Well since Pirate's are all the rage right now and my son loves them we did a Pirate theme for his birthday this year. As I was looking on how to make a pirate ship cake I noticed there weren't to many detailed instructions on how to do this, just pictures of the finished cake. So I put this together to help inspire people to get creative with their cakes!!! Have fun and I hope you enjoy this instructable as much as I did doing it!

Step 1: Making the Cake

First of all you always want to make sure you have enough cake to make your idea come to life. For this cake I baked a 9x13 cake, a 8x8 square cake and a 8" oval cake. The right cake plate is a big part of your cake also, it makes for the perfect presentation. OOh Ahh factor, so for this cake I used a silver platter I had that is actually for a turkey or ham, it was perfect! Then I proceeded to place the pieces, cut where necessary and form the shape of the cake. On this cake I used a chocolate buttercream frosting and made chocolate mousse for the filling between layers.

Step 2: Forming of the Cake

Basically I started visualizing how I wanted the cake to look and went from there. The birthday boy was very happy about his cake!!!

Step 3: Frosting Time

Now you just frost and add some jewels and finishing touches. For the jewels I used M&Ms. For the rails of the ship I used cereal straws since they are cheaper then Pirouettes.

Step 4: Working on Finishing Touches

Well the finishing touches are usually the best part of the cake. That's when the creative juices start flowing. I used the pirates and cannon from an Imaginex Pirate Ship and used an Oreo for the ship's wheel. The ship's sails were fun to make. I used black construction paper and cut out the shape I wanted, which had a slight circle shape cut into the sides. Then I crumpled the paper and cut holes. On the skull and crossbones I printed it up off the internet and glued it on. Quick note make sure to glue it on before you crumple your paper. Next I added them to the skewer. For the front I put one skewer at an angle and ran fishing line to the next one to put that sail at an angle.

Step 5: Setting the Table

Well here is the table when all was said and done. We had the token skull and a fabulous pirate chest which we filled with the loot for the kids. For a unique touch we took a silver candle holder and put a foam ball on top with floral tape and covered it with moss and stuck skewers of dino nuggets in it and I had a jeweled tray I filled with fruit to add to the festivities. I sprinkled gold (plastic) coins and skulls and bones over the table.

We had so much fun!!! I can't wait for the next birthday party!