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.

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.

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.

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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Cake Decorating Rice Krispie Treats

This recipe for cake decorating rice krispies is a total game changer! They allow you to easily create sculpted, shaped cakes without tons of extra cake or frosting.
Ingredients
Cake Decorating Rice Krispie Treats
- 4 cups mini marshmallows (200 grams)
- 6 cups puffed rice cereal (90 grams)
Instructions
Cake Decorating Rice Krispie Treats
- Place 4 cups of mini marshmallows in a heatproof bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at full power.
- Stir then heat in 15 second intervals (stirring between) until the marshmallows are look soft and are melted.
- Pour in 6 cups of rice krispies or puffed rice cereal and stir until the cereal is fully coated in melted marshmallows.
- Grease your hands with cooking spray then create whatever shapes you need. I recommend firmly pressing the rice krispies together to compact them into a firm shape. This will make them easier to frost.
Notes
Tips for Making the Best Cake Decorating Rice Krispies:
- Be sure to grease your hands 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.
- As you shape your rice krispie treat shapes, hold them against or next to your cake to make sure they're the right size and shape.
- Press the rice krispie shapes against your chilled cake when they're still a bit warm to help them easily adhere to your cake.
Yield
This recipe makes about 4 cups of cake decorating friendly rice krispies. This recipe can easily be halved or doubled to decrease or increase the yield.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 242Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 75mgCarbohydrates 58gFiber 1gSugar 29gProtein 3g
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!!
Lisa
Tuesday 18th of April 2023
Please read message below and email me thank you Lisa
Lisa
Tuesday 18th of April 2023
Hi love everything you have made. I have to somehow make an airplane a cessna it will sit on top of a 9x13 cake. Can you please give me guidance on how to do this with Rice krispies. Planning on using white buttercream frosting to frost the rice krispie plane. Help.... thank you. Lisa
Chelsweets
Sunday 23rd of April 2023
Hi Lisa,
I'd recommend making the body of the plane with a small batch rice krispies, and making the wings and other accessories with bits of fondant or modeling chocolate. You should be able to cover the rice kripsies with white buttercream, then add on the fondant details. Hope that helps and that it turns out great! Happy baking!