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Cake Decorating Rice Krispies

Sculpted or shaped cakes can seem quite intimidating. However, with the help of cake decorating rice krispies these decorative cakes come together a lot more easily than you’d think.

A batch of these rice krispies can bring a challenging cake shape to life while making the process so much more manageable.

image of cake decorating rice krispies made with crispy rice cereal and marshmallows but no butter

I’ve used this technique on several of my animal cakes, including my elephant cake and my Patrick Star cake and it’s a total game changer.

These krispies allow you to creatively and easily shape any cake.

I highly recommend using them for larger shaped cake, especially when you want to avoid weighing down your cake with loads of additional cake or frosting.

What Makes These Cake Decorating Rice Krispies Different than Regular Rice Krispies?

These cake decorating recipe krispies don’t include one very important ingredient the most regular rice krispie treats have – butter!

By omitting the butter, these rice krispie treats set quite firmly once they’ve cooled. This allows you to compress the into whatever shape you need, and easily frost them.

image of an elephant cake made with buttercream and rice krispie treats

What Type of Cereal Should I Use?

Any type of puffed rice cereal will work in this recipe!

I usually use classic rice krispies, but sometimes I use cocoa krispies or even strawberry rice krispies to make whatever cake flavor I’m making.

I don’t recommend using different types of cereal that have a different shape because they’ll be harder to shape smoothly.

What Type of Marshmallows Should I Use?

I find mini marshmallows melt down the most quickly and easily. However, you can use full-sized marshmallows if needed!

Tips for Making the Best Cake Decorating Rice Krispies

  • Be sure to grease your hands with non-stick spray before handling the rice krispies. This will make them much easier to shape.
  • Don’t overheat your marshmallows! Heat them just until they’re soft and fluffy, otherwise you can burn your hands when you try to handle the rice krispies.
  • Firmly press the rice krispies together to compact them into a firm shape. This will make them easier to frost.
  • As you shape your rice krispie shapes, hold them against or next to your cake to make sure they’re the right size and shape.
  • The ideal time to make these is once you’ve crumb coated your cake. This way you can shape them and add them to your cake while you’re still warm and flexible.
  • Press the rice krispie shapes against your chilled cake when they’re still a bit warm to help them easily adhere to your cake.

Cake Decorating Rice Krispies Recipe Yield

This recipe makes about 4 cups of rice krispies.

This recipe can easily be halved or doubled to decrease or increase the yield as needed.

For my elephant cake I used about 4 cups of these cake decorating rice krispies.

My Patrick Star cake was slightly larger, and I ended up using about 6 cups of these rice krispies to make his legs.

image of cake decorating rice krispies added to a patrick star cake to make his arms and legs

Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this recipe for cake decorating rice krispies, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Let me know your thoughts by sharing a comment and rating below.

Don’t forget to tag me @chelsweets and use #chelsweets so that I can see your amazing creations on social media!

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Deb Helser

Sunday 3rd of March 2024

I made this Elephant Cake for my grandson's 6th birthday. Thank you for the amazing tutorial. Not Sure if I can upload a picture of it to "show-off" but I would love to show you.

Chelsweets

Tuesday 5th of March 2024

I am so happy to hear that my tutorial was helpful Deb!! Sadly the comments section on here doesn't let us upload pictures, but if you're on social media you can tag me @chelsweets so I can see!! I would love to see it!

How To Make Rice Crispy Treats For Cake Decorating | The Article Home

Sunday 7th of January 2024

[…] you’ve ever wondered how to make rice crispy treats for cake decorating, you’ve come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide, […]

Teri

Friday 11th of August 2023

I’ll be making a Tangled Tower out of this recipe. It will sit upon a tiered cake. I’m wondering if I will need a support dowel to stabilize the tower. Your input will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your knowledge and sharing it.

Chelsweets

Wednesday 16th of August 2023

Hi Teri,

I would recommend inserting a dowel though the center of the rice krispie tower and the cake, just to help keep it in place! Hope your cake turns out amazing, happy baking!

Emma Boyes

Sunday 23rd of July 2023

How far in advance can I make the rice crispy? I want to use it for a head and have the cake as the body, but I was hoping to cover it in modelling chocolate then fondant to seal it

Chelsweets

Sunday 23rd of July 2023

Hi Emma,

You can make them pretty far in advance, I'd say up to two weeks! They won't really go bad, they'll just get a little bit stale. But once they're covered in buttercream or modeling chocolate it should help with that! Hope that helps, happy baking!

Sian

Wednesday 24th of May 2023

I am having a go at making a sewing machine cake. This part will be the side and top part. Where the needle should be I will have a support. Will it need a a support the the rice crispies on the other side?

Chelsweets

Saturday 27th of May 2023

Hi Sian,

What a fun cake design! I don't think you'd need another support on the other side for the rice krispies, especially if you use a ganache or thick layer of frosting to lock the rice krispie portion in place and cover it.

I haven't had any trouble in the past supporting the rice krispie section on cakes. Hope that helps and that your cake turns out amazing!!

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