How to Make an Island Cake with Jello

Today I’m going to show you How to Make an Island Cake with Jello from start to finish. This cake trend of 2020 looks very impressive and it’s much easier to make then it’s seems. With my full tutorial you can make this beautiful Island cake without any problems.

You can use any cake recipe you like, or you can make my Chocolate Sponge Cake with dark chocolate ganache filling. After the cake chilled in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours or overnight it’s time to decorate it.

Ingredients for the chocolate ganache with butter:

200g dark chocolate
100g soften butter

Ingredients for the jello:

20g gelatin powder
120 ml cold water for the gelatin
300 ml water
75g sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for the modeling chocolate:

100g white chocolate
40g glucose syrup (or corn syrup)

Ingredients for the décor:

white gel food coloring (or powdered dioxide titanium and vodka)
edible moss
cookie crumbs
gel food coloring

Step 1

Start by microwaving the chocolate for 20 seconds (or 10 seconds if at a high temperature) then take the bowl out and give it a stir. Place the bowl back in the microwave and repeat the process of cooking for another 20 seconds, stopping, stirring and returning it to the microwave until the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool down. When the chocolate cools down to room temperature add the soften butter and mix for about 4 minutes or until it has thickened and lightened in color.

Step 2

Next, using a sharp knife carve the cake creating the future bottom of the ocean. Save all the cake pieces, we’ll use them in a minute. It’s totally up to you how to carve the cake and it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Step 3

Knead with your hands all the cake that we cut out until it’s easily comes together. Use the chocolate ganache to glue the mountains to the cake surface and using the cake crumbs create the desired shape of the mountains.

Step 4

Next step is to cover the cake with chocolate ganache, this way we create a protective layer between the cake and the jello. Then refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes.

Step 5

First, we need to bloom the gelatin. Add the smaller portion of the water to the gelatin powder, mix very well and set aside for 15 minutes. In a saucepan, bring the rest of the water, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract to a boil. Whisk all together until all the sugar is dissolved and remove the saucepan from the heat.

Next, microwave the gelatin mixture for 15 seconds (or 10 seconds if at a high temperature) then take the bowl out and give it a stir. Repeat the process if there are pieces of unmelted gelatin. Be careful to not overheat the gelatin. Add the blue food coloring to the sugar water and transfer it into the bowl. While constantly stirring, pour the gelatin into the water. The water and gelatin need to be approximately the same temperature. Let it cool to room temperature.

Step 6

While the jello is cooling down, make a second coat of chocolate ganache and refrigerate the cake again. The cake is almost ready for pouring the gelatin, but if you would like to make the bottom of the ocean more interesting and colorful you can make cake toppers using modeling chocolate or fondant. To make the modeling chocolate we’ll need white chocolate and glucose syrup. You can also use corn syrup instead of glucose syrup.

Start by melting the chocolate, either in a double boiler or microwave. Be careful to not overheat the white chocolate. Pour the glucose syrup into the chocolate and mix it all together. If the glucose syrup is to thick, microwave it for a few second to a running consistency. The mixture will start thickening right away. Keep mixing until it gets to a playdough consistency. Cover the modeling chocolate with plastic wrap and flatten it with your hands. Place in a Ziplock bag or airtight container and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes before using.

Step 7

Next, we’ll need to color the modeling chocolate. Divide the chocolate into the desire amount of colors, wear food handling gloves and knead in the coloring. In the kneading process there will be cocoa butter released and depends on the chocolate you use it can be more or less. Unused modeling chocolate should always be covered, or it will dry out.

Step 8

I don’t think I need to explain how to make the figures. Use your imagination for making undersea world.

I want to bring your attention that cake toppers will melt a little because of the jello. To prevent it, you can cover them with melted cocoa butter after they will be placed on the cake.

Step 9

The next step is using a brush to color the mountains and the bottom of the ocean with white coloring. You can use white gel food coloring or a mix of powdered dioxide titanium and vodka. Let it dry for a few minutes and start to glue the cake toppers with the chocolate ganache.

Now it’s time to cover the cake toppers with cocoa butter to prevent them from melting in the jello.

Step 10

Next, it’s a very important step. We need to glue the acetate film to the cake in order to prevent the jello leaking out. Cover the bottom and the back part of the cake with the ganache and place the acetate film around the cake. Go over with your hands to make sure it sticks well. Place the adjustable baking ring on top and adjust the ring so that it fits tight around the cake. One more step to prevent the jello from leaking out, is to secure the edges with a few layers of tape.

Step 11

When the gelatin has reached room temperature, pour a little bit of it into the form, filling about half an inch. Then refrigerate the cake for 15 minutes. When the first layer of gello sets, pour the second one and refrigerate the cake again. When the second layer of gello sets, pour the rest of the gelatin and keep it refrigerated.

Step 12

When the gello sets, remove the tape, adjustable ring and the acetate film. As you can see, it’s very easy to remove it. Remove the gello from the back of the cake, if it gets there. Then spread the ganache to cover any imperfections.

Step 13

Finally, it’s time to decorate the cake. We’ll need some edible moss. We also need some cookie crumbs to imitate the send. Part of the cookie crumbs I colored in green with gel food coloring and at last we’ll need a brush and some white food coloring.

Start by imitating white waives on the beach. Take a little bit of white color on your brush and spread it along the coastline. Then add some send. Using the chocolate ganache, glue the green cookie crumbs to the back of the cake. Then glue the pieces of the edible moss in a few places. Add more green cookie crumbs to imitate the greens of the mountains. Again, use your imagination to decorate the Island cake the way you see it.

The cake is ready! I think you can agree with me that this cake is much easier to make then it’s seems.

I want to cut the cake and show you how it looks inside.

I really hope that my post will be useful to you and inspire you to make the Island cake.

Notes:

You can use any cake recipe you like, or you can make my Chocolate Sponge Cake with dark chocolate ganache filling.
Make sure the cake chilled in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours or overnight before decorating it.
I want to bring your attention that cake toppers will melt a little because of the jello. To prevent it, you can cover them with melted cocoa butter after they will be placed on the cake.

If my post was useful to you, please let me know in the comment section below.

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