Instructions for Making a Guitar Cake

Flickr user Omar de Armas

Rock out with a guitar cake suitable for any occasion. Whether you're celebrating someone's birthday, the passage of a guitar class, or just want to honor a special musician in your life, a guitar cake will add a special touch to your festivities.

Basic Acoustic Guitar Cake Instructions

A basic guitar cake is fairly easy to complete. You don't need a lot of special decorating skills to pull it off, making it simple for anyone who has the fundamentals of cake decorating mastered.



Guitar Cake
  1. Cut the cooled cake into a pear shape, or other shape that represents your guitar, using a serrated cake knife. The rounded top should be slightly smaller than the bottom.
  2. Crumb coat the cake.
  3. Once the crumb coat has set, unwrap the Rice Krispie Treats. Place them on top of one another at the top of the guitar (the smaller rounded end) to create the neck of the guitar, and secure using a light layer of royal icing.
  4. Frost the cake and the Treats using beige-colored buttercream frosting. The frosted cake can have a smooth finish, or you can pipe buttercream stars on the entire cake. Use the method you prefer.
  5. Flip a large drinking glass upside down in the center of the guitar cake to make a circle outline. Use black royal icing and outline the circle. Fill it in with black buttercream icing.
  6. Pipe a small rectangle the length of the circle just below it.
  7. Push three suckers into the sides of the Rice Krispie Treats at the top of the guitar handle. The other three should go across from them. Unwrap the suckers and cover with brown buttercream icing.
  8. Wait for the icings to set.
  9. Once the icings have set, pipe six white royal icing strings in long strands from the rectangle below the black circle to the top of the guitar handle, curving the lines out to reach the tuners.
  10. Finish the cake by using the rest of the dark brown icing to add a star, rope, or dot border to the bottom of the cake.


Not every guitar looks the same. You can take the basic acoustic guitar instructions above and make them your own by doing any of the following:

  • Covering the cake in a brightly colored fondant, like electric green or fuchsia
  • Adding flames using stencils with an airbrush can
  • Cutting out fondant flowers and adding them to the guitar
  • Creating a wild design by piping cheetah spots or zebra stripes on the guitar
  • Piping music notes around the side of the guitar

Electric Guitar Instructions

Flickr user angel-cakes-rutland / Angie Tubby

Decorating an electric guitar is similar to an acoustic guitar. However, the shape is slightly different. Instead of cutting the cake into a pear shape, you will want to print off a large photo of an electric guitar and use it as a template for cutting the shape.

Additional Electric Guitar Decorations

In the center of the guitar, you will need to have a scratchplate that has several pickups (instead of the round circle hole typically found in acoustic guitars). Don't forget to add volume and tone controls, too. Use rolled fondant to create these items to top your electric guitar cake.

Make the Electric Guitar Your Own

An electric guitar has an air of rock-and-roll to it, so go all out when you decorate. Bright colors, edible glitter, and shiny finishes are perfect for this style of guitar cake. Bright red, electric orange, and even purple are excellent color choices for the cake frosting. Add flames, flourishes, or even skulls and daggers to an electric guitar.

Guitar Cake Pans

If you don't have the time or energy to create a cake yourself, you can use a shaped cake pan that comes complete with decorating instructions. Two cake pans on the market cover both the acoustic guitar and the electric guitar:

  • Wilton's Guitar Pan allows bakers and decorators to make a traditional guitar without any hassle. This metal pan comes with impressions that make decorating a snap.
  • CK Products' Plastic Pan V-Guitar creates a cool looking electric guitar with an extreme v-shape. The plastic pan needs to be placed on a cookie sheet when baking.

Sweet Strums

A deliciously decorated guitar cake is a great way to celebrate any musical accomplishment or any musician. A guitar cake is easy to make, and you can personalize it however you desire. This sweet treat is sure to inspire lots of strumming after the last piece is eaten!

Instructions for Making a Guitar Cake