Fun Pot of Gold Cake For St. Patrick’s Day

Hi friends! I am back with this fun Pot of Gold Cake for St. Patrick’s Day! A Pot of Gold image inspired me, and I knew I wanted to bring it to life on a cake. I considered buttercream for this design but decided that doing fondant was better due to the logistics and a cleaner look. Check out how I made this pot of gold cake, the supply list, instructions, and a short video. For more St. Patrick’s cake inspiration, check out 15 Cute St. Patrick’s Day Cake Designs!

Pot of Gold Cake Tutorial

Tips for Success

Working with fondant can be tricky due to a few issues like fondant cracking, fondant sweating, and fondant drying out. Fondant can be cracked if it is too dry. For a failproof method, use modeling chocolate to prevent cracks. I have yet to attempt modeling chocolate, but it is in my plans to create seamless fondant designs. I left this rainbow to dry for a day to ensure less fondant sweating. It looks like the fondant was too dry on the top. For the next time, I will add a little bit of Crisco to help with flexibility and lay the rainbow on a can with a slight curve to lessen the cracks.

Supply Guide

Fat Daddio’s 6-inch cake p a ns
Leaf Green Gel Color
Tall Stainless Steel Cake Scraper
Disposable Piping Bags
Piping Tip 6B
Gold Confetti Sprinkles
Edible Gold Glitter (Make sure it is EDIBLE)
Fondant in Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple (My favorite brand is Satin Ice)
Edible Glue (I used one from Hobby Lobby)
Maraschino Cherries

Pots of Gold St. Patrick’s Cake Instructions

Bake your favorite recipe using the 6-inch cake pans. I used my friend Blair’s vanilla cake recipe; click here.
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then take the cake out of the pan.
Cut the top using a serrated knife or a cake lever if there is a significant dome.
Make your favorite buttercream (I like Easy Buttercream Frosting by Sugar Geek Show)
Color the buttercream using green food gel coloring. I like to split the buttercream into two and color the other batch lighter for an ombre shade look. If you want darker green, you will need to let the buttercream sit for a few hours for the color to deepen.
Fill and Crumb coat the cake with buttercream covering all the bare spots.
Place the cake in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Fill one disposable piping bag with the darker green color and cut off a snip large enough to pipe.
Repeat the step with another disposable bag with a lighter green color.
Pipe in rows working the way from bottom to top. (Lighter green on the bottom and darker green on the top)
Use the cake topper comb to smooth the buttercream. Add more buttercream to fill in the spots as needed.
Repeat the step if needed.
Place in the fridge for 30 min.
Scrape off the top with a knife for a clean edge.
Apply the gold confetti sprinkles on the bottom of the cake (If you want an extra sparkle, mix the sprinkles and edible glitter in a bowl)
Put the fondant pot of gold and rainbow on directly to the cake. (See fondant instructions below)
Pipe buttercream swirls using the 6B piping tip.
Sprinkle the gold confetti sprinkles on the top of the cake.
Dip the cherries in the edible glitter and place all of them on the buttercream swirls.
Enjoy the cake!

Pot Of Gold Cake Short Video

Pots of Gold Rainbow Fondant Instructions

Do a search for a pot of gold shape image for tracing purposes. I found an image on Google, resized it approximately 2 inches wide in Adobe Photoshop, and printed it out.
I rolled out a small amount of black fondant and traced the shape with the printed image.
I added a thin roll on top of the pot shape.
I brushed on some edible glue and sprinkled on some gold confetti sprinkles.
Set it aside.
I created thin rolls in all colors, starting with red.
Twist the end of the red roll into a loop, as seen in the image above.
Repeat with orange and yellow, but do the rolls longer for the loops.
The rolls are shorter for the green and blue, and I inverted the loops (backward) to go toward the center.
The purple roll should be shorter than the rest because you only need the loop.
Apply a little water between the lines and press the rolls together to adhere.
Set it aside to dry out for a day. For best results, lay the rainbow on a can with a slight curve with parchment or bakery wax paper underneath.
Line up the pot against the rainbow and cut off the edges of the rainbow accordingly.
Place the Pot on the cake, followed by the fondant rainbow.
Apply the edible glue on the edges to cover up with gold confetti sprinkles.