Grinch cakes are so popular for Christmas, and I have a really easy tutorial for you today. I also have 10 more Grinch Cake ideas for you if you need some inspiration for a different design. These are perfect for a Christmas celebration, a Grinch birthday cake or a Grinch smash cake. Or host a Grinch movie night and serve this cake for dessert!
Originally posted December 2021, updated September 2024.
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How to Make an Easy Grinch Cake!
This Easy Grinch Cake was so fun to put together and my client absolutely loved it! Even better, I'm sharing details on the Grinch cake I made so you can make it too!
Love The Grinch? I have more Grinch recipes here!
Tools Needed
- Two 7 or 8-inch round cakes* - no special Grinch cake pan needed for this; bake your cake in round cake pans). To make the cake, you'll need mixing bowls and an electric mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer). Also some measuring cups and spoons.
- Offset Spatula
- Bench Scraper
- Piping Bag
- Round Piping Tip
- Green Gel Food Coloring (Electric Green and Leaf Green)
- Black Gel Coloring
- Red Gel Coloring
- Wax Paper
- Edible Green Spray
- Card Stock
- Paper Straws
- Hot Glue Gun
*Note - You don't need a special Grinch Cake recipe. You can use your favorite cake flavor and any recipe you love. If your cake is white, you can add green food coloring to make the cake batter green as well. It would also be fun if you made a red cake on the inside. Here's a great red velvet recipe.
For the cake I'm sharing today, I baked 7-inch round cakes. The flavor was myh favorite recipe: White Almond Sour Cream with vanilla buttercream. You can find the cake recipe here and the frosting recipe here.
Now let's get into the holiday spirit and make this Easy Grinch Face Cake.
How to Make a Grinch Cake
I am sharing detailed instructions below. Please leave a comment if you have any questions.
- Bake and cool the cakes. Don't forget to make green batter if you want it green inside and ouot.
- Make the green frosting. To get the perfect shade of green cake, I used a mixture of Americolor Electric Green Gel color and Americolor Leaf Green Gel color.
- Fill and frost the cake layers. After smooth frosting the cake (see my How to Smooth Frost a Buttercream Cake video here), I put it in the fridge to chill while I worked on the decorations.
- For the hat, hand, and face, I purchased these Grinch images on Etsy, then printed them on cardstock and cut out the hat and hand (with Christmas ball).
- I made the banner using Picmonkey - you can enter your email address below and I'm happy to send it the banner you (you will be agreeing to sign up for my email newsletter).
- For the face, I printed out the image, then laid wax paper over it and traced the Grinch outline using black, red, and yellow buttercream. I froze the Grinch face outline (which was a buttercream transfer image), then pressed it onto the cake and peeled the wax paper off. It worked pretty well (although I wish it had been a little cleaner).
- If you're not familiar with this method, you can see more about buttercream transfers here or a more broad use here with Wilton.
- If doing the buttercream transfer is too much for you, you can make an easy Grinch by printing the Grinch face as an edible image or also do it on card stock and gently attach to the front of the cake with a dot of buttercream.
- The only other thing you'll need is a hot glue gun and striped straws to assemble the banner for the Grinch cake topper.
- After I had all the cake toppers printed and assembled, I took the cake out of the fridge, used green Color Mist Spray to add a little extra voom-voom to the green, then applied the buttercream transfer face, then added the paper banner on top of the cake. BOOM - done! And so, so cute!
- Because most of the decoration for this cake are easy to put together, it will not take a lot of time!
Order the Grinch printable images here on Etsy.
Grinch Cookies
Need another dessert to go with your Grinch Cake? How some Easy Grinch Cake Mix Cookies with a red heart candy on the center. See the recipe here.
12 Best Grinch Cakes for Christmas
If you are looking for the best Grinch birthday cakes on the internet, we’ve got you covered with the 12 Best Grinch Cakes for Christmas!
Find fun, festive and easy Grinch designs for this holiday season. Any of these green cake ideas would be perfect for a Christmas Party or a Grinch Birthday Party.
1. My Grinch Cake is #1... haha! I made this cake for a Christmas photo shoot and I have at least three more ordered for Christmas parties or family gatherings.
2. This second cake was made by Smash Cakery. I love, love, LOVE this sweet, perfect cake! The bow, the polka dots, the sculpted Grinch head... I'm smitten with all of it!
3. Another super fun Grinch Christmas Cake with polka dots!! This cake is by Pastry is Art and it truly is a flawless piece of art!
4. The stripes are really what make this cake shine. And of course the sculpted head! The artist for this cake is Gât-O Cakes!!
5. Sweet Revenge Bake Shop mastered the stripes and drip for this Grinch buttercream cake!
Shop for Grinch Party Fun here:
6. If a dramatic or detailed cake is not your style, go easy on yourself and make this Grinch Cupcake Cake. Tutorial by Sweetwater Cakes is here on YouTube.
7. This showstopper Grinch cake is not only perfectly piped... it has a surprise on the inside. Go see here at Sugar Hero.
8. If you loved my Wonky Nutcracker Cake, you might also love this wonky Grinch Cake by The Smila's Bake Shop! How fun is that?!
9. Saving the best (ahem... easiest) for last... if you really want to do a simple cake but keep the spirit of the Grinch - try this beautiful cake. It's a Grinch Bundt Cake by This Worthey Life.
Grinch Cupcakes
10. Okay - this is not a cake, but these Grinch Cupcakes are so stinkin' cute! And you can see a video of how CakedbyRach makes them over on TikTok.
For easier Grinch Cupcakes, check out my recipe and tutorial here!
More Christmas Grinch Cakes...
Update - I'm adding a few more Grinch Cakes from my Facebook group: All Things Cake (I'd love for you to join!):
I love this cake by Kianna's Kreations!! So fun and unique!
Cakes by Faby shared this Grinch cake loaded with all the pretty Christmas candy!
Okay - this little Grinch 3-D carved cake is so cute with his mean face, but I'm also loving the stand he's on - courtesy of Baked by Cookie.
The trees are what caught my attention on this fun and detailed cake by Cindy K. Cake Creations.
And this last one just made me smile so big... the snowflakes and Christmas lights, so so fun! Cake by Sugar Kisses.
I hope you've enjoyed these Grinch Cakes and have a very Merry Christmas!
More Grinch Recipes
- How to Make Easy Grinch Cupcakes with a Heart
- Easy 3 Ingredient Grinch Punch Recipe
- Grinch Shot Recipe (Christmas Shots)
- Easy Grinch Cookies Recipe (no Cake Mix)
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