Where are my Halloween lovers? This week I have a super cute and simple Halloween cake for you all!

The plan for this cake began with the fault line cake trend that has been circling lately. As with all new cake trends, I have of course been dying to try this technique! Halloween seemed like the perfect time to do so, and lucky for me, there didn’t seem to be many Halloween theme fault-line cakes out there just yet.

I won’t be lying when I say I was winging it a bit on this cake! I thought, how hard can it be? I know those are famous last words, especially in *my* bakery, but I went for it anyway.

The best part about this cake was that I remembered to take photos along the way so I can share it with you!

The first step, as always, is to stack and fill your cake. Although I normally don’t feel it necessary, I went ahead and crumb coated this cake as well. After applying the crumb coat, chill the cake for 10-15 minutes.

Using an offset spatula, apply a thin layer of black royal icing around the center of the cake. I used a bench scraper to smooth the line as thin as possible without exposing the cake underneath.

Next, grab your favorite sprinkle mix! Using your hand, apply the sprinkles all over the black buttercream while the buttercream is still room temperature and uncrusted. Try to cover most of the buttercream with sprinkles, but it doesn’t need to be completely perfect.

The next step is to apply our main buttercream layer. I created the perfect halloween green using a mixture of avocado green and electric green. After icing the top like you normally would, you will need to spoon some into a piping bag and pipe the border around your black/sprinkle mixture, both the top and the bottom.

Then you can uses the same piping back to fill in the rest of the buttercream around the cake, and smooth it with a hot bench scraper.

The line around your fault should be jagged… the more jagged the better!

Next you can go back in and apply eyeballs or any larger sprinkles you would like to include. I didn’t apply them with the rest of the sprinkles because I did not want them to interfere with my smoothing by sticking out too far.

The next step to creating this adorable spooky cake is to apply some drip to the tops and bottom of the fault line.

The final thing to add to this cake is some piped dollops of buttercream and sprinkles on the top! So easy!

I hope you enjoyed this cake, my friends! It really is a super easy design that will wow your guests. Below is the YouTube video I created on the making of this cake…. enjoy!

xoxo,

Supplies you may need:

While I could definitely get lost in a good stationary store, that is not what this post is about.

I really wanted to talk about the edible kind… frosting sheets! Wafer paper! Because the two make me just as giddy as (if not more than!) a brand new pad of pretty note paper.

Let’s be honest… when you think of edible images, you think of something like this…

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Source: http://order.cakes.com

(Which is great! And also how grocery stores are able to charge what they do.)

In my time as a cake designer, I have really evolved in my thinking toward edible images and edible ink printers. I have graduated from feeling slightly embarrassed about owning an edible printer (feeling like maybe I am “cheating”) to loving every minute of it and always looking for opportunities to use it.

Why?

Because I have begun seen far beyond the colorful happy birthday sheet cake image, the simple Super Why image and the edible photo of the birthday child. I have seen the endless possibilities and the stunning details to be created using printed images and patterns!

Here is where it all began…

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This was one of my first cake orders, and it was a little terrifying! My customer wanted a Brad Paisley guitar cake. I mean, paisley!?!?

But then I had an idea… and did a little online searching before running across the street to our grocery store to have them print this glorious paisley image. And the wow! People were even more impressed than I thought they would be!

So I began to dabble more…

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And started to use images and printed patterns to enhance smaller details on my cakes.

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Even going so far as to use printed wafer paper to decoupage, as in the top tier of my July 4th cake!

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I literally found an old copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed it on wafer paper and stuck pieces of it all over my cake… and that tier is one of my proudest.

It wasn’t until my polka dot cake that I finally let go of my inner struggles with using this simple medium.

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One of the cake designers that I admire most shared this cake to her page, and I couldn’t help but notice a comment on the post. Another cake decorator said something along the lines of “Well, it doesn’t look very difficult – just printed paper on a cake”. Which is true, and it was what I had been afraid of people thinking when she had first shared it… and her comment left me staring at my computer screen in confusion and embarrassment.

But then the wonderful cake designer replied to the comment. I don’t remember her exact words, but she basically responded that of course it was printed, but that it didn’t matter… and that a person knowing how to use their creativity, tools and resources to create something beautiful that makes people happy is a great talent in itself.

You cannot imagine what this did for me as a cake designer! I felt that I had been freed from everything that held me back from being proud of my cakes. No more secretly wondering if I had much talent beyond my tools. I was able to acknowledge the creativity and talent that it took to come up with an idea, seek out the tools and successfully create the cake. And I felt free to just have fun.

And now I happily seek out opportunities to add these unique touches to my cakes!

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I am thrilled to have so many different mediums available to me, and I revel in the time spent discovering new ways to use them.

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Tools used in this post:

Online classes you might enjoy:

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I could eat, sleep and breath cakes these days, and one of my very favorite aspects is the amazing and fun themes that my clients bring to me! From vintage rose first birthdays to sharks & strawberries (my adorable nephew’s choice) to pinwheels.

This week I was so thrilled to create a “Two Wild” themed cake! My incredibly fun returning customer wanted a jungle-themed cake using animal prints and black lace of some sort. She wanted it to be a bit more sophisticated than childish. This criteria was both incredibly fun and exciting, and also a little nerve-wracking! Animal prints can definitely be misused!

In continuing with my mission to discover my own style, I chose not to search online for examples (and to peek at the examples she sent me with squinty eyes). As I often do, I laid down on my back, closed my eyes and drew a picture in my head.

I still felt a bit unsure of the picture I had in my head, so I sketched it out just to make sure it was balanced.

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Thank goodness I can decorate a cake better than I can sketch, {and this particular sketch was done in haste and not meant to be seen} because the cake turned out much to my satisfaction!

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I used edible lace throughout this buttercream cake {I will link to the lace and mat below}, as well as wafer paper, fondant, edible glitter AND icing sheets.

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In order to respect my customer’s wishes for a buttercream cake, I chose to apply the fondant decorations in a way that would be easy to remove – note on the bottom tier {in the photo above} that the fondant is attached loosely, separated from the cake by the lace and only attached at the base.

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Lastly, McGreevy Cakes‘ wafer paper pom tutorial got me started on my wafer paper fan flowers, although I had to find my own way once I realized her amazing tutorial would not look so great with my one-sided printed paper.

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Below is a video of how I ended up creating my simple fan flowers!

Have a wonderful week! I would love to hear your comments!

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Tools used in this project:


Wow, I’ve been busy lately!

Between orders and family, I’ve been neglecting my blog and all of my social media! I’m hoping to become a bit more active again after this week’s trip to Texas!

I have some awesome photos to share with you. First: cake!

This week, I was able to create a Brave-inspired cake. I have been challenging myself lately to get out of the rut of creating the same old cakes that are everywhere in the cake world… you know – the Minnie/Mickey Mouse ones, the Buzz Lightyears and various buttercream ruffles. I’m listing these ones because I’ve done them. Not to insult any of those cakes (if I did them for you), as I tried to add my own touches and make them as clean as possible so that you could have a unique version and I could still feel proud, but my heart is yearning for my own style to emerge. I am just trying to figure out how to allow this to happen.

This Brave cake was a great start for me! I chose to NOT search out the internet for ideas and inspiration as I normally do. Thanks to Kara’s Couture Cakes for that bit of advice… it’s too easy to have a cake become just another cake because of the other cake images that you can never erase from your mind once you’ve seen them.

I also did not want to violate any copyrights by using logos or exact characters, so I literally closed my eyes and thought through the main details of the movie that stuck out to me. I came up with a few things… Merida’s turquoise and green dresses, hair, the wisps, tapestry and her bow and arrow (luckily, the bow and arrow were my client’s one creative request).

After brainstorming, playing the workability of ideas out in my head, considering the budget my client wanted to stay within (not that I would not want to give it my all but some of those ideas would be very time-consuming), considering the limitations of my medium (my client wanted buttercream), I settled on a design.

I put my design together, and here was the result…

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I was pleased!

I took special care with the bow and arrow, as this was the birthday girl’s one request.

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The bow and arrow are created with gumpaste. The only non-edible item was the twine used as the string. Sadly, the exposure makes it so that you can’t see in the photo that I created the feather on the end of the bow using wafer paper.

Afterwards, I decided to peek around online and discovered that the tie is not the most original idea, but I definitely gave it some beautiful detail and feel proud of it for that reason! I think little Olivia was pleased!

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And now for another exciting part of my last few weeks!

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may have already seen my beautiful new kitchen that my husband surprised me with!

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Amazing, right?? I have the best, most supportive husband in the world.

So this is the new Cassie’s Confections bakery! Being in my own beautiful space has already been so inspiring!

Lastly, I read on a cake blog once that part of my online presence should include a bit of personal information, as people want to know me. I don’t usually do this, but I am taking it to heart this time and sharing a recent achievement that I am so proud of!

I have been training in Taekwondo for five years now. I started training with my dad (a black belt) and over time, three of my littles have joined me. They have so far achieved their red, blue, and white belt with yellow stripes. A couple of weeks ago, I earned my 2nd degree black belt!

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Here is one aspect of my test – I broke 3 boards at one time with a step-behind side kick.

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I love this special activity and exercise that I can do with my babies, and I truly believe that training AND cakes keep me motived for each other in a way.

Anyway, I’d love to hear your comments or questions on anything in this post! I’m hoping to get more videos up on YouTube soon, as my subscriber list is growing slowly but pretty steadily (if you have any video requests, please let me know!)! If you haven’t already subscribed, please do so here!

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Some supplies used in this project:

Classes you might enjoy:

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Happy Labor Day, all!

I just wanted to leave you with photos of this mouth-watering semi-nude chocolate drip cake that I created for our own barbecue!

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This cake is pretty straightforward: chocolate upon chocolate upon… chocolate. 🙂

I also created a video of its creation. Enjoy!

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Supplies used in this project:

This week a lovely couple celebrated their union in a gorgeous setting in Golden, Colorado, and I was so amazingly lucky to create their wedding cake!

As I walked into the venue, the gorgeous and romantic setting took my breath away for a moment. With stunning iris details everywhere and an atmosphere of pure excitement and happiness, I had the cake decorator moment… the one that is a perfect mix of relief and excitement – the one where I knew my cake was a success and would fit right in to this beautiful setting.

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This buttercream cake started with a design that the couple loved by Cake My Day, and evolved from there with some color and detail changes, as well as an added tier.

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It contained four tiers, each sized at 12 inches, 9 inches, 6 inches and a 4 inch anniversary/honeymoon tier, and stood over 22 inches tall with the gumpaste peony-style fantasy flower on top. The silver leaf edges on the flower added that special something.

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The lone iris tier was an eye catcher for sure, with it’s gorgeous color, edible diamonds and piped scroll design.

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The bottom tier was a labor of love… nearly 38 inches around of handmade fondant ruffles.

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I enjoyed every moment of this cake! Wishing the very best and many years of true love to Erik & Allie!

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Tools used in this project:

Online classes that I found useful for this project:

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