Moana Cake Recipe

This adorable Moana Cake, with crashing waves, sandy shores, and Moana herself, is the perfect sweet treat for fans of the Disney movie! Whether you’re celebrating a birthday or just having a fun Moana movie night, this beautiful cake is sure to be a hit!

Originally published March 2017 – Updated November 2024

Ever since we watched Disney’s Moana, we’ve been hooked! The music, the story—it’s all so good. We even threw a Moana birthday party for my youngest, and of course that meant we needed a cake!

With ocean waves, sandy shores, and Moana herself, this cake captures everything we love about the movie. The best part is that putting it together is easy and fun. The kids can even help with the cake decoration by adding candy seashells or sprinkling the “sand.”

Ingredients

• White frosting
• Boxed cake mixes – you will also need eggs, oil and water to make them
• Pretzel sticks
• Crushed graham crackers (or vanilla wafers)
• Light blue and white candy melts – for the wave
• Light green candy melts – for the palm trees
• Brown candy melts – for the palm trees
• Various other colors of candy melts for the seashells (optional)
• Blue and green gel food coloring
• Candy flowers
• Coconut oil or vegetable oil – to thin the chocolate if it’s too thick
• Non food items – Moana figurine, mini seashell candy mold, printable sail, piping bag with star tip.

Making The Candy Decor

Step 1. Place the light blue candy melts in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Next, take a bowl with a nicely rounded bottom and use your fingers or a spatula to spread the melted blue candy in a wave-like shape along the bottom curve of the bowl and up the side. The shape and texture should mimic a wave. Refrigerate until the candy has set (about 10 minutes).

Step 2. Once set, melt about 1/4 cup of the white candy melts. Spread over the inside and outside of the blue wave, leaving some of the blue still showing. Refrigerate until needed.

Step 3: Melt the chocolate candy melts. Dip pretzel sticks into the chocolate, then place on the parchment paper to set. For the palm leaves, drizzle melted green candy melts back and forth on wax paper. Let them harden completely before moving them. Once set, use extra chocolate to attached them to the pretzels.

Step 4. Melt the remaining white candy melts and separate into 3-4 different bowls. Use gel food coloring to make a few different colors, then pour into the seashell molds and let set. You can also find candy seashells online if you’re looking for a shortcut.

Making The Cake

Step 1. Bake cakes according to the package directions. You’ll need 4 boxes of cake mix because each 9×13 pan takes two. Once baked, allow the cakes to cool completely.

Step 2. Use a cake leveler to level the cakes so that they are both flat on top. Cover the top of one cake with white frosting, then place the second cake on top of it.

Decorating The Cake

Step 1. Frost half of the cake with white frosting.

Step 2. Mix blue food coloring with remaining white frosting until you get a pretty ocean blue color. Spread it over a little more than half of the cake, creating swirls of waves. Swirl it together slightly with the white frosting where the blue and white meet.

Step 3. For the sandy shore, sprinkle crushed graham crackers over the white frosting, stopping along the “shoreline”.

Step 4. Adding the wave to this Moana cake can be a little tricky. What I found worked best was to make a slit with a knife, about the width of the wave. Dip the bottom part of the wave in melted candy to help it stay in place, then push the wave down into the slit. This should keep the wave nice and sturdy without any wobbling, but if it’s still a little wobbly, you may want to push it deeper!

Step 5. Use this free printable sail and mini pretzel sticks to make Moana’s sailboat. You can attach the sail to a small lollipop stick or a toothpick.

Step 6. Pipe some of the blue frosting around the bottom edge of the ocean area of the cake.

Step 7. Add the candy shells around the cake. Make sure to push firmly to any on the side of the cake, so that they stay attached with the icing.

Step 8. Add some candy flowers to the sandy area on top of the cake.

Step 9. Finish your masterpiece by adding Moana, Pua and any other characters you like, with the palm trees in the background

How to Store and Transport This Cake

Storing:  Place it in a large cake box or cover it loosely with plastic wrap to protect the decorations, especially the wave and seashells. You may also want to wait to add the wave, figurines, trees and sail until just before serving, just so that it’s easier to store.

Transporting: If you’re transporting this cake, place a non-slip mat or a towel under the cake board to prevent sliding while on the go. I would also wait to add the bigger decorations once you get to your destination. It really only takes an extra minute or two to add them and that way you can use a cake carrier with a lid.

Variations and Add-ins

• Figurines: I found these Moana cake toppers online (the pack also comes with Maui, Hei Hei and even baby Moana). With the movie coming out soon, you should easily be able to find similar ones in store too.
• Edible glitter: Use a little blue or green edible glitter on the waves to make them sparkle like real ocean water.
• Sea creatures: Use gummy fish, starfish, or small candy sea creatures to create an ocean scene around the base of the cake.
• Extracts: Add coconut or pineapple extract to the cake batter or frosting for a more tropical flavor.
• Cake mixes: I like to use white or yellow but feel free to use your favorite cake mix flavor.

FAQs

More Birthday Party Cake And Cupcake Recipes

• Princess Castle Cake
• Tangled Birthday Cake
• Unicorn Cupcakes
• Harry Potter Birthday Cake
• Beauty And The Beast Cupcakes
• Beach Cake
• Mermaid Cupcakes

4.95 from 17 votes

Moana Birthday Cake

Author Lisa O’Driscoll | Fun Money Mom

Course Birthday Cakes & Cupcakes

Cuisine American

Prep Time 4 hours hours

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 5 hours hours

Servings 24

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If you have a little one that loves the new Disney Princess Moana, you’re going to be mommy of the year when you surprise her with this fun Moana birthday cake

Equipment

• 2 9×13" cake pans
• cake leveler
• Moana cake toppers
• seashell candy mold
• Printable sail

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 boxes yellow or white cake mix
• ▢ 1/2 cup blue candy melts for the tall wave
• ▢ 1/2 cup white candy melts, separated for the tall wave and seashells
• ▢ 1/4 cup chocolate candy melts
• ▢ 1/4 cup green candy melts
• ▢ 32 ounces canisters white frosting 2 containers
• ▢ blue gel food coloring for the blue frosting
• ▢ gel food coloring (assorted colors) for the seashells
• ▢ 1 cup crushed graham crackers
• ▢ 7 mini pretzel sticks
• ▢ candy flowers

Instructions

Making The Candy Decor

• Place the light blue candy melts in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Next, take a bowl with a nicely rounded bottom and use your fingers or a spatula to spread the melted blue candy in a wave-like shape along the bottom curve of the bowl and up the side. The shape and texture should mimic a wave. Refrigerate until the candy has set (about 10 minutes).
• Once set, melt about 1/4 cup of the white candy melts. Spread over the inside and outside of the blue wave, leaving some of the blue still showing. Refrigerate until needed.
• Melt the chocolate candy melts. Dip pretzel sticks into the chocolate, then place on the parchment paper to set. For the palm leaves, drizzle melted green candy melts back and forth on wax paper. Let them harden completely before moving them. Once set, use extra chocolate to attached them to the pretzels.
• Melt the remaining white candy melts and separate into 3-4 different bowls. Use gel food coloring to make a few different colors, then pour into the seashell molds and let set. You can also find candy seashells online if you’re looking for a shortcut.

Making The Cake

• Bake cakes according to the package directions. You’ll need 4 boxes of cake mix because each 9×13 pan takes two. Once baked, allow the cakes to cool completely.
• Use a cake leveler to level the cakes so that they are both flat on top. Cover the top of one cake with white frosting, then place the second cake on top of it.

Decorating The Cake

• Frost half of the cake with white frosting.
• Mix blue food coloring with remaining white frosting until you get a pretty ocean blue color. Spread it over a little more than half of the cake, creating swirls of waves. Swirl it together slightly with the white frosting where the blue and white meet.
• For the sandy shore, sprinkle crushed graham crackers over the white frosting, stopping along the “shoreline”.
• Adding the wave to this Moana cake can be a little tricky. What I found worked best was to make a slit with a knife, about the width of the wave. Dip the bottom part of the wave in melted candy to help it stay in place, then push the wave down into the slit. This should keep the wave nice and sturdy without any wobbling, but if it’s still a little wobbly, you may want to push it deeper!
• Use the printable sail and mini pretzel sticks to make Moana's sailboat. You can attach the sail to a short lollipop stick or a toothpick.
• Pipe some of the blue frosting around the bottom edge of the ocean area of the cake.
• Add the candy shells around the cake. Make sure to push firmly to any on the side of the cake, so that they stay attached with the icing.
• Add some candy flowers to the sandy area on top of the cake.
• Finish your masterpiece by adding Moana, Pua and any other characters you like, with the palm trees in the background

Notes

• When molding the wave, spray the bowl with a little cooking spray or rub with vegetable oil to make it easier to remove when you’re done.
• You can buy plastic palm trees instead of making them, if you need to save a little time.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 525kcal | Carbohydrates: 104g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 725mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 66g | Calcium: 186mg | Iron: 2mg

The nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used.

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