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A Spooky Halloween Cake Tutorial!

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:

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Pizza Cake!

Two and a half years between blog posts isn’t so bad, is it? (I’ll keep telling myself that).

Hello, my sweet friends! Welcome to my BRAND NEW WEBSITE! Do you love it as much as I do? Please take a moment to poke around! I am so excited for the new look of Cassie’s Confections and hope it is as pleasing to your eyes as it is to mine.

The timing is wonderful, as I have a fantastic cake to share with you all today!

You may or may not have seen this little teaser that I posted on social media last week:

Indeed, I was making a pizza. But don’t let the taste of cheesy, meaty, tomato-y goodness start to fill your mind and your mouth… this pizza was made entirely of cake and sugar!

I am a true pizza lover, just like the little boy I created it for (my son), but I have to say that I was not one bit disappointed as I bit into this deliciousness. I have often found that cakes resembling food or other objects are not quite as tasty, as they are created using tons of fondant and other decorating items from the cake world, and less of cake. But this was *delicious*! It’s a win!

I think we all love a good food cake. Take this one for example, by the talented Laura Loukaides.

AMAZING!

So when I decided to take on a food cake, I knew it was going to have to be as realistic looking as possible. When my goal is realism, I definitely don’t pull up images of what other people create. Instead, I use all REAL images of the item I am creating, and sometimes even the actual item itself. I try to use actual objects or tools that would be used in the making of the real item as well, or at least create a similar effect.

I think my final product definitely achieved what I was going for! The most common comment I heard was “it looks so real!”. Mission accomplished.

If that doesn’t make you hungry for pizza then I don’t know what will!

The best part about this cake was that, although it was thin enough to look realistic as pizza, it was a thick enough amount of actual cake to be absolutely delicious. The boys devoured it!

Although the pizza itself was 13″, our party was pretty large, so I decided to make a pizza box cake as well. It included fun touches like the birthday boy’s name and a realistic looking label to select topping choices.

This added such a fun touch to the party! So many people didn’t realize it was cake until it was cutting time. Any idea what sort of tool we might have used to cut the cake?

A pizza cutter!

I hope you enjoy this cake! I have created a full tutorial on how to create this simple pizza cake on my YouTube channel. You can also watch it below. 🙂

Thank you so. much for stopping by! Leave me your thoughts in the comment section!

xoxo,

Tools you may need:

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Elegant Monogram & Striped Cake

Happy May Day, my sweet friends!

Oh my goodness, how life has gotten away from me these last couple of months! Between four kids and their busy schedules, my husband traveling for work and more glorious orders than I know what to do with (because, let’s face it, it’s hard to say no!) I’ve been too busy to write.

But here I am.

This past week was one of those weeks that I adore… with nothing but the most fun projects on my plate. If you know me, you know that I love the beautiful, elegant, feminine, detailed and clean designs the very most. So a week full of these types of orders brings me great joy.

There was one cake in particular this week that I couldn’t get enough of.

Isn’t she a beauty?

The precision of the elegant striped bottom tier appealed to all my senses. I used my upside down method (similar to this video) to create the most perfect seamless stripes.

In order to create stripes of similar thickness in both colors, I rolled out long strips of each color and then laid them side by side and rolled them simultaneously. This gives a smooth, flat appearance on the tier. Perfection.

The elegant monogram encircled with black pearls on the top tier and the gold pearls around the bottom tier added a touch of class.

What is it about a gorgeous monogram that can bring anything to the next level? The way the swirled gold “M” catches the light…

The coral and gold floral arrangement wrapping gracefully around the middle of this cake adds a beautiful change in texture and a gorgeous pop of color. The gold leaves and centers create a bit of elegance and help to blur the line between naturalistic and whimsical.

The clean lines on this cake are so pleasing to the eye, and the sugar on the board at the base of the cake adds a bit of sparkle to complete this design.

Every once in a while, a cake is born in my bakery that makes me feel especially satisfied… this is one.

I hope you love this cake as much as I did.

On another note…

If you would love to know exactly how I created the striped bottom tier, I will consider creating a video tutorial for my YouTube channel. Please leave me a comment below and let me know!

I’ll admit, I’ve been feeling a bit confused lately, my friends! I want to know just who my audience is.

Are you a cake decorator watching videos and reading blog posts for fun? Are you watching or reading them to learn? Are you someone who just enjoys beautiful photos? Are you someone who just loves those mesmerizing cake and cookie videos floating around online?

Please let me know who you are, so that I know what to create for you and how.

Tools used in this project:

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A Watermelon Cake & Tutorial

Something happened this weekend, you guys… something that I’m still in denial about.

My baby girl, my first born and my oldest daughter turned nine! Nine!?

How is this possible? It truly feels like yesterday that this sweet little redhead was born. And now we are looking the end of her first decade in the eye.

Sigh.

So when this sweet one, who also happens to be mommy’s biggest fan, was asked what she wanted for her birthday cake this year and she replied (with a gleam in her eye) that she “had a challenge” for me, I knew this would be good.

Her requested theme? “A watermelon sleepover”.

So, you know what? The girl got a watermelon sleepover!

The party itself was adorable! Watermelon balloons, plates and favors, along with various other pink, red and green details.

I decided to satisfy my need for a “pretty” cake with the actual cake, and use the decorations to create the sleepover portion of the theme. Since she was only having a couple of friends over and the cake size would need to be small, I opted to put the characters on the board instead of the cake.

I wanted to give my #1 fan an awesome sleepover cake, so I took it one step further and created the hand-modeled characters to actually resemble her best friend and cousin, the two sleepover guests at her party!

The characters are created out of fondant, and I used a brand new (unused) dish scrubber to give a sort of carpet texture to the fondant on the board.

I hand-painted the entire cake itself, and I put together the video tutorial below to show how I created the top watermelon tier!

My sweet girl was so thrilled when she saw her cake! Creating my own kids’ birthday cakes bring me so much joy!

Tools used in this project:

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Box of Chocolates Cake & Tutorial!

It always amazes me how quickly Valentine’s Day comes after the new year starts! It usually arrives with the surprise of just how much needs to be done to plan for four kids’ worth of Valentines parties, and with that usually with the fact that I did not account for said parties when booking my cake schedule.

However, this year I was able to plan ahead just a bit and create a super fun treat just for fun!

I took a beautiful box of chocolates that I purchased and used it as my inspiration for a cake!

With some fondant, gum paste and edible lace, I was able to create an adorable cake that looks like a box of chocolates.

This would be such a fun gift for any loved one in your life, and such a fun sell to clients looking for a special themed treat!

Due to allergies of the ones I created this for, I stuck with basic inside flavors… but think of the possibilities! Chocolate upon chocolate… maybe even chocolates in your filling!

Please enjoy the video tutorial I created of this cake! If you do get creative with it, I would love to see your photos!

I am quite sure my little loves with enjoy this cake this weekend!

Supplies used in this project:

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Cake Pop Tutorial!

Happy holidays, my friends!

I recently had the absolute joy of creating these Christmas ornament cake balls… 192 of them to be exact.

Soon after delivery, I received a text from a fabulous cake friend in which she mentioned that she thought they were adorable, and then something akin to “I would rather jab needles in my eyes than do those” (you know who you are, if you’re reading this).

This was about the 50th time I have heard/read something similar from a fellow sugar friend, or seen the disappointment of a non-cake friend upon having to give up the idea of a fun project.

Here’s a secret: this was my actual first cake ball order… I’ve only done pops. However, I used my same method all the way up to and after the actual dipping with great success! So I’ve decided it’s time to put my method on record for all of you!

I created a video of the entire process. Don’t panic – it’s only 10 minutes long. Why? Well, video editing, but also mainly because the entire process from start to finish (with the exception of actually baking the cake, which you really don’t even need to do if you have cake scraps around!) took only around 45 minutes. It’s that easy!

Please enjoy this video, and also subscribe to my YouTube channel! I’d love any comments or suggestions you might have in your experience as well!

(Wish it would let me change the thumbnail away from my mug, but…)

Supplies used in this project:

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A “Two Wild” Birthday Cake & Wafer Paper Fan Flower Video

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!

twowildcake

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.

twowildcakebottom

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!

Cassiesignature

Tools used in this project:


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Back-to-School Teacher Gifts

Hello, my friends! The best thing about today? It’s Saturday.

<happy sigh>

With all of the cake orders I have had in the last few weeks, I have to say that a week jam-packed full of cookies was a welcome change! While cakes are definitely my favorite creative outlet, there is something so relaxing about piping cookie after cookie, and I think everyone knows by now that I love creating beautiful things in smaller sizes.

Here is but one set that resulted from this week’s labor.

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I hope they will put a big smile on our teachers’ faces!

I also pulled out my video camera for a little while and put together this fun video of the making of the chalkboard cookies. It is short and fun!

If you know anything about me, you likely know that I started decorating cookies basically out of nowhere three years ago. I take pride in all that I have learned, developed and grown when it comes to my business, especially because I am self-taught (with the help of the internet).

Incredible amounts of learning and studying up have lead me to where I am in my cake and cookie decorating!

I am guessing there are so many other people out there like me, who have had an interest but never known where to start! A few basic YouTube videos and Craftsy classes really cleared up the basics for me and gave me enough base knowledge to move forward!

I am so passionate about online learning, because the knowledge is really at your finger tips.

One of my very favorite online learning avenues, Craftsy, is having a wonderful sale this weekend… 50% off of their NEW classes!

day1_cake

This includes a class I have taken (ok, a TON of classes I have taken, but ONE in particular), by my absolute cookie idol Callye Alvarado of Sweet Sugarbelle. Must. have. this. class. Seriously – a class by Callye for UNDER $20. If you have been at all tempted to give it a go, this is a great place to start.

Step-by-Step Cookies: Animal Birthday Party

I love to share my passion for sugar… it has brought so much joy into my life and I know it could for some of you also!

Cassiesignature

Tools used in this project:

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A Vintage Airplane Cake Topper

A couple of weeks ago, I had the most wonderful opportunity to create a vintage airplane birthday cake for an incredibly loved little boy. From the moment his mom sent me a copy of the party invitation, I knew I was going to love this project! And I did… from start to finish.

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The airplanes on the side of the cake are hand-painted with food coloring. I just love painting on cakes… it is so relaxing and creates such a wonderful look! I especially loved the dreamy clouds on this cake. Every once in a while, there is a project that reminds me of the magic of childhood, and this one did just that!

But of course the element that I enjoyed the most was the adorable airplane cake topper!

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This sweet topper was created from gum paste and was nearly all edible (minus the toothpicks). It traveled straight from my imagination to the top of this cake, and I adore it.

So much, in fact, that I created a video of the making of this topper!

Enjoy!

Cassiesignature

A few fabulous tools used in this project:

Craftsy Cake Decorating Class

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