Moana was the first movie my daughter ever sat down and watched all the way through. Your little one obviously loves this Disney movie as well, and that’s why you’re looking for a Moana cake!
To get your creative juices flowing for making a Moana birthday cake, you’ve come to the right spot. Not only is this article filled with gorgeous pictures of Moana cakes, it’s also packed with tips and tutorials. Plus, I’ve designed some Moana cake topper sets, and I’m giving one away for FREE!
I like to find cakes that the average person can realistically make on their own… Meaning, these are mostly achievable, easy Moana cake ideas. (I did throw in a couple of doozies just because they are so beautiful, but if you’re experienced, you can do it!) And if you’re just looking for a place to buy a cake, I’ll tell you the best place to get a cheap Moana cake that’s pretty AND delicious.
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Sheet Cake Designs
Moana Meeting the Wave
This Moana sheet cake has a beach made of crushed vanilla wafers and a wave made of candy melts. It’s really cool!
Special Supplies Needed: seashell candy molds
Time to Make: 5 hours
Skill: Beginner
Beach Cake with Chocolate Finger Border
Chocolate fingers and leis surround this beach scene cake.
Special Supplies Needed: chocolate fingers; a lei
Time to Make: 3.5 hours
Skill: Beginner
Doll Cake
Rosanna Pansino used a doll dress cake mold to create a grass-skirt Moana doll cake – and it’s actually pretty easy! I did something similar with Mirabel Madrigal for Lily’s Encanto birthday party. Here’s a video of how it was done:
Special Supplies Needed: doll dress cake pan
Time to Make: 3 hours
Skill: Intermediate
Ocean Wave Cake
Asma Qureshi on YouTube shows you how to create a beautiful, edible ocean wave using blue isomalt! It’ll work perfectly for a cake where baby Moana is walking out to the ocean and it moves for her.
Special Supplies Needed: blue isomalt nibs
Time to Make: 5 hours
Skill: Intermediate
Baby Moana Birthday Cake
This video from Zoe’s Fancy Cakes shows every little step of how she achieved this movie-realistic cake in the shape of baby Moana’s head! Color dusting is a big part of her method, and she uses bits of fondant under her main drape of fondant to achieve the lips and nose.
Special Supplies Needed: skin tone fondant
Time to Make: 2 hours
Skill: Intermediate-Advanced
Moana Cupcakes
Cupcake Cake
I couldn’t find a tutorial or blog to go with this photo, but you really don’t need one to make this cupcake cake. It’s easy! Just arrange the cupcakes in whatever shape/number you’d like, frost them shades of blue to look like the ocean (and maybe sprinkle some wafer-crumb sand on one end), and add some character toys wherever you like!
Heart of Te’Fiti and Maui’s Hook Cupcakes
These super-simple cupcakes show off two of the most important items in the first Moana film: Maui’s hook and the heart of Te’Fiti.
Special Supplies Needed: coconut flakes
Time to Make: 2 hours
Skill: Beginner
Maui Cake
A Moana and Maui birthday cake can be simple, but tedious. This two-tier cake has a leaf skirt surrounding the bottom and a simple brown-skin fondant covering the top with Maui’s tattoos drawn all over it. Do yourself a favor and top it with a toy hook instead of trying to make your own out of chocolate!
Special Supplies Needed: Maui’s hook toy (up to 12”)
Time to Make: 6 hours
Skill: Intermediate
Tamatoa Cake
This is by far the most insanely difficult Moana birthday cake on this list… But if you’ve got the skill, it’s 100% worth it. Look at that beautiful crab cake (LOL)!
Special Supplies Needed: a lot… check her post for links!
Time to Make: at least a week
Skill: Expert
Made-to-Order Cake Options
Currently, Walmart has one cake available using licensed Moana images and toppers: a simple sheet cake. Wal-mart’s frosting is tasty and their cakes are reasonably priced if you don’t have time (or, well, skill) to make your own! Last time I checked, they were not showing this cake (or any Moana cakes) in their main catalogue, but it could still be ordered online.
Special Candle for the Cake
You can go for the regular stick candles in your required quantity, or you can get this adorable 2.5-inch candle that doubles as a cake topper featuring Moana and her pet pig Pua!
- DISNEY MOANA BIRTHDAY CANDLE: Add a touch of magic to your child’s…
- PERFECT SIZE & DESIGN: Measuring 2.4″x2.6″, this eye-catching birthday…
- SINGLE COUNT PACKAGE: Our Disney Moana Birthday Candle comes as a…
- IDEAL FOR THEMED CELEBRATIONS: Planning a Moana-themed party? Look no…
- BOOST YOUR PARTY’S ATMOSPHERE: Capture the spirit of adventure and…
Cake Toppers and Decorations
Walmart’s Toppers via Amazon
If you have the skill to copy Walmart’s cake and just need the toppers, you can get them separately! Walmart doesn’t generally carry Moana-specific toppers out on the shelves. But if you’re looking to purchase just the licensed toppers they use in their custom bakery cakes, you can buy it from Amazon!
- Interactive Disney Moana Cake Figurines – Set sail with Moana and Pua…
- Reusable Disney Moana Cake Topper – Made of strong plastic, it can be…
- Food-Safe Disney Moana Cake Topper – The DecoSet Moana Adventures in…
- Ready to Use – The Disney Moana Cake Topper is sure to create a…
- Disney Moana Cake Decorations – Get your Cake Decorations from the…
Edible Cake Topper
You can purchase an edible image on Amazon that fit perfectly on top of a 9×13 frosted cake. If you’re looking for an easy DIY Moana cake that still looks nice, this is the way to go!
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Cupcake Ring Toppers
For very young children, sometimes cupcakes are easier than trying to get them to sit down with a slice of cake. They’ll love these Moana rings on top of their cupcakes that they can wear home, and you’ll love how easy it is to make your cupcakes Moana-themed.
- DecoPac Disney Moana 2 Cupcake Rings – 24 Shaped Cupcake Rings…
- Officially Licensed – Ideal for birthdays, celebrations, and surprises…
- Ready to Use – These Moana 2 inspired cupcake toppers are sure to…
- Food Safe – Each wooden framed effect ring is made of food-safe molded…
- Get your Cake Decorations from the same place as the professionals!…
Cake Figures
There are a few different Moana figurine sets available, and which one you should get depends on what kind of scene you’re trying to set up on your Moana cake. Some of the playsets don’t come with a baby Moana figurine or Tamatoa, and to me, that’s a dealbreaker! I recommend this Moana figure playset because you’ll have lots of options for decorating, and your kiddo will have a blast playing with these high-quality figures after the party.
- Inspired by the animated Disney movie, this Moana set includes 6…
- Includes small dolls Moana and the demigod Maui, her father Chief Tui…
- The package includes a double-sided backdrop and perforated pieces…
- Moana doll wears her signature necklace and two-piece outfit with a…
- Makes a perfect gift for kids to play out their favorite movie moments…
Printable Cake Toppers
Baby Moana
This adorable baby Moana cake topper can be customized with your child’s name and age. You can print it on paper and cut it out, or upload the transparent PNG to software like Print Then Cut to use your Cricut to cut it out! It’s got baby Moana reaching toward the age number, which is made out of gold glitter (I think Tamatoa would approve).
Grown-Up Moana
Moana’s all grown up in this cake topper, standing strong with her power of the ocean illustrated in the water symbol shaped like the heart of Te’Fiti. It can also be customized with your child’s age and name!
Moana and Maui
Maui has been a huge success in terms of male Disney characters, and his friendship with Moana turned out to be awesome. This printable cake topper features both of them along with a wooden sign that says “Happy Birthday [NAME]” that can be customized for your child.
Free Printable Moana Cake Toppers
If you’re trying to spend as little money as possible on your Moana birthday cake, I’ve got a free printable PDF of Moana characters you can use as cake toppers! Just print them out on cardstock at Best/Fine quality, cut them out, and attach them to flat sandwich toothpicks. You’ll be able to create your own little movie scene on top of the cake.
If you’d like to get transparent PNGs of each character so you can upload it to Design Space or any other Print-Then-Cut-type software for quick and easy cutting, you can get them with the premium listing here!
Tips to Make Your Own Moana Cake
- Watch the movie. Draw your inspiration not just from other people’s cakes, but from images from the movie that strike you! There’s the sand, the ocean, her pets Pua and Hei Hei, Maui’s hook, and so many other little things that can inspire you.
- Plan it out. You don’t want to go into cake-making mode without any real plan to go off of. Plan out your cake in whatever way works for you, even if it’s just a basic sketch of what you want to achieve. I like to create my design right down to its proportions in Photoshop.
- Play to your strengths. If you’ve never, ever worked with fondant before, don’t do something crazy and start a custom-designed, three-tier birthday cake. You don’t want to pull an all-nighter, stress yourself out, and be grumpy during the party. I might know this from experience…
- Get your supplies well in advance. From basic supplies to toppers and other Moana cake decorations, order these things weeks in advance. This ensures you have everything you need before it’s time to get started.
- Make it ahead. I never recommend making a cake the day of the party – and depending on its complexity, the day before might be too late, too. If you’re using fondant accents that need to dry, make them several days ahead. Bake the cakes the evening before you want to get the cake frosted. Only leave what you absolutely have to for the day of the party!
