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This pot of gold cake made with my delicious green velvet cake, rainbow frosting and giant pot of gold cake pop is the perfect cake for Saint Patricks Day!

I love this pot of gold cake with its beautiful rainbow drip made from water ganache! The cake is a yummy green velvet cake and filled with a beautiful rainbow buttercream. Topped with a giant pot of gold cake pop, this St. Patrick's day cake is the cutest! 

My Saint Patrick's Day cake from last year was so fun to make, I decided to make another this year with my daughter Avalon's help. Ok so she basically took over. I'm fine with it. I'd rather be behind the camera anyway lol. 

For the pot of gold cake, we're using the same delicious green velvet cake recipe for the base. When else are you going to need a green cake huh? I don't know why but I just love the pretty green color. The recipe is actually the same as my red velvet cake but I switched out the red for green. You can do this with pretty much any of the darker colors like blue or purple and get some really nice colors and great flavor. 

How to make the rainbow cake

Ok let's get to the cake making part. I made a batch of my green velvet cake and baked in three 6" round cake pans. Let them cool fully before frosting. I popped mine into the freezer for about an hour to get them cooling even faster. 

Then I whipped up some of my easy buttercream. I reserved about three cups for frosting my cake. The rest I divided into 5 bowls and colored. Red, orange, yellow, lime green, light blue and purple/pink. I placed this buttercream into five bags and snipped off the tip. 

Trim the dome off your cooled cakes (don't throw away the cake scraps, we'll use those later). Place your cakes onto a cake cardboard to start frosting and filling. 

I started filling my cake layers with the rainbow buttercream. Starting with the blue in the center, then working my way to red, going in the order of blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, then starting over with the blue again until you reach the edge of the cake. The buttercream should be about ¼" thick so you have a nice rainbow showing through when you slice the cake. 

Now just crumb coat your cake, chill until firm and frost with your final layer of buttercream. I use a bench scraper to get nice straight sides. Check out my free tutorial on how to make your first cake if you want more info on frosting and filling a cake with straight edges. 

How to make the rainbow drip cake

Ok time to make some water ganache! I actually only made 3oz of each color because you won't need very much to make the rainbow drip. I decided to go with pre-colored wilton candy melts so that I didn't have to color a bunch of chocolate. But if you only have white chocolate, you can just add regular food coloring to the water ganache after you make it. 

I made red, orange, yellow, lime green, light blue and purple water ganache. Divide the colors into small piping bags and snip off the tip. Don't snip off too much or it will all leak out. 

Pipe your water ganache into a triangle on the top of the cake, letting the color drip over the edge a little. Continue on with the next color in the rainbow until you have made your way all the way around the cake. It should set up within a few minutes. 

How to make a pot of gold cake pop

Take your cake scraps and add a scoop of buttercream. Smoosh the cake and buttercream together to make a cake pop dough. Roll the dough into a ball about 3" wide. Place a cake pop stick dipped in some melted chocolate into the center of the cake pop and freeze 10 minutes. 

Once your giant cake pop is chilled, you can dip the whole thing into a bowl of melted chocolate. Place the cake pop onto some parchment until the chocolate is set. The flat top becomes the top of the pot of gold. Cool huh!

Carefully lift your cake pop off the parchment paper and pipe on some yellow buttercream. Dip the buttercream in your gold confetti sprinkles for the coins. 

Finishing the pot of gold cake

Pipe a nice big fluffy cloud of buttercream on top of the rainbow drip cake. Place the pot of gold cake topper right on top of the buttercream. I finished the bottom edge of the cake with some buttercream as well to hide the rough edge. 

I was super proud of how much of this cake Avalon was actually able to do. I had to help her with the frosting (because I'm a control freak) and doing the rainbow drip but she was able to do pretty much everything else. 

A super fun cake to do with your kids or to take to a Saint Patrick's day party! Check out this super fun video of Avalon taking over and making this rainbow drip cake for Saint Patrick's Day. 

How to put fresh flowers on cake and how to make them food safe

Putting fresh flowers on a cake is a great way to add some gorgeous decoration to your wedding cake but it's important to make sure your flowers are prepared properly. Placing fresh flowers into a cake without sealing them can cause toxic chemicals (like pesticides) to leach into the cake and potentially cause a major food hazard to your guests. Follow this simple guide on how to put fresh flowers on cake without making anyone sick. 

And if you're interested in making the gorgeous marble wedding cake, be sure to check out the other tutorials in this series. 

White velvet cake recipe

How to make your first cake 

How to get sharp edges on your buttercream

How to make a marble wedding cake

Why do you need to make flowers food safe?

Aside from leaching toxic chemicals into your cake, some flowers are actually poisonous to humans if eaten. Some of these flowers can cause an upset stomach but some are deadly poisonous. 

That doesn't mean you CAN'T use all these flowers on your cake but you should take extra precaution to make sure they are sealed, safe and clean before placing on the cake. 

Here is a list of poisonous flowers, some might surprise you. 

Step 1 - Where do you buy fresh flowers for your cake

I talked to my florist friend Kim who is the owner of Swoon Floral Design here in Portland and she says she get's her flowers at the flower market but you can get your flowers from a grocery store or whatever is most convenient to you. Make sure you buy more flowers than you think you need because some of the flowers might wilt and not look very nice when it's time to use them. 

Choose some flowers that are large as the main attraction and then some smaller flowers and leaves to use as fillers. If you are only using large flowers it will be harder to fill in holes in certain areas. 

Step 2 - How to keep fresh flowers from wilting

Usually flowers come with a packet of flower vitamins that you mix in with the water to help keep them fresh. Follow the instructions on how to mix this and then keep your flowers in water until you use them to avoid wilting. 

Step 3 - Who puts the fresh flowers on cake?

Once upon a time, I delivered a rustic buttercream cake to a wedding and placed it on the cake table. The florist arrived as I was setting up and proceeded to shove fresh roses into the cake without even asking me.

Even in the early days... I was pretty sure this wasn't ok. After that day I always let the florist, bride, coordinator, everyone know ahead of time that I would place the flowers myself. A copy of the cake sketch would be forwarded to the florist as well.

I would instruct the bride to let the florist know to leave whatever flowers she had for me for the cake in a bucket of water by the cake table. If there wasn't a florist, I would let the bride know that I did not buy flowers and if she wanted flowers someone would have to buy them and place them at the table. 

Step 4 - What tools and materials do I need to put fresh flowers on cake

You'll need floral tape, scissors and plastic wrap. In the past I have used straws or water picks and those work pretty good too but sometimes my stems are too thick for the straws. 

Step 5 - How to make fresh flowers food safe

Making your fresh flowers food safe is pretty simple although it can be time consuming depending on how many flowers you need to put on the cake. I would typically allow myself an extra hour at set-up to place flowers. 

Cut your main large flower and a few smaller flowers to accent it. 

Trim some plastic wrap to about a 3"x3" square. 

Take about 4" of floral tape and give it a stretch to activate the stickiness. Wrap the floral tape around the plastic wrap to secure it to the flower

Now you can insert the flower into the cake without fear of the water leaking into the cake

What are some other ways to make flowers food safe? 

You can also use a product called Safety Seal which is food safe wax that when melted, you can dip the stems of flowers into the wax to seal them. This is great if you have access to a microwave when you need to put the flowers into the cake 

I have also used chocolate as a seal on the back of some gerbera daisies that I used to decorate my cream tart cake. 

What about edible flowers?

Ok so now that you're probably scared to even put one flower on a cake, let me put your mind at ease. Toxicity levels will vary based on the level of contact with the flowers. For example, ingesting even a small part of some flowers can cause symptoms, whereas for others you’d need to ingest a large amount to see any effect. With any exposure or symptoms, it’s advised that you contact the Poison Control Center (800-222-1222) or your doctor immediately.

Stick to eating the cake and you should be ok. 

There are also quite a few flowers that are completely safe and can even be eaten. These edible flowers do not need to be sealed and can be placed directly on the cake IF they haven't been treated with any pesticides. Even edible flowers should not be eaten if they aren't organically grown. 

How to cover your buttercream cakes in a gorgeous marbled fondant

I'm obsessed with marbled fondant. If you watched last weeks video on how to get super sharp edges on your buttercream cake, you're going to love this next tutorial on how to cover your cake in a gorgeous marble fondant. This marbled fondant look was inspired by one of my favorite marble turn tables and I just love how it turned out. 

How to make marbled fondant

To make the perfect marbled fondant, you start out with white fondant. I take out a couple of tablespoons of the white and color it ivory. Then I do the same with some and make some grey. Now comes the easy part. Just layer on top of each other and pull the fondant a couple of times to start mixing in the ivory and grey. But don't mix it too much. You want to keep those interesting lines and patterns. 

Next I roll out the marbled fondant using some cornstarch. Make sure you keep moving the fondant around every couple of rolls so that it doesn't stick to the table. Try flipping it over and seeing which side of the fondant you like better. I roll my fondant out to about 1/16 of an inch. Thin fondant results in sharper edges on your cake, plus who likes to eat thick fondant?

How to cover your cake in marbled fondant

Now it's time to cover our cake in our marbled fondant. I roll my fondant up onto my rolling pin and unroll it onto the well-chilled buttercream cake. Use your fondant smoother to work out any air that might be trapped under the top right away. Then you can start slowly pressing the fondant against the cake to work out the ruffles. Try not to pull the fondant down, just open up the folds of fondant and press gently against the cake.

Once your cake is covered, cut off the excess around the cake about 2" away from the board. Gently flip your cake upside down and use your fondant smoothers to smooth the fondant upwards all the way around the cardboard. Use an x-acto blade to cut off the fondant around the top of the board. This makes a really seamless look to your fondant cake. 

Lastly I use my fondant smoother to sharpen up the edges of the fondant. This can be a bit time consuming but I love how the super sharp edges on the fondant look. 

Once you're done with your fondant, carefully turn the cake right side up and place back into the fridge to keep it chilled until you're ready to stack your cakes. 

How to stack your fondant cakes

Once you have your cakes all covered in fondant, all that's left is to stack them. I like to use milkshake straws because they are strong, easy to cut and not expensive to buy. Make sure you're always cutting your straws evenly and inserting them straight up and down. Download my straw guide to understand how many straws you need to use for the best stability. After your straws are inserted you can stack your cakes. 

For a two tier cake, you can definitely stack your cake at home and then deliver the cake already stacked. It will be very stable. If you have a three tier cake you might consider traveling with the top tier separately and then adding it on top when you arrive. Bring some extra buttercream to fix any gaps. 

When your cakes are nicely chilled, it should be very easy to pick your cakes up. Place the first cake onto your cake board and secure with some melted chocolate to keep it from sliding around. Make sure it's centered. 

Then take your second tier and place it on top, making sure it's centered. I use a small amount of buttercream to fill in the gap between the layers and my finger to smooth it out for a seamless look. 

That's it! That's all there is to making a simple marble fondant cake. Make sure you watch the full video tutorial on how to cover your cakes in marbled fondant for step-by-step instructions. 

If you have any questions feel free to leave them for me in the comments. 

These are my top 7 tips on how to bake from scratch successfully 

There seems to be a lot of confusion out there on how to bake from scratch. Some seem to think that they don't have the talent for it or that scratch recipes never work for them. I'm here to tell you that anyone can bake from scratch. If you follow my 7 simple tips on how to bake from scratch, you too can have a baking win!

Nothing compares to a vanilla cake or chocolate cake baked from scratch. I love to bake from scratch but even with all my experience in baking, I can easily have a fail if I don't prepare properly.

I recently got a copy of Baking Basics from one of my favorite authors Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of the Baking Bible. One of my most trusted sources of cake recipes. I wanted to try out her brownie recipe and thought this would be a great time to share my process for testing out new recipes. 

How to bake from scratch tip #1 - Get your recipes from a trusted source

I know it's tempting to just go to pinterest when you want to try a new recipe but literally ANYONE can write a recipe and say it's the best. You never know if this person can really bake or not or what their idea of "best" is. 

I once tried a banana cream pie recipe that was ranked #2 on google. I thought wow, it's ranked so high, it MUST be good. The photo looked amazing, the reviews seemed like it would be good.

Well... it might be considered tasty to others but for me, it just gave me a stomach ache. WAY WAY WAY too sweet. I couldn't even taste any banana. I should have searched my cook books first. 

Try asking in a cake or baking group if anyone has a trusted recipe that they love and could recommend. Look for recipes from highly rated cook books. Try a recipe from a well-known baking source like Sugar Geek Show.

How to bake from scratch tip #2 - Read the WHOLE recipe before you start

I can't tell you how many times I have had people leave comments under my own recipes stating that the recipe did not turn out. I ask, did you read the recipe. "well... sorta.... I skimmed it".  *facepalm*

I get it, I hate reading recipes too. But you know what I hate more? Wasting ingredients. Usually recipes contain a lot of helpful info that will help you find success the first time you try it out. 

There might be tips for trouble-shooting problems or even things to make sure you don't do to avoid failure. Whomever wrote the recipe has most-likely spent a lot of time testing and re-testing the recipe for success so make sure you take advantage of that experience and read the recipe!

When you read the recipe it also gives you a chance to look up any techniques that you may not understand like whipping to soft peaks or folding. 

How to bake from scratch tip #3 - Check your ingredients 

Make sure you have all the ingredients the recipe calls for before you even start mixing. If you have to run to the store then it's better to do it now then in the middle of mixing. 

Some recipes will actually not turn out right if you stop in the middle of mixing. 

How to bake from scratch tip #4 - Weigh your ingredients ahead of time

If your recipe calls for a scale, use a scale. If it says to use cups, use cups. Trying to convert recipes often results in disaster. Almost all my recipes call for ingredients by weight so that you get accurate measurements. Measuring by volume (cups) leaves a lot of room for mistakes. Maybe your flour is too packed, you aren't exact with your measuring or you're doubling the recipe. All these things can lead to disaster.

I measure all my ingredients before I start mixing. Sometimes I don't realize I don't have enough of a certain ingredient until I start measuring. Or I think I had an ingredient but I actually don't. That happens to me ALL THE TIME. Just ask my husband, poor guy is always being sent to the store last minute. 

Measuring out your ingredients ahead of time also ensures you don't forget any ingredients. I will read through the ingredients one by one and tap the bowl to the corresponding ingredient. Better safe to double check then waste all those ingredients because you forgot the sugar. 

How to bake from scratch tip #5 - Ingredients need to be room temperature or slightly warm

Some things do not like to mix. Oil and water or ingredients that are warm/cold. Things like butter that are oil based will not mix with eggs if the butter is warm and soft and the eggs are cold. Same thing with milk, cream cheese, sour cream etc. This is the second most common mistake people make when making a recipe from scratch. 

This is how I warm various ingredients before baking so they are all the same temp.

• Eggs - While still in the shell, place into a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes 
• Milk - Warm in the microwave until it feels body temperature
• Butter - I microwave mine in 10 second increments until soft enough to impress my finger into the surface but it still holds it's shape. 
• Cream cheese - Cut into small chunks and place onto a plate. Place a hot glass bowl over the top of the cream cheese for 5 minutes. I warm my bowl by heating it with hot tap water. 
• Sour cream or mayonnaise - Microwave for 10 seconds and stir

How to bake from scratch tip #6 - Don't make any changes the first time you try it

I love to make adjustments to recipes after I have tried them so they are more to my preference but I always follow the recipe as is the first time. You never know if you're totally ruining the recipe by making a slight adjustment. 

Sometimes the author will put some notes at the bottom of the recipe for known acceptable substitutions. 

How to bake from scratch tip #7 - Read through the directions as you are making the recipe

It can be difficult to remember everything a recipe says to do so I have the recipe nearby as I am mixing to make sure I don't miss a step. Even as an experienced baker, I know it can be very easy to accidentally make a mistake. 

Baking from scratch can seem very intimidating when you're first learning and I totally get it. No one explains these simple techniques for testing out new recipes. Often times the recipe does not turn out and you're left feeling like maybe you can't bake at all and it's pointless to try again!

I hope these tips have given you the confidence to try your hand at baking from scratch and if you're looking for inspiration, check out the full list of free, tried-and-true recipes on our blog. 

How to make box mix taste homemade in 5 easy steps

This is how to make box mix taste homemade. You guys know, no one loves a cake made from scratch more than I do! But sometimes, I just gotta bust out the box mix. Usually for red velvet cake or chocolate cake when I want a nice flavor but don't have time bake from scratch. Or maybe I don't have all the ingredients on hand that I need. That happens a LOT.

But I still want that delicious flavor! I don't really love that "chemical" taste that can come from a straight up box so here are my tips on how to make box mix taste homemade.

Don't be afraid of the box mix

There's an endless debate over what's better, box mix or baking from scratch. SO many people will get into a down-right battle to the death over this one. Honestly, who cares?

Using box mix is up to you. It's definitely a short-cut and sometimes the best option. A lot of professional cake decorators out there use doctored box mix in all their cakes. You get consistent results and it's an easy mixing method.

The only thing I would suggest is you be upfront with your customers. In some areas, no one would probably mind if you used a box or if you made a cake from scratch. But in my area (Portland) people are extremely concerned about what they put into their body (Portlandia is real ya'll). 

Clients will actually email me to confirm that I bake from scratch. So I am sure to put that information on my website so there's no question. If you are using a doctored box mix you don't have to say so in so many words. You can simply state "baked fresh daily" and if you have specific inquiry about baking from scratch, just be honest. 

If you want more recipes on how to bake from scratch, check out my tried and true cake recipes on Sugar Geek Show. 

Tip #1 on how to make box mix taste homemade

Start with the best box mix possible. I'm a Duncan Hines girl myself. The price is a little bit more expensive than the super cheap box mix but I believe you get what you pay for. Not to mention Duncan Hines are often on sale so stock up on your top flavors and enjoy all the funny looks you'll get at check out. 

My favorite Duncan Hines box mix flavors are Red Velvet, Triple Chocolate, White Cake (for making WASC) and strawberry. Sometime I can't find duncan hines strawberry so I'll go with Betty Crocker. These are all recipes that take a ton of time to make from scratch and are the most requested flavors from my clients. For the chocolate version of this recipe check out my Chocolate WASC Recipe

Tip #2 on how to make box mix taste homemade

Usually a box mix has the following ingredients listed on the back that they want you to add. Eggs, water and oil. This is smart on their end because pretty much everyone has these ingredients on hand already.

The thing about these ingredients though, they don't add much to the cake as far as flavor goes. 

• Replace water with milk for more flavor and moisture. If you're making red velvet you can use buttermilk. 
• Replace the oil with melted butter for more flavor and homemade texture
• For chocolate cakes, try replacing the water with cooled coffee. The coffee intensifies the chocolate flavor! Get the recipe Chocolate WASC

Tip #3 on how to make box mix taste homemade

You might have heard of WASC (white almond sour cream cake) and wondered what it is. It's basically the best doctored box mix recipe of all time. The taste, texture and flavor of this cake is TO DIE FOR. It's no wonder its the recipe of choice when you need a perfect white cake for so many bakers. 

How to make WASC

1. Start with one box of white Duncan Hines mix
2. Add in one cup of AP flour
3. 1 cup of granulated sugar
4. ¼ teaspoon salt
5. 1 cup sour cream   
6. ½ cup melted butter  
7. 1 cup of water or milk  
8. 4 egg whites 
9. 1 teaspoon almond extract  

Place all of your ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer (or you can mix by hand) and stir on low to combine until just moistened. Then bump up to medium speed and mix for 2 minutes to develop the texture and structure of the cake. 

Pour your batter into your prepared pans. I like to use a homemade pan release (cake goop). The best homemade pan release there is! Bake at 350ºF for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out from the center cleanly. 

Let cool completely before decorating. For more info on decorating your first cake, check out my free training on how to make your first cake. 

Tip #4 on how to make box mix taste homemade

Make your buttercream from scratch. I know this sounds counter-intuitive because we're trying to go for easy here. Maybe you've never made homemade buttercream before and you're intimidated. Well let me put your mind at ease. 

My easy buttercream recipe is so simple, it may as well be cheating. Simply place all your ingredients in a bowl, whip it until it's light and fluffy. Then let it mix on low with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes to get rid of bubbles.

Voila, perfect easy buttercream frosting. 

And way, way, WAY better than that frosting from a can. What even IS that?

Other great frosting options for you

• Stable cream cheese frosting
• Stabilized whipped cream (ok for one tier cakes with no fondant)
• Chocolate ganache
• American buttercream

Tip #5 on how to make box mix taste homemade

Go crazy with some yummy fillings! You might not want to make your cake from scratch but most fillings for a cake can be made from scratch and they are super simple. 

Try out these tasty fillings for your cake

• Strawberry reduction
• Lemon curd
• Marion berry buttercream
• Coconut pecan filling

See, that wasn't so hard was it? You're on your way to making a delicious cake made from a box. Do you have some tips on how to make your box mix taste homemade? Leave them in the comments!

Recipe

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4.85 from 205 votes

Doctored Box Cake Recipe (WASC)

A doctored cake mix that is well-used by bakers all over the world that produces a delicious white cake that tastes almost like scratch. This recipe makes three 6"x2" cake rounds or two 8"x2" cake rounds

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 servings

Calories: 747kcal

Author: Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

• Cake Pans

Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix I like duncan hines
• 5 oz AP flour 1 cup (spooned into cup, not scooped)
• 7 oz granulated sugar 1 cup
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 9 oz sour cream 1 cup room temp
• 4 oz melted butter ½ cup
• 8 oz milk 1 cup room temperature
• 4 large egg whites room temperature
• ½ teaspoon almond extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

WASC CAKE INSTRUCTIONS

• The instructions for this cake are super easy. Basically, put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix it on medium speed for 2 minutes! Voila! Cake batter is ready. Pour batter into two prepared 8" pans and bake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Video

Notes

Don't worry about any of the ingredients on the back of the box, just use the ingredients listed in the recipe. 

This recipe makes enough batter for three 6"x2" cakes or two 8"x2" cakes (round). 

This recipe makes 40 cupcakes with about 1.25 ounces of batter per cupcake tin. 

You can replace 4 egg whites with three whole eggs if desired

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 747kcal | Carbohydrates: 120g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 895mg | Potassium: 162mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 70g | Vitamin A: 710IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 239mg | Iron: 2.7mg

Ring in the new year with this New Years Eve cake with buttercream stripes, water ganache drip and chocolate cake topper

New Years Eve cake to kick 2018 to the curb.

Happy almost New Year! I don't know about you but I'm really excited to say goodbye to 2018 and ring in 2019! I just have a feeling it's going to be an awesome New Year.

Last years New Years Eve cake was a big hit and people who had never tried pink champagne cake are now in love! I totally get it, I love me some pink champagne cake too and it has such a tasty flavor.

For this year, I'm creating something a bit different! I'm trying out my new cake combs from Ester Cakes to make some buttercream stripes. They have a whole bunch of different patterns and styles! Works really great on ganache too. 

How to make a New Years Eve drip cake

To make my drip cake, I start off with three 6" layers of my pink champagne cake and stack and fill them with easy buttercream frosting. I get a quick crumb coat on there then chill 15 minutes.

After chilling, I smooth the layers down as usual with my bench scraper. If you need some more tips on how to bake and decorate your first cake, check out my beginner cake decorating tutorial on how to make your first cake ever. 

After I got my cake smooth I chilled the cake again for about 20 minutes. 

Making the buttercream stripes

To make the buttercream stripes on your New Years Eve cake, you take the Ester Cakes cake comb and slowly start scraping away buttercream to make the stripe indents. I go nice and slow and take my time. Then after my comb hits the board, I chill the cake for about an hour so that the buttercream is really hard! That way the stripes don't get messed up later. 

After the cake is chilled, I add some gold colored buttercream. I colored my buttercream with some ivory food coloring gel to make the gold color. 

Scrape away the excess buttercream with your smooth bench scraper to reveal your stripes! Pretty cool huh!

Making the chocolate cake topper

For the chocolate cake topper, simply melt down some candy melts. Place them into a piping bag with the tip cut off. Print out the free New Years Eve chocolate cake topper template. Place some parchment paper over the top of template #2 and just trace the image with your piping bag. I chilled mine in the fridge for about 5 minutes to make it set up. 

After the word is piped you can paint it gold. I used Edible Artist Decorative paints glamorous gold because it's fully edible and has a nice pretty shine. It takes a couple of coats for complete coverage on chocolate just FYI.

Once that's set, I pipe the #1 template onto some parchment paper the same way we did the first one. You'll notice this one is a bit thicker and bolder. That's so that we can place the chilled word on top and it will have an outline. 

Finish the topper off with a little cake pop stick for placing into the cake. 

Making the water ganache drip

To make our water ganache drip, simple melt down 6 oz of your colored candy melts. I used Wilton royal blue. Then add in 1 oz of hot water and mix until it's a smooth consistency. I added in some more blue food coloring and a touch of black to make my drip more of a royal blue in color. 

Adding food color gel to water ganache will not make it seize up. 

Place your water ganache into a piping bag with the tip cut off and begin piping around the outside edge of your cake. once you get all the way around, squeeze the excess into the center of the cake and smooth it out with your spatula. 

Finishing the New Years Eve cake

All that's left to do now is to add some gold star sprinkles and place your chocolate cake topper on top! I love how the blue water ganache drip reminds me of a melting starry night sky. 

I hope you enjoyed this simple and fun New Years Eve cake tutorial! If you have any questions, just leave them for me in the comments section and I'll get back to you. 

Happy New Year!

Recipe

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5 from 1 vote

New Years Eve Cake

Ring in the New Year with this fun and festive pink champagne cake covered in white and gold buttercream stripes, water ganache drip and a yummy chocolate cake topper!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 60 oz

Calories: 248kcal

Author: Elizabeth Marek

Ingredients

Champagne Cake

• 12 oz AP Flour
• 10 oz sugar
• 8 oz unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon sparkling wine candy flavor (optional) affiliate link: https://a.co/74ZOSgf
• 4 large eggs room temp
• 6 oz champagne room temp
• 2 oz vegetable oil
• 1-2 drops electric pink food color

Blue Water Ganache

• 6 oz blue candy melts chocolate
• 1 oz hot water

Easy Buttercream

• 8 oz pasteurized egg whites
• 2 lbs powdered sugar
• 2 lbs unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

Instructions

Champagne Cake

• Preheat oven to 350F. Make sure all of your ingredients (champagne, eggs, butter) are at room temperature
• Place butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low until smooth and creamy. Sprinkle in sugar and turn up to medium and let mix until very light in color and fluffy (about 8-10 mins)
• Combine your flour, salt, baking powder and sift. Set aside
• Combine your champagne, food color and flavorings. Whisk to combine and set aside
• Once your sugar is ready, add in your eggs ONE AT A TIME. Letting mixture mix for one full minute after each egg is added before adding the next egg. 
• Add in ⅓ of your flour to your butter/egg mixture and once combined, add in ½ of your liquid, then flour, then liquid, then flour. Let mix just until everything is combined.
• Divide into two 8" round pans. Bake for 25-30 mins until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and then chill before trimming and stacking your cakes.

Water Ganache

• Melt down your white chocolate until they are almost melted. Stir with a spoon until completely melted then add in your hot water. Stir until combined and smooth. Add in a couple of teaspoons of dark blue food coloring if you want a darker blue. 
• Place melted chocolate into a piping bag for the drip

Easy Buttercream

• Place powdered sugar, egg whites, vanilla and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whip on high for 5 minutes then add in butter on low in small chunks. 
• Once all the butter is added, go back up to high until the buttercream is thick and white. This can take ten minutes. 
• Take out two cups of the buttercream and color it with ivory food color gel and mix until you don't see any streaks. 

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 8oz | Calories: 248kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 93mg | Potassium: 32mg | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 520IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.4mg

How to make a cake step-by-step. From baking, trimming, frosting and simple decorating

Ready to make your first cake but don't know where to start? Today I'm going to show you how to decorate your very first cake and explain every step from tools, baking a basic vanilla cake, trimming, frosting with sharp edges and of course decorating!

What You Need To Make Your First Cake Shopping List

Tools Recommended *note: this list contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything but I may make a few bucks off the sale*

• Three 6" cake pans 
• Bench Scraper
• Offset spatula
• 6" cake board
• Turntable 
• Piping bag
• Piping tip
• Three 6" cakes - baked and cooled
• Easy Buttercream (one batch)
• Food coloring
• Sprinkles
• Strawberry filling (optional)

I was inspired to make this post because my daughter's teacher approached me one day asking if I had any tips on how to make a cake for the first time. It was her Mother's birthday and she had never baked or decorated a cake but had her heart on making one.

Of course, I had tons of links to send her, recipes, videos and more and I could tell she looked a little overwhelmed. It then occurred to me at that moment that I had never made a video showing someone who had never made a cake, how to make one from start to finish.

Which is really ironic because I myself not that long ago (2007) picked up my first box mix and can of lemon frosting to make my first cake and I had no idea what I was doing. I remember having a lot of questions about the process but at the time, no one to ask. 

Why was the cake so soft and why is it cracking?

Why won't this frosting stick to the side of the cake?

Is it supposed to taste like this?

So here is my complete guide on how to make a cake for the very first time from start to finish! Even if you've never made a cake before, this will clear it all up for you. I recommend you read through this entire post first before you start baking so you can be sure to have all your tools and ingredients ready to go. I prefer to bake the day before I need the cake so I have time to let the cake rest and chill.

Cake Decorating Timeline

It's really hard to bake a cake and decorate it all in one day. This is my basic timeline for making a cake and giving myself plenty of time to get it finished. I always finish a cake the day before it's due so that if something goes wrong, I have time to fix it. I've included some details in my timeline for extra things like making toppers or answering emails just in case you're looking to start taking orders. 

• Tuesday - Office work, look at the weeks orders to see if I need to buy anything like tools or ingredients. Go over orders to see if I need to start on any toppers or make-ahead pieces. 
• Wednesday - Grocery shopping for supplies, start working on toppers or things that need to dry. 
• Thursday - Bake cakes, make frosting and fondant. Cover cake board. Wrap and chill cakes overnight in the fridge or freeze cakes until cold but not frozen so I can crumb coat them (about an hour). I like to have cakes crumb coated early so that I have more time to decorate, especially if I have multiple tiers to decorate on Friday. 
• Friday - Apply the final coat of buttercream and decorate. Store finished cakes in the refrigerator. I have a regular residential fridge with no freezer and adjustable shelves that I use for my cake orders. Fondant covered cakes can also be stored in the fridge. They might sweat a little when they come out of the fridge but condensation does not hurt the cake. 
• Saturday - Deliver cakes. Obviously, if your cake is due on another day you can adjust this timeline. 
• Sunday/Monday - Cake decorators weekend. Don't forget to give yourself time off or you'll burn out! Even fun things like decorating cakes can become really overwhelming and exhausting if you don't give yourself breaks. Especially if you have a family and a full-time job on top of decorating cakes. 

Cake Decorating Tools

Before you bust out the bowls and whisks, we need to talk about cake decorating tools. You don't need everything on this list but if you get serious, it's a good list to follow. Below are the absolute MUSTS to have before you decorate your first cake and where to get them.

1. Professional cake pan - The absolute #1 thing you need is a good cake pan. There is nothing worse than wasting all that time and ingredients on a cake that is burned on the outside, soft in the middle and the sides aren't straight. I bought my cake pans at my local cake decorating store but you can also find them at kitchen kaboodle or amazon. Psssst - Wilton pans are not professional pans. (sorry Wilton). You'll need two 8" cake pans for a two-layer cake or three 6" cake pans if you want three layers. (if you only have one then your batter might go bad while the first one is baking).
2. Offset spatula - You don't need two sizes, you could get away with just the small one really but I do use both sizes on every cake. The offset spatula is a must so that you don't actually get your fingers in the buttercream as you're smoothing out your layers of buttercream. You can buy them at most grocery stores or cake supply stores.
3. Serrated knife - Nothing fancy. A serrated knife is also known as a bread knife. As long as it has those little teeth it will work just fine for cutting the tops off your cakes to make them nice and flat. You probably already have this knife in your kitchen.
   
4. Optional cake decorating tools (but really nice to have) 
5. Bench Scraper - This is my #1 baking tool. I use it all the time for getting my cakes perfectly smooth on the sides. I got mine at the dollar store but you can also find them at most grocery stores in the kitchen section or cake decorating store.
6. Turn Table - You're definitely going to want a turntable. It just makes frosting the cake so so much easier. My first turntable was the little plastic one from Michaels and I used my 40% off coupon to buy it. You can also use a lazy susan if you have one with a flat top.
7. Cake cardboard - These are also called cake boards or cake cards. They are thin boards that you build your cake on and allow you to easily move your cake from the turntable to the cake platter. You can build your cake directly on the plate but it's a little harder to get the sides perfectly smooth. If you're going for a rustic buttercream finish though it's not absolutely necessary. I get my cake boards from amazon but you can get them from Michaels or other stores that carry cake decorating supplies. Make sure you get the kind that has a smooth edge not scalloped.
   
8. Piping Bag - I love me some disposable piping bags. If you don't have any or can't find any, you can use a ziplock bag in a pinch with the tip cut off. I get mine from Truly Mad Plastics but any piping bag from the grocery store or cake store will be fine for this.
9. Piping Tip - Don't forget a piping tip if you want to pipe some pretty rosettes on the top of the cake! My favorite tip is a 2F but any star tip will do like a Wilton 1M.
10. Sprinkles - Nothing says party like sprinkles! Grab some pretty sprinkles to decorate the top of the cake. I got mine from Fancy Sprinkles but you can find sprinkles in the baking aisle at most grocery stores or cake decorating stores.
11. Gel Food Coloring - If you want to color some of your buttercream you're going to need some gel food color (not liquid food color they sell in grocery stores). I got mine in the cake decorating aisle at Michaels. You don't need a lot.

How To Make A Box Cake Taste Like Scratch (WASC)

I'll let you in on a little secret, there are plenty of professional cake decorators out there who don't bake from scratch, they use a box mix and add ingredients to it to make it taste more like a scratch cake. This is called a doctored box mix and is quite tasty!

The most popular doctored cake mix is WASC which stands for White Almond Sour Cream Cake. But you don't have to use a white box mix, you can make the same adjustments to a yellow or funfetti box mix and it will taste just as good. If you want to use a chocolate box mix then check out the Chocolate WASC.

If you want to make your WASC into funfetti then add in ¼ cup of jimmy sprinkles (the long skinny kind) or confetti sprinkles. Mix into the batter at the very end of making the cake batter.

How To Bake A Cake

Preheat your oven to 350ºF and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. If it's too low the bottom of your cake will burn. If it's too high the top will get too crispy. Let your oven preheat for at least 30 minutes to give the oven time to get hot enough. 

Grease your pans. I prefer to use a homemade cake release called cake goop which is super simple to make. You can also use PAM or you can coat the inside of your pan with a thin layer of vegetable shortening, dust it with some all-purpose flour and tap out the excess flour. Make sure you go all the way up the sides.

Place all your ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can do this by hand) and mix on medium for 2 minutes. Divide your batter evenly between your cake pans.

Bake your cakes in the oven 30-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the center of the cake cleanly. It's ok to bake your cakes for longer if they are not done. Place the cake pans onto a cooling rack or on top of your oven to cool down. 

Once the cake pans are cool enough to handle (about  15 minutes), you can turn them upside down onto the cooling rack and the cake should fall right out. Let them cool for another 10-15 minutes until barely warm. 

Wrapping And Chilling Your Cakes

Once your cakes are cool enough to handle, wrap them in two layers of plastic wrap and place into the freezer to chill for two hours (if you want to decorate your cake the same day as baking) or you can place them into the fridge to chill overnight. This is what I like to do so that I am not rushed to decorate. Do not freeze your cakes solid if you plan on using them the same day or it will just take a really long time to defrost them.

If you do freeze your cakes, place them on the counter still wrapped until they are defrosted.

Chilling your cakes is super important so that you can trim them and handle them without them breaking. The chilling causes the butter inside the cake to get nice and hard but will get soft again when the cake comes to room temperature.

Making Easy Buttercream Frosting

Now is a good time to make your buttercream. I know a lot of beginners think they want to use whipped cream because it is light and creamy but for making a cake, you will get nothing but headaches. I prefer to make my easy buttercream frosting because you can just throw everything into the mixer, whip it up until it's white and it's done! It's super light and not too sweet.

The easy buttercream frosting is also great for frosting the cake and getting a smooth finish and is firm enough to pipe with.

Store your easy buttercream at room temperature with plastic wrap covering the top until you need it. If you leave it out overnight make sure you whip it a little bit before you use it to make it smooth again.

Store leftover buttercream in the fridge or freeze it for up to 6 months in a ziplock bag.

Trimming Your Cakes

Time to trim our cakes! Now at the very least, you should cut off the dome of your cake. Place your cake onto your turntable and unwrap the plastic wrap. Leave the plastic wrap under the cake for easy clean up of crumbs.

Use the line between the base of the dome and the side of the cake as a guide. Slowly start cutting along the line about ½" and rotate your cake as you cut. Once you have cut all the way around the outside, start slowly cutting the top of the dome off, using the first cut as a guide. Keep your knife nice and flat and just go slow.

Optional: Trim The Brown Edges Off Your Cake

This is definitely a bonus option but I always trim off the brown from my cakes because I think it makes a prettier slice. It's honestly pretty easy to do and also makes the cake very slightly smaller so you have less of a chance of having brown show through your buttercream.

Turn your cake upside down so the bottom is at the top. Slide your knife just under the brown "skin" and slowly cut it off in one piece. Keep your knife nice and flat for best results. Do the same thing to the sides.

You can see the difference.

If the brown doesn't bother you then you can definitely skip this step.

Stacking And Filling Your Cake

Time to start stacking our cake! Start by placing your cake board onto the turntable and center it. Place a small dollop of buttercream on the board and put your first cake layer on the board. There should be a little space all the way around your cake between the cake and the board.

Place a big dollop of buttercream on top of the layer and use your offset spatula to push the buttercream to the edges of the cake. Then hold the spatula at a 45º angle, with the tip in the center of the buttercream and turn the cake slowly to flatten out the buttercream. Keep your spatula level so that the layer of buttercream is level.

I will periodically get down to eye level with the buttercream to check and see if it's got a dome in the center or if it is nice and flat. A flat cake is a stable cake.

Optional: Fill Your Cake With Strawberry Puree and Strawberry Buttercream

If you want to spice up your filling, you can easily add some flavoring to your buttercream like a strawberry puree. You can fill your cake with straight strawberry but you need a very thin layer or your cake layers will slip around too easily. You can use my strawberry puree recipe but when you use fresh fruit, it always has to be refrigerated which can make the cake taste dry because the butter in the cake is cold.

I like to use this shelf stable strawberry filling that a lot of bakeries use. You can mix a little into your buttercream and make it flavored or you can spread a little straight onto your cake layers.

Then I place a layer of the strawberry buttercream on top.

Add your next layer of cake. If you are using 6" layers then you will have two layers of filling, if you're using 8" cake pans you'll only have one layer of filling. Either is ok!

Doesn't that look so yummy??

How To Crumbcoat Your Cake

You may or may not have heard about a crumbcoat but for the sake of learning, I'm going to explain it. I told you I wasn't going to skip anything!

A crumbcoat is a thin layer of your buttercream all over the cake to seal in the crumbs. This is an important step so that you don't get any of those crumbs in your final layer of buttercream frosting.

Place a big dollop of buttercream on the top of your cake and use your small offset spatula to spread the buttercream into a thin layer all over your cake. You don't have to be neat and tidy, just a thin coat will do. You can see there are a lot of crumbs and chunks of strawberry in this layer of buttercream, that's totally ok.

Once your cake is fully covered, you can place it into the fridge or the freezer to firm up. Once the buttercream is firm to the touch you can put on your final coat of buttercream without the crumbs getting into it.

How To Get Smooth Frosting On Your Cake

Now we're going to apply the final coat of buttercream to our cake. Use your larger offset spatula to apply some frosting to the top of the cake and smooth it down flat the same way we smoothed out the layers of buttercream between the cakes. Now apply some frosting to the sides of the cakes. Make a nice thick coat.

Now comes the fun part. Use your bench scraper to slowly scrape away the excess frosting. Wipe the excess back into the bowl. Hold the scraper straight up and down with the base against the turn table. Once you get to the board, you're done! If you have any low spots just add some more buttercream and continue scraping until the sides are nice and smooth.

Use your small offset spatula to clean up the top edge by slowly dragging the buttercream from the outside edge towards the center in a smooth motion.

How To Decorate A Cake

Now you can decorate your cake! This is actually the easiest part now that we have built our cake and frosted it so well, you have a nice clean canvas to start with!

For my cake, I placed some sprinkles into a large bowl and held my cake in my left hand. With my right hand I scooped up some sprinkles and pressed it to the sides of the cake, letting the excess fall back into the bowl. Don't worry, your cake will be ok!

Next, let's pipe some pretty rosettes for the top of the cake. I place my piping tip into my piping bag and cut off the end of the bag so the tip opening fits through the end. Don't cut too much off or the piping tip will fall out of the bag.

If you want to color your buttercream, just place a couple of big scoops into a bowl and add a couple of drops of your food coloring. Mix with a spatula until there aren't any streaks left.

Next, place the bag into a cup and fold the edges down around the sides. This makes it easier to scoop some buttercream into the bag. You don't need a lot.

To pipe even rosettes, I pipe the first rosette and then turn the cake 90º so that the rosette is directly across from me. Then I pipe my second. Then I turn my cake 45º and do the same thing, basically piping directly between the first two rosettes and then I do the same on the other side. Then I just fill in the space between with two more rosettes. That way all my rosettes are the same size and spaced evenly.

The last thing I do is add some more sprinkles to the top of the cake!

You have officially decorated your first cake! Go you!! I knew you could do it.

If you had fun learning how to make a cake please leave a comment below and if you're a member of our facebook group, I'd love to see you post your cakes!

One more thing, I usually store my cakes in the fridge before I deliver so they stay nice and firm but if you're not traveling far and it's not too hot, then cakes taste better at room temperature.

Recipe

Print Recipe

4.83 from 34 votes

First Cake Recipe (WASC)

A doctored cake mix that is well-used by bakers all over the world that produces a delicious white cake that tastes almost like scratch. This recipe makes three 6"x2" cake rounds or two 8"x2" cake rounds

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 servings

Calories: 612kcal

Author: Elizabeth Marek

Ingredients

WASC Cake

• 1 box white cake mix I like duncan hines
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream room temp
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 cup water
• 4 egg whites fresh not boxed at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Easy Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup pasteurized egg whites 8 oz
• 2 lbs powdered sugar 32 oz
• 2 lbs unsalted butter 32 oz softened to room temperature
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup strawberry puree optional

Instructions

WASC Cake

• Pre-heat your oven to 350ºF at least 30 minutes before baking to give your oven time to heat up properly. Prepare your pans with cake goop or another preferred pan release.
• The instructions for this cake are super easy. Basically put it all into a bowl and mix it on medium speed for 2 minutes! Voila! Cake batter is ready. 
• Divide your batter into your cake pans evenly. Bake the cakes at 350ºF  for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. It's ok to bake your cakes for longer if they are not done yet.

Easy Buttercream Frosting

• Mix the pastuerized egg whites and powdered sugar together on medium speed until the sugar is dissolved. About 2 minutes.
• Add the softened butter in pieces while mixing on low with the whisk attachment until it's all added in. Then bump the speed up to high and whip until the buttercream is light and white and fluffy.
• Taste the buttercream. If it still tastes buttery or looks curdled, keep mixing. You can't over-whip this buttercream.
• Frost and decorate your cake as desired

Video

Notes

Don't worry about any of the ingredients on the back of the box, just use the ingredients listed in the recipe. 

This recipe makes enough batter for three 6"x2" cakes or two 8"x2" cakes (round). 

This recipe makes 36 cupcakes with about 1.5 ounces of batter per cupcake tin. 

You can replace 4 egg whites with three whole eggs if desired

If your buttercream is curdled because your butter was too cold, take out ½ cup of frosting and melt it in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Mix it back into the frosting to bring the mixture back together and make it creamy. 

Tools & Materials List

Tools Recommended *note: this list contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything but I may make a few bucks off the sale*

• Three 6" cake pans 
• Bench Scraper
• Offset spatula
• 6" cake board
• Turntable 
• Piping bag
• Piping tip

Materials Needed

• Three 6" cakes - baked and cooled
• Easy Buttercream (one batch)
• Food coloring
• Sprinkles
• Strawberry filling (optional)

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 612kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 296mg | Potassium: 53mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 55g | Vitamin A: 1204IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 1mg

28 Awesome Gifts For Bakers

If you're reading this, you might know an amazing baker. Maybe they're your best friend, maybe you're married to them. Maybe it's your neighbor that brings you all her leftover cookies. Whoever the baker is in your life, you can bet they will absolutely FLIP for any of these amazing gifts for bakers

Now this isn't just some random list of gifts put together for the sake of selling, no sir! I polled my followers and listened to what THEY want the most for the holidays as well as throwing in a few finds that I think any baker would love. So you know these gifts for bakers will be spot on!

*Full disclosure, there are affiliate links in this post. This doesn't cost you anything but I may make a few bucks from the post.

Gifts For Bakers Under $25

You don't have to spend a fortune to get the perfect gift for bakers! Here are my top choices for gifts for bakers under $25

1 Quality Cake Pans $9.99

One of the first things a baker needs are some really good cake pans! If you're in need of a beginners gift for bakers that they will absolutely LOVE, you can't go wrong with a set of professional cake pans. I love my Fat Daddio cake pans but another popular brand is Magic Line.

2 Glass Mixing Bowls - $24.99

Every baker needs a set of clear glass bowls for mise en place (everything in it's place). Mise en place is when you get all your ingredients together in bowls before you start baking so that you don't forget any important steps. Plus it makes food videography look so much cleaner and you can stop wondering where your cereal bowls have gone.

3 Mini Red Silicone Rolling Pin - $7.99

If the baker in your life is a huge Sugar Geek Show fan (which I hope they are) then they are probably familiar with my famous tiny rolling pin. People ask me ALL THE TIME where I got mine! In all honesty, I don't even remember. I've had it for so long but recently I found the same one on Amazon! Don't ask me why I love my tiny red rolling pin, I just do.

4 Chocolate Tempering Spatula - $21.99

Every good baker needs to know how to temper chocolate and unless you have a chocolate tempering machine, it can get a little tricky (and messy). Luckily I discovered this awesome spatula that has a thermometer inside so you can easily keep track of the temperature of your chocolate while tempering.

5 Food Jewelry - $18

Ok so maybe it's just me but I LOVE tiny foods!! There is just something so cute about it! I have a pair of donut earrings and I always get compliments on them. Now I just need this necklace...

6 Momofuku Milk Bar Book - $21.49

Christina Tosi is pretty much the baker's version of Madonna. She's one badass chick who's super talented! I've tried many of her recipes and they always please the crowds! If you want to get a gift for a baker that loves to try new recipes, this is a great gift! Just make sure they haven't already bought it for themselves

7 Rose Gold Baking Utensils - $17.97

Who wouldn't want this chic utensil set? Rose gold is a very popular color right now and pretty much goes with everything. *adds utensils to shopping cart*

Gifts for bakers from $25-$50

Don't have a lot of cash but want to impress? Don't worry, we've got you covered! Any baker would love to have these gifts make a sudden appearance in the kitchen.

8 Kitchen Scale - $36.05

If you want to bake from scratch and you want to do it well, you simple must have a kitchen scale (that almost rhymes). Seriously though, this is the scale I use in all my recipes and I lurve it soooo much.

9 Baking Basics - $21.39

Speaking of baking, my favorite cake author of all time, Rose Levy Beranbaum (author of the best cake book ever, The Cake Bible) has come out with a new book all about teaching you how to bake and the fundamentals of baking. If that's not a book for a baker I don't know what is.

10 Gel Food Coloring Student Kit - $22

Good food coloring is hard to find. Toss that watery junk you buy from the grocery store and get the good stuff!

11 Cake Photography Backdrop - $36.99

Nothing will help a bakers business grow faster than professional looking photos! This simple white vinyl backdrop is what I use to take clean looking photos of my cakes.

12 Kitchen Torch - $28.73

You wouldn't believe how often one needs to set things on fire (on purpose) for cake decorating! This kitchen torch runs on butane (same thing as a lighter) has an easy on/off valve and is perfect for all the torching things.

13 Turntable Expander - $39.99

If you ever make a cake over 10" then you definitely need this turntable expander! It turns your 12" turntable into 20" and is big enough to support a sheet cake! I could not live without mine.

14 Crystal Mold - $37.99

Crystal cakes and geode cakes are still super on trend and it looks like it's going to stay that way. These crystal molds are perfect for making beautiful crystals out of sugar!

15 Isomalt Beginners Kit - $44.99

Speaking of isomalt, this kit just came out for the budding sugar artist! Everything you need including isomalt, torch, gloves, mat and bowl so you can start whipping up some amazing isomalt sculptures

16 Chocolate Skull Mold Deluxe Set $49.99

This chocolate skull mold was designed for the sculptor! Everything you need to cast a chocolate skull, make realistic sugar eyes and sculpt an anatomically correct face for your bust cakes. Check out the bust cake tutorial for more info on sculpting realistic cakes.

17 Metallic Paint Palette - $48

Edible metallic paints are all the rage right now in cake decorating but totally edible can be hard to find! This metallic paint palette is soooo pretty (and edible) I might just use it for my face instead of the cakes.

18 Inspired Women Hoodie - $40

Does the (lady) baker in your life inspire you and those around her? Why not get her a hoodie that's comfy and cozy to wear on those cold caking nights. Then we can be twinsies.

19 Personalized Cake Fork - $31

I love this cake fork! The perfect gift for bakers! Or ya know, people who like cake (everyone). Personalize the fork with fun sayings like "my slice" or "piece of cake" or even the business name so you can use it for client tastings!

Gifts For Bakers $50+

Ready to really impress? These gifts for bakers are definitely on the "someday I'll buy this for myself but I'll feel really guilty if I do". Some of these are tools a baker really needs for their business or maybe it's just something they really want but would never buy. Bakersguilt is a real thing ya'll. Buy it for them.

20 Kitchenaid Pasta Machine Attachment - $59.88

Does the baker in your life love to make sugar flowers? Do they have a hand held pasta machine because "it's fine" and "get's the job done". Well let me tell you from experience, hand-rolling hundreds of gumpaste petals sucks. I could not live without my pasta machine attachment. Making sugar flowers already takes too much time, make their life easier with this gift.

21 Innovative Sugar Works Turntable - $77.83

A really quality turntable is invaluable to bakers and cake decorators! I love this turntable from Innovative Sugar Works because it's not too heavy and has a knob on the side so I can lock the wheel when I'm decorating and it's easy to clean. It also goes perfectly with that turntable expander *hint hint*

22 Arkon Mount - $99.95

If you're not a baker, you probably have no idea what this is but trust me, every baker needs one! This Arkon Mount is for holding your phone while you bake... anything really! You can record yourself hands-free while you bake, decorate or demo a technique. Video is the #1 driver of traffic and super important for advertising and social media. You can also use my special promo code "SUGARGEEK" at checkout to get 20% off your purchase!

23 Spa Day - $Depends On Your Location

When we polled our followers for what gift they really want for Christmas, "massage" was #1 on the list. Pretty crazy huh? It makes sense though, bakers spend a lot of time on their feet hunched over a table decorating cakes for other people and usually putting themselves last. Why not give them something they would never take the time to give themselves. Just do a quick search for "spa day" near you and book it! Or better yet, ask their best friend to recommend a place and get them a package deal so they can have a friend spa day.

24 Cake Decorating Airbrush - $84.99

The #1 tool I get asked about the most is "what airbrush do you recommend". I 100% stand behind the Clairella Cakes Airbrush. It's designed by a cake decorator and is so simple to use. There are multiple settings for how powerful of an airflow you need. The greatest airbrush for beginners or for a travel airbrush.

25 Cake Safe Mini - $299

This is definitely one of those gifts that every baker really wants and needs but will put off buying for themselves! A cake safe is an amazing transportation box for delivering cakes without the risk of them falling over. I even traveled all the way across the country with a competition cake in my cake safe, checked it onto a plane and it arrived perfectly! Definitely worth the investment.

Even better, here's a code that's valid until 12/25/18. It's HOLIDAY2018 for 10% off orders over $25, and surprise free gifts will be added to the orders that use the code!

26 Camera and 50 mm Lens - $499.99

I get asked a lot, what is the best camera to buy for cake photography? The answer is not specific but will hopefully be enough information for you to find the best deal. I prefer Nikon for photography and you want to get a lens that is a 50mm f/1.8 lens. This low number on the f-stop means the background will be blurry and will look magical when you take photos of your cakes or for food photography.

27 Edible Printer - $220

Another question I get asked about a lot is what edible printer I recommend. I have been using my Canon printer from photofrost for years. I never have to clean the cartridge heads and I don't get any streaks or lines. Make sure you watch my video on how to print edible images so you have great results. Check out this video of me printing out some plaid onto a photofrost sheet!

28 Cake Leveler (Agbay) - $149.95

This is one of those tools that a baker really needs if they have to level a lot of cakes quickly! The Agbay is so sharp you can level a cake in literally less than 5 seconds. Definitely a "wish list" gift for bakers!

Did we nail this gift for bakers list or did we miss your Christmas gift wish? Leave it in the comments and share this list with anyone who needs some gifts for bakers inspiration 😀

Gingerbread House Inspiration! My Top 10 List For 2018

The holidays are right around the corner and I'm already thinking about making my annual gingerbread house! My first house was a down right disaster but once I discovered the secret to a strong royal icing to hold my gingerbread house together, things got a lot funner! Now I'm pushing myself to create bigger and more elaborate gingerbread houses!

One of the best parts of building a gingerbread house is getting inspiration. Enjoy these photos of some of the best gingerbread house designs I've ever seen. Some of them are simple, some of them are downright crazy elaborate but all beautiful!

I absolutely love this super bright design! The colors, the candy, it just makes the inner me SO happy! I think it might be my most favorite gingerbread house of all time. Display made by Sonny Robinson - Freeds Bakery

Check out these awesome in-process pics that Sonny was so kind to show me! Amazing to see the process of building such a cool display. Sonny states that he builds a template out of foam core and works out all the measurements ahead of time so that he knows how the final pieces will fit together.

For curved pieces of gingerbread, he takes them fresh out of the oven while still warm and places them onto the curved pieces of foam core so they dry curved! If that's not genius then I don't know what is. Check out the video of the final piece on his facebook page.

I am a sucker for simple! Beautifully piped gingerbread house with melted sugar windows - Chatka z piernika

Super cute gumdrop gingerbread house with nella wafer stairs - sassybeautimous

lovely A-frame gingerbread house with amazing piped doors and sugar glass windows - Jeff Kyle

Probably my most favorite gingerbread house of all time. The textured gingerbread, the railing, everything is amazing! - Patricia Howard

This waffle gingerbread house is from a Target ad and isn't even gingerbread but seriously! can this be a thing?? There's a freaking bacon pathway! I need this to be my next Christmas brunch f'real.

Another cute idea! A gingerbread dog house! Love this idea! Get the gingerbread doghouse kit from walmart

This is the gingerbread Hogwarts built by Cherry Bay Cakery using a whole lot of gingerbread, royal icing, and over 50-pounds of fondant. It took over 100 hours to complete! My jaw is definitely on the floor!

Now this is a brilliant idea! Using gelatin sheets for windows! Love the effect that is has on this beautiful gingerbread greenhouse!  

This adorable gingerbread house made by Catherine Bedall Edible Art is SO cute it's hard to believe its really a cookie! It looks like it could be a piece of art!

How to make a gingerbread house

Making your first gingerbread house doesn't have to be stressful. All you need is a pattern, some strong royal icing, candy and your imagination! Learn to make my simple gingerbread house recipe with complete guide to the perfect gingerbread house on the first try. You can even learn how to make some beautiful stained glass windows out of candy.

Don't forget to use the royal icing recipe too so that you can easily glue your house together and add all that delicious candy!

Gingerbread House Pattern

Looking for the perfect gingerbread house pattern? I've got a super simple one for ya! This pattern makes a house that isn't too big so you don't waste a ton of candy decorating it but big enough that you can put some lights inside and make a pretty decoration for your mantle for the holidays.

Can you eat a gingerbread house?

Technically, yes you can eat a gingerbread house. Traditionally the house is build on the first day of December and then eaten on Christmas morning but if you ask me, that doesn't sound very tasty. Who wants to eat stale gingerbread?

Also, gingerbread dough that is sturdy enough for houses works great for building but not so great for eating. It's very hard! I suggest making these super yummy gingerbread cookies that are soft and chewy in the center and OH SO yummy! My hubby pretty much ate them all 😀