If you’re a cake decorator with a growing reputation for novelty cakes, sooner or later someone will ask you to create a 3D building cake. It could be the Empire State Building, Big Ben, a dreamy holiday hotel, or even a custom housewarming cake for a new homeowner. Each building comes with its own unique shapes, façades, textures, and challenges—and every design requires a different approach if you want it to look exactly right.

In this tutorial, we’ll focus on the basic principles of 3D building cake design using a real-world example: the Planet Hollywood Hotel in Las Vegas. You’ll learn a step-by-step workflow that isn’t just limited to this building—these techniques can be applied to any building you dream of recreating as a cake.

I’ve prepared a detailed plan, showing you exactly what to do at every stage. We’ll break down the process into simple, manageable steps, so you can follow along without feeling overwhelmed.

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll not only have a stunning 3D hotel cake, but also the confidence and skills to tackle any building cake request that comes your way.

What you will learn

• Basic principles of how to plan and make 3D building cakes.
• Proportional calculations and producing facade edible prints.
• Liquid chocolate panel coating method.
• Techniques of building vertical cakes.
• How to make garden and pool side elements.
• Calculating window patterns settings.