Celebrate Roald Dahl Day With 9 Utterly Scrumptious Cakes

We’ve rounded up 9 brilliant Roald Dahl-related cakes that take inspiration from his stories…

Mrs Ladybug Cake

This stunning Mrs Ladybug Cake was created by Nancy’s Cakes and Beyond, for the Cakenweenie project last year - a project designed to celebrate the work of Tim Burton - who produced the 1996 film version of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach. This cake depicts Mrs Ladybug, one of the creatures that lives inside the peach. Her creator, Nancy, explains: “Her body is made of Rice Krispy Treats that I covered in chocolate and then fondant. Her arms, purse and head and hat are all made of fondant and the leaves and things in her hat are made of gumpaste. The background is to represent being inside of the peach and is also made of fondant.”

Bruce Bogtrotter’s Cake

We all remember that part in the book Matilda, with Bruce Bogtrotter and THAT cake. And Rebecca, from The Art of Eating Books was so inspired that she decided to recreate the legendary cake herself. It’s featured as a guest post on the blog Sift and Whisk. Over to Rebecca: “This recipe is inspired by the iconic scene in which the evil headmaster The Trunchbull tries to punish wholesome, cake-loving Bruce Bogtrotter by forcing him to finish a giant chocolate cake in one sitting. It’s supposed to be torturous but I don’t understand. Too much cake? Is that even a thing?? OM NOM NOM.” Sigh. We’re with you, there, Rebecca.

James and the Giant Peach Torte

Kat, from Birdhouse Bakers created this surprise birthday cake, complete with a figure of James sitting on top of the peach. It’s made up of a six-inch peach torte - with vanilla sponge, pastry cream, peaches and meringue. She made it for her husband, who celebrates his birthday in September and is “a huge Dahl fan from when he was a kid. He also loves peaches,” she told us, “making the cake the perfect birthday cake for him in time for Roald Dahl Day.” It took 3-4 hours to make.

Willy Wonka Cake

Royal Cakes, based in Los Angeles, created this colourful cake, based on the character of Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roxanne, from Royal Cakes, tells us that the cake was a red velvet cake with cream cheese filling and took 12 hours to make. “The entire cake is covered in fondant and all designs are made out of sugar,” she says. “It’s a 3-tier, whimsical topsy turvy cake design.” Gorgeous, right?

The Enormous Crocodile

Over to Chelmsford-based Liv a Little Bakery for this one, a cake inspired by the 1978 Roald Dahl book about a really hungry crocodile. The Enormous Crocodile cake was made for a Roald Dahl-themed birthday party where it was served alongside Miss Spider and Mrs Ladybug cookies inspired by James and the Giant Peach. Liv told us that it was made “for a little girl who loves all of the Roald Dahl books.”

Burtonesque Willy Wonka Cake

Antonella di Maria has made some amazing cakes. Princesses, cartoon characters - and now this one, inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It takes inspiration from the Tim Burton film of the book, and Willy Wonka even looks quite life-like, standing in front of the cake with his cane and those cool TV-room glasses. Check out the Golden Ticket, Willy Wonka’s hat and the swirly candy cakes and toadstools, too.

Miss Spider Cake

Another stunning cake inspired by Miss Spider from the James and the Giant Peach story. This cake was made by Nikki at California-based Sweet Belle Cakes. Miss Spider measures six inches, and is made from Rice Krispy Treats covered with fondant. The spiderweb decoration in the background was also made using fondant and marshmallow. Nikki says, on her Facebook page: “I actually still have her locked in my hutch! I haven't the heart to let her go yet.”

Oompa Loompa Cake Pops

Lauren says she spent “most of her school years dabbling in the arts (painting, sketching, doodling… and finally majoring in art history),” before she discovered a talent for baking and decorating cakes. These incredibly-detailed cake pops, from the website Sweet Lauren Cakes, are styled on the brilliant Oompa Loompas from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Roald Dahl Books Cake

This rather large cake was created by Lise Bonin, from Cake Doctor LLC. She made it for her daughter’s eighth birthday. “She was and is a devoted fan of Roald Dahl's works, down to every last detail of his writings,” Lise tells us. Each tier has a different flavoured cake - for example the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory layer was a chocolate cake with caramel fondant “reminiscent of the Golden Ticket”, says Lise, while The Witches layer was lemon cake covered with lemon fondant. The James and the Giant Peach layer was, quite rightly, peach-flavoured. All the characters around the books and the miniature books were sugar sculptures, which Lise says took her around a week to make.

Which are your favourite Roald Dahl stories? Could you eat Bruce Bogtrotter’s Cake? And what character would you base a cake design on? Let us know on Twitter.

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