Your kids will have fun helping you make this hat cake for your New Year's Eve celebration.

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 boxes cake mix
• 9 x 13 cake pan
• non-stick cooking spray with flour
• white gum paste (golf ball size)
• white fondant (golf ball size)
• decorator icing
• paper towel
• turquoise blue food coloring

• purple food coloring
• knife
• edible gold glitter
• fondant roller or regular rolling pin
• blue, purple, and green sprinkles
• cake board (larger than 9"x13")
• decorative foil

Instructions

1. Bake a cake using one and one-half cake mixes, in a 9x13 inch cake pan, according to the package or mix directions. (You can use the extra cake mix to make a few cupcakes)

2. Once the cake is baked, set it aside to cool completely.

3. 

   While the cake is baking and cooling, combine the fondant and the gum paste. Once they're mixed together thoroughly, divide the mixture into two halves. Use purple food coloring to make one piece of fondant purple. Use the blue food coloring to make the second piece blue.

4. 

   Roll the purple fondant-gum paste ball out with a fondant roller or rolling pin. Use a little shortening to keep the fondant from sticking.

5. 

   Have an adult use a knife to cut the rolled fondant into thin ¼ inch strips.

6. Wrap the strips around a pen or pencil to make curls, and then let them dry.

7. Roll the blue fondant with the fondant roller. Use a little shortening to keep the fondant from sticking.

8. 

   Trace a spiral pattern on stiff paper or cardboard and cut it out. Lay it over the fondant and have an adult use a knife to cut the pattern out of the fondant. Move the pattern and repeat the process 2 more times.

9. When the cake is completely cool level off the top of the cake with a serrated knife.

10. Cover a large cake board with decorative foil. Put the cake on the board, cut side down.

11. 

    Use a serrated knife to cut the cake from the center top, to the corner of the base, so the finished cake is shaped like a party hat.

12. Color the decorator icing turquoise blue.

13. 

    Ice the cake with a thin layer of the turquoise blue icing to seal in the crumbs.

14. Let the icing dry for several minutes, and add a second layer of icing.

15. 

    After the icing has several more minutes to dry use a paper towel to flatten the seams and creases in the icing. Lay the paper towel over the cake and rub across it gently to smooth the icing.

16. 

    Place the spirals on the top of the cake and arrange the curls on top of and around the cake.

17. Sprinkle the cake with the edible gold glitter. Sprinkle the glitter heavier at the base to make the hat brim.

Tips

You can bake a second cake, and make this a two layer cake if you have several guests at your New Year's Eve party.