressed out preparing to have people over. It’s something I’m working on.

I would suggest picking your top three things you want to focus on for the party and try your best to do them ahead of time. Some things can’t be done ahead – like my fresh pineapple tree. It had to be created close to the party or the pineapples would get gross. But the more you can do ahead, the less stressed you’ll be the day of the party.

If you decide to, let me know what you come up with as I’d love to see! I hope you have as much fun as I did.

If you want to better channel your inner te fiti, check out my other post on planning the perfect Moana party.

Erica Fox

Hi I’m Erica! TV news anchor and mom to 4 littles. I’m obsessed with creating those “wow” moments in life through crafting at home, cool travel adventures and special celebrations with loved ones. Thanks for joining me on this adventure!