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Fun cake designs and easy to follow tutorials on how to make a fantastic Spongebob cake!

Spongebob Squarepants is a long time beloved cartoon character who lives in the sea. He resides in the ficticious city of Bikini Bottom with his pals Patrick, Squidward, Gary and several others. The show became popular among kids and adults alike when it premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999. Whether you're a fan of the cartoon show or not, you have to admit there are some pretty spectacular Spongebob cake designs!

Right here on Sugar Geek Show we have our very own fantastic standing Spongebob Cake tutorial for Premium and Elite Members taught by the amazing Jessa Coline of Abstract Edible Arts! If you've got some experience under your belt with cake decorating and are looking to wow, this is the Spongebob cake design for you!

It's jam packed with incredible detail and amazing techniques to create the overall spitting image look of Spongebob Squarepants complete with a krabby patty! The structure of this cake can be super intimidating but Jessa breaks it down so that anyone can do it!

It looks as though Spongebob literally walked right out of the TV screen doesn't it? Character cakes can be really hard to make look exactly like the character but Jessa knocked it out of the park and shows you just how to do it.

Stand Out Details

Hand painting, airbrushing, modelling work and more really bring the details to life and give them that extra bit of realism and dimension they need to stand out among other cakes.

I especially love his adorable little outfit and the details in his striped socks and shiny black shoes!

The krabby patty is just as impressive in my book! Look at that detail! Patty, cheese, lettuce and a perfectly toasted bun. When you bite into this burger though you'll be tasting nothing but sweet. If you're interested in making a super realistic giant burger cake we have that here on Sugar Geek Show too.

Spongebob Cake Ideas

While we are of course partial to our own Spongebob cake design, there are certainly lots of other Spongebob cakes worth checking out! Here are some of our favorites.

The two dimensional work on this cake is absolutely fantastic! I want to say it looks like outlining and flooding with royal icing just like you would do on a cookie. It gives it such a unique look and it really pops.

If you're not quite sure about attempting a standing Spongebob cake just yet then a sitting design like this cake would be perfect! Add in the details and you've still got a super cute cake that emulates the character perfectly.

This tiered Spongebob cake is so fun. I love the cute under the sea detail including Spongebob's pineapple house. The Spongebob and Patrick toppers

are also really well done! This is another great design idea for anyone looking for something other than a full on Spongebob cake.

How to Make a Spongebob Cake with Buttercream

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4.91 from 614 votes

Easy Buttercream Frosting

Delicious, rich and easy buttercream frosting recipe that anyone can make. This is not a crusting buttercream. It is meringue based so it has a slight shine and chills nicely in the fridge. Takes 10 minutes to make and is fool-proof! Light, fluffy and not too sweet. 

Prep Time5 minutes mins

mixing time20 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 cups

Calories: 849kcal

Author: Liz Marek

Ingredients

• 6 oz pasteurized egg whites room temperature
• 24 oz powdered sugar sifted if not from a bag
• 24 oz unsalted butter room temperature. You can use salted butter but it will affect the taste and you need to leave out additional salt
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 TINY drop purple food coloring (optional) for whiter frosting

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Place egg whites and powdered sugar in a stand mixer bowl. Attach the whisk and combine ingredients on low and then whip on high for 1 minute to dissolve the powdered sugar 
• Add in your salt and vanilla extract
• Add in your butter in chunks and whip with the whisk attachment to combine. It will look curdled at first. This is normal. It will also look pretty yellow. Keep whipping. 
• If your buttercream looks curdled, remove about ⅓ cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until JUST barely melted. Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
• (Optional) Add your drop of purple food coloring. Whip on high with the whisk attachment for 8-10 minutes until it's very white, light and shiny. Taste the buttercream, if it tastes like sweet ice cream then it's ready!
• Switch to a paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream very smooth and remove air bubbles. This isn't required but if you want really creamy frosting, you don't want to skip it. 

Video

Notes

• Use pasteurized egg whites. Carton egg whites work best for this easy buttercream recipe because they are already pasteurized and safe to use without cooking.

• Butter temperature matters. The butter should be soft enough to press with your finger but not melted. If the butter is too cold, the buttercream may look curdled while mixing.

• If the buttercream looks curdled, keep mixing. This is normal while the butter emulsifies with the egg whites and powdered sugar. After a few minutes of mixing it will become smooth and fluffy.

• Too soft? Chill it. If your easy buttercream feels too soft for piping, refrigerate it for 10–15 minutes and mix again before using.

• Too stiff? Add a small splash of cream. If the frosting becomes too thick, mix in a teaspoon of cream or milk until the texture softens.

• Great for piping and fondant cakes. This easy buttercream is stable enough for decorating cakes, piping rosettes, and covering cakes before applying fondant.

• Storage: Buttercream can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week. Bring it back to room temperature and re-whip before using.

• Freezing: This buttercream freezes well for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and whip again before using.

Nutrition

Serving: 2oz | Calories: 849kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 61g | Saturated Fat: 38g | Cholesterol: 162mg | Sodium: 240mg | Potassium: 18mg | Sugar: 74g | Vitamin A: 2055IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.4mg

Lots of people are looking for a simple buttercream Spongebob cake design and I have found a fabulous one from the YouTube Channel LeNsCake Kdi. She shows you how to do a simple buttercream transfer for Spongebob's face, add in some spots and a piped border and you have a really cute and very simple buttercream Spongebob cake.

Another fun way to get a buttercream Spongebob cake design is with this great tutorial from My Cupcake Addiction for a pull apart cupcake cake! People seem to love these pull apart cupcake cakes and Spongebob's shape really lends to the design easily making for a cute party dessert!

How to Make a Spongebob Cake with Fondant

I love me some Ann Reardon from the very popular YouTube Channel How To Cook That so I couldn't pass up featuring this fondant Spongebob cake design she has done. It is so cute and cartoony and as always her tutorial is super easy to follow from beginning to end!

If you're looking for a simple non-standing, non-sitting Spongebob cake design with fondant, this is a super easy to follow free tutorial on how to make all the fantastic details for a Spongebob cake from the popular YouTube Channel Cakes StepByStep.

How to Make a Spongebob Cake Step by Step

If pictorials are more your thing I found quite possibly the best pictorial I've ever seen on the internet for a very well done Spongebob cake design! It's so clean and perfectly executed and she shows each step with clear photos and written instructions. She shows everything from working with a photo template to filling, frosting, covering the cake and adding all the details. Click the photo to go to the full tutorial!

Spongebob Cake Toppers

Why not make Spongebob and his friends on a smaller scale to put on a tiered cake design? Here are some great tutorials on how to make some adorable Spongebob cake toppers out of fondant from the YouTube Channel Just Cake It.

If you've been thinking about making a Spongebob cake whether it be for a client or a family member, I'd say this post has you covered on ideas, designs and techniques! No matter what combo you come up with it is sure to be cute and we would love to see it! Share your photos on the Sugar Geek Show Facebook Page for everyone to see!

How To Make A Lumberjack Cake With Buffalo Plaid Cake Inside And A Gravity Defying Chocolate Axe On Top!

The lumberjack cake is probably my favorite cake of all time. What happened to be a random experiment to see if I could make a buffalo plaid pattern inside a cake became a viral sensation! Three years later, it's still my most popular tutorial and now you can learn how to make it for free!

This tutorial is an updated version because I felt like I could improve upon the original design but you can watch the original lumberjack cake tutorial for free too!

If I HAD known this cake was going to go viral, I definitely would have taken the time to finish my board *cringes). My video quality at the time was a GoPro and some of the techniques where a little fussy. Since then, I have made dozens of lumberjack cakes and have streamlined the process to what I feel is a pretty simple and fun cake to make. I also have three new recipes for you that I like to call the "Sculpted cake recipes series" which are cakes that still have a lot of great flavor but are a little bit sturdier for using in carved cakes like this one. My original cake tutorial used box mix which is really tender and breaks pretty easily.

Since then, this cake has been made and re-made by some huge pages including tastemade which used to bother me but now I just know it's part of this business. But the thing that REALLY get's me is that the plaid is never true plaid in any of these other videos. It's my inner OCD going nuts.

Check out these "not buffalo plaid" cakes

To create the plaid texture in this cake, you have to make two 10" red velvet cakes for carving, two 8" chocolate cakes for carving and two 10" yellow cakes for carving (dyed red). You will have a little cake leftover after stacking. I HATE wasting cake so I added some roots to the design that uses up the excess cake and I think gives it a fun tree stump look. You can see the layer of yummy cake clay around the outside edge which tastes a lot like fudge! Yum!

Now that's some real buffalo plaid 😀

So after much discussion with my husband, we have decided to not only release the original lumberjack tutorial to be a free video, we have also made a NEW updated version with a different style of bark texture that I think is a lot more realistic, simpler way of making the edible axe using my modeling chocolate recipe and even a simpler way of making the wood rings on top using buttercream instead of fondant. You can use the old bark texture if you like or the new one depending on how much you enjoy working with fire haha.

The new bark texture is created using my LMF fondant recipe and my crackled fondant technique with the addition of some granulated sugar for extra crunchy texture. I get asked a lot of the fondant has a "burnt" taste because of the torching and the answer is no. We're only caramelizing the sugar like you would a s'more since the fondant is made mostly of marshmallows. The crunchy outer layer of sugar combined with the marshmallow fondant and the ganache underneath results in a cake that tastes literally like campfire marshmallows. How freaking lumberjack is that??

I hope you enjoy this new version of the lumberjack cake and a HUGE thank you to all the support over the years that I have received from fellow cake decorators, friends, family and straight up strangers who always tag me in their lumberjack cake creations, shared my tutorial and just overall kept me from becoming horribly bitter lol. I'm happy to release this tutorial into the wild 😀

Read more about the original lumberjack tutorial below

Originally published December 10, 2015

It's here, my lumberjack cake! Ohhhh I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok...

Seriously though, I might not be okay. I have a slight addiction. Well, slight would be an understatement really. Is there a word for a plaid obsession? I think it's taking over my life!

Plaid themed Christmas cards. I get bonus points for getting the dog and the baby to look at the camera.

My hubs might very well be a lumberjack... oh my. I mean he DID technically chop down that Christmas tree. That counts right??

What is a lumberjack cake?

A lumberjack cake could be many things, if you search pinterest you'll find a whole plethora of lumberjack cake versions ranging from cute stacks of pancakes to beards, bears and suspenders. My version of the lumberjack cake was actually a very quick experiment that I didn't really think anyone would think was that interesting.

I kept seeing plaid everywhere and I couldn't help but think... could you make a cake plaid on the inside?

*This photo has been shared over a million times on social media in less than 48 hours! Crazy! People love lumberjacks LOL

It's all About the Plaid Cake

Maybe it's because I'm an Oregonian.
Maybe because it's the hottest trend on Pinterest right now.
It could be because I have a crush on #FashionSanta and I know his favorite color is plaid.
Or maybe it's because I'm a child of the 90's and if I start wearing mauve lipstick and JNCO jeans, someone please send help.

When hubs chopped down that Christmas tree all lumberjack like, my obsession with plaid became clear. I'm in love with lumberjacks. It makes sense: I love trees, I love beards, and I love plaid.

This lumberjack cake is a culmination of almost all my obsessions. If I could have worked in a mermaid I would have.

Lumberjack Cakes with Plaid Inside: It Needed to Happen

The latest tutorial coming to the Sugar Geek Show! Chocolate-y log with edible axe and a BIG OL' SLICE of lumberjack cake awesomeness in the middle! That's right, plaid cake. (you may faint now)

I would like to say this pattern was super simple to make but well... let's just say a lot of cake and a lot of scribbled notes ended up in the trash. Damn you maths! Why must you confuse me so?!

Ever measured a piece of cake with a ruler and a compass? Neither have I... Only crazy obsessed weirdos would go to such extremes to perfect the perfect plaid cake masterpiece!

Lumberjack Cake Bark

I know that plaid is kind of the show-stopper but f'real, this tutorial is the real deal. I got all kinds of cool stuff packed in here: airbrushing, modeling chocolate, fondant, hand-detailing and of course, crazy realistic textures! It's kinda my thing. This chocolate bark on the outside of the lumberjack cake is one of the easiest and most realistic textures I have made, not to mention tasty!

Yes, that's edible. I know you where thinking it and It's ok.

Is there a magical plaid pattern cake pan?

Be aware, there are many copycats out there who claim to have the right pans or easy ways of making this plaid pattern but I dunno about you but random squares of colors on the inside of a cake does not make plaid. Trust me, it took way too many brain hours to figure out exactly how to make this plaid pattern work so that when you cut into it, it really would be plaid!

There are cake pans out there made for making a checkerboard pattern on the inside of cakes but these may not work the way you want for making a true plaid pattern. The reason is there aren't enough rings to make the full pattern.

How to make a lumberjack cake

First you'll want to bake up your cakes. You'll need two 10" red velvet cakes, two 10" Bright red cakes and two 8" chocolate cakes (recipes below). You only need your layers to be an 1" tall so I fill my 2" tall cake pans with batter about half way then trim after baking. I prefer these recipes because they hold their shape when you carve. After baking I wrap them in plastic wrap and chill them in the fridge overnight before carving.

• After you bake your cakes, you'll want to make your ganache and your marshmallow fondant (LMF) or you can use any brand of fondant you prefer. I like to make my own so that I can color it a nice dark brown. I use the same technique as I do in my black fondant tutorial but use brown food coloring instead of black.
• You'll need an 8", 6", 4" and 2" round template. I used a mixture of cake boards, pans and cutters that I just had handy. Cut out your circles with a utility knife, making sure you cut straight down so your cake layers have straight sides. You'll need two sets of red velvet/chocolate cake and two sets of bright red/red velvet cake. Make sure you glue your layers together with ganache or they will fall apart when you cut into them. Buttercream doesn't seem to hold as well as ganache.
• Stack your layers starting with the red velvet/chocolate layer on top of a 14" cake board. I like the boards from cake boards avare because you can clean the surface as you work. More ganache in between then give it all a good crumb coat and put it in to the fridge to firm up. While it's chilling, go ahead and make your modeling chocolate axe.

How to make a modeling chocolate axe

First you'll want to make your modeling chocolate. I made a batch of ivory and a batch of dark brown. For the support, I'm using ⅛" armature wire which you can buy in our shop. This is the same wire sculptors use for making clay sculptures so it's flexible but strong. You'll also want some aluminum foil tape to cover the wire and make it food safe. I buy mine from home depot but you can also get it online. Some silver dust to paint the chocolate works great too.

• First roll out your brown modeling chocolate into a wedge. Cut into an axe shape.Cover the wire in aluminum foil tape. Bend your wire so that it has a long part that comes out to form the handle and the other part goes through the front edge of the blade. This is where the wire is going to come out and then go into the cake to make it look like it's stuck in the cake.
• Cover the other side of the wire with a thin layer of modeling chocolate and cut off the excess. Take your ivory and leftover brown modeling chocolate and marble. Roll into a snake and then cut a line down the center. Place the wire in the cut then fold the modeling chocolate round the wire and smooth the seam. Place into the fridge to chill until firm.

How to make the tree stump look

After the cake is chilled, I make the tree rings on top using some easy buttercream colored ivory and brown. I used two separate piping bags and pipe alternating rings on top until I reach the edge. Then I smooth out the top with an offset spatula.

For the roots, I take the leftover red and chocolate cake that we didn't use for the plaid inside and crumble it up with some ganache to make cake clay. I form that into the roots and attach to the sides of the cake. Back into the fridge to chill

How to make the lumberjack cake bark texture

Originally I made the bark texture by placing ganache onto some crumpled tinfoil that is sprayed with vegetable oil and then wrap it onto the cake, freeze and pull off the foil but I decided to try out a new technique using my crackled fondant tutorial for a more realistic bark texture.

• First I roll out my brown fondant into a piece that is almost as tall as my cake and about 25" long and ½" thick. I torch the surface with my blow torch then add some granulated sugar and torch that. I let the whole thing cool.
• Then I paint the surface of the fondant with some white food coloring and then some ivory to give is some variation. Let it cool fully. Cover the top of the fondant with some plastic wrap and roll it up.

• Spray your ganache with some water to make it sticky and then wrap your fondant around the cake. Lifting the fondant to make it "crack. If  you get a rip or tear don't worry, it's bark! You can't mess it up. Just fix any holes and push it into place. Trim off the excess around the roots and at the top.

Finishing the lumberjack cake

The only thing left to do is place the axe! If you're delivering this cake or traveling, don't put the axe in the cake until you arrive. *tip: the more the handle is straight up and down, the more balanced it will be and be less prone to tipping over.

That's it! I hope you guys enjoyed this free lumberjack cake tutorial. If you make this cake, I'd love to see your version in the comments. Let me know what you think of it and if you have any issues, you can always ask me there.

Thanks guys!

xoxo- Liz

Watch the lumberjack cake tutorial at the bottom of the recipe!

Recipe

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5 from 30 votes

Lumberjack Cake Tutorial

Learn how to make this amazingly awesome lumberjack cake from Liz Marek of the Sugar Geek Show. Liz is the original creator of the Lumberjack cake. She shows us how to make the perfect buffalo plaid cake pattern inside, buttercream rings, gravity defying modeling chocolate axe and bark texture!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Decorating time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 10" cake

Calories: 24877kcal

Author: Liz Marek

Ingredients

Bright Red Cake Layers

• 12 oz unsalted butter room temperature
• 19 oz sugar
• 6 large eggs room temperature
• 19 oz all purpose flour
• 4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 oz milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 oz vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoon yellow food coloring
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring

Red Velvet Cake Layers

• 9 oz unsalted butter room temperature
• 22 oz sugar
• 22 oz All purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 5 large eggs room temperature
• 20 oz buttermilk room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 oz vegetable oil
• 2 ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon yellow food coloring
• 2 tablespoon super red food coloring

Chocolate Cake Layers

• 8 oz unsalted butter room temperature
• 14 oz sugar
• 15 oz All purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 oz dutched cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 16 oz water or strong coffee room temperature
• 2 oz vegetable oil

Chocolate Ganache

• 16 oz semi sweet chocolate
• 8 oz heavy whipping cream
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Heat oven to 335º F/168º C.
• NOTE: It is SUPER IMPORTANT that all the room temperature ingredients listed above are room temperature and not cold so that the ingredients mix and incorporate correctly. 

Bright Red Cake Instructions

• Add butter to stand mixer and beat at medium-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white, about 3-5 minutes.
• Add eggs one at a time, fully combining each egg before adding the next. Add in your yellow and red food color and combine until color is evenly mixed through. 
• Combine dry ingredients and whisk together. Set aside

  Combine wet ingredients and set aside
• With the mixer at the lowest speed, add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture, mix until ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter. Repeat the process 2 more times. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake cakes until they feel firm in the center and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs on it, about 35-40 minutes. Chill cakes until firm before torting. 

Red Velvet Cake Instructions

• Add butter to stand mixer and beat at medium-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white, about 3-5 minutes. 
• Add eggs one at a time, fully combining each egg before adding the next.

  Add in your food coloring to the egg/butter/sugar mixture

  Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine and set aside

  Combine wet ingredients and set aside
  
• With the mixer at the lowest speed, add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture, mix until ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter. Repeat the process 2 more times. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Wrap and chill until firm before torting. 

Chocolate Cake Instructions

• Add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder) together in a bowl, whisk to combine and set aside
• Combine wet ingredients in a bowl and set aside
• Add butter to stand mixer and beat at medium-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white, about 3-5 minutes. 
• Add eggs one at a time, fully combining each egg before adding the next. 
• With the mixer at the lowest speed, add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the water mixture, mix until ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter. Repeat the process 2 more times. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake cakes until they feel firm in the center and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs on it, about 35-40 minutes. Wrap and chill until firm before torting

Chocolate Ganache

• Heat your cream to a simmer and pour over your chocolate. Let set 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth. If you have some unmelted chocolate, you can heat further in the microwave or over a bane marie until fully melted. Let mixture cool at room temperature until ganache is at the consistency of peanut butter. 

Video

Notes

Watch the full tutorial on how to construct this lumberjack cake!

Nutrition

Calories: 24877kcal | Carbohydrates: 3154g | Protein: 351g | Fat: 1257g | Saturated Fat: 789g | Cholesterol: 4991mg | Sodium: 16000mg | Potassium: 11135mg | Fiber: 122g | Sugar: 1781g | Vitamin A: 29640IU | Vitamin C: 1.3mg | Calcium: 3474mg | Iron: 136mg

Cake Decorating Tips I Wish I Knew When I Started Out Cake Decorating That Changed My Life

*This post contains affiliate links which means I get paid a few pennies if you buy something using my link but it doesn't cost you anything extra*

When I first started cake decorating, I knew literally nothing, not even what cake tools I should have. I do not have one of those fun stories where I grew up baking with my mom and grammy in the kitchen. I didn't know how to bake, I definitely didn't know how to bake from scratch, I definitely didn't know what fondant was. I just knew, cake decorating was a job that real people had and I wanted to learn how to do it.

My first PAID (yes someone paid me to make this) wedding cake circa 2009. I think I charged a whopping $150. The whole thing fell apart during delivery. The heavy sugar flowers cut through the box cake on the way to delivery. They were just stuck into the cake. No straws).

I had to tear the whole thing apart in the kitchen of the venue and reconstruct it from cakes purchased from a grocery store bakery. Crazy thing? Bride wasn't even mad and didn't even ask for a refund. You would NEVER see that these days. I wish I could hug that bride today. If she would have yelled at me (which she totally had every right to) I think I would have given up right then and there. 

Cake Decorating Is Not A Job, It's How I Create Art

But let's back up and give a little history just in case you don't have my book and have no idea who this Liz chick is.

I grew up as an artist in a small town. If anyone asks what I do now, I say I am a cake artist. All I ever wanted to do when I grew up was to be an artist and get the heck out of my small town. Alas, life loves to crush your childhood dreams and a not-so-delicate 8th grade teacher informed me that being an artist was not a career. She suggested maybe veterinarian since I liked to draw cats and horses.

Whomp whomp.

I proceeded to live life basically goal-less for the next 10 years. No clue what I wanted to do or what "job" I should have. I have had over 30 jobs in my lifetime. Everything from fast food to filing home liens. Nothing stuck and I would get bored around the 4-6 month mark. I'd quit my job and move on.

Charcoal portrait circa 2006 - I used to have a side hustle that involved making charcoal portraits of kids. I don't know why I didn't just do this for a living. Things seems a lot less attainable in art before social media. 

My First Cake Wreck

I ended up going to school for graphic design in 2004 so that I could work as an "artist" but of course, if you've ever been a graphic designer you know it's not really artistic. It's mostly stressful. But the best thing that came from that career is that I was so stressed, I started cake decorating as a way to relax.

The thing is, as I stated previously. I knew zip about cake decorating. All I knew was that there where people out there making cakes that were fabulous works of art. I bought myself some nice box mix, took a wilton class from Michaels and offered to make a friend a cake for her daughter's first birthday as a reason to practice.

The absolute worst thing about this cake is the tinfoil covered cake board. OMG the shame!!! Cover your boards! lol

The cake was a mess. I'm not gonna lie.

I couldn't get the lemon frosting (from a can) to stick to the cake. I didn't know how to make circles in fondant (yes I literally could not figure out how to make circles of fondant, don't judge me) so I bought giant sprinkles and stuck them to the sides of the cake.

Even though this cake was just fugly as all get out, guess what. My friend loved it and so did her daughter. I was officially bitten by the cake decorating bug. I wanted to cake ALL the things. Luckily I was in that part of my life where all my friends where getting married or having babies so there where lots of cakes to make!

The Cake Decorating Bug

As I began to dive into the cake world, I started searching for ways to learn. This is before YouTube tutorials existed, facebook groups or even the idea that people would share their precious cake decorating secrets.

I would go to book stores to buy cake decorating books, and the cakes were gorgeous but I couldn't find anything on very, very basic techniques. Like, how do you get your buttercream to be smooth? Why aren't the sides of my cake straight? Why do I get that bulge around the middle of my cake and so on.

My sister's wedding cake. That HUGE topper almost caused the whole thing to fall over because I didn't know to put any supports underneath it. The cake was super soft and you can see it bulging all around the middle. Sharp edges?? What's that? But they loved it and I loved making it.

After 10 years of cake decorating, I decided to put out this article because even though the world is FULL of ways to learn now, it can be information overload. What do you follow, what do you ignore and why is a must!

I hope this list of my top 8 cake decorating tips for success helps answer a few of those beginner questions and leads you to be the cake decorator you have always wanted to be. You got this!

Cake Decorating Tip #1 - Easy Buttercream Frosting

Buttercream comes in many forms. When I first started cake decorating, all that existed to me was canned frosting. It wasn't until I went to pastry school in 2010 that I learned about alllll the other frostings like SMBC (Swiss meringue buttercream) which is my favorite. It's made by whipping up sugar dissolved in heated egg whites to a stiff peak and then you whip in butter and vanilla until it's light, fluffy and delicious.

As soon as I frosted my first cake with SMBC I knew I was hooked. The problem is, it takes forever to make. You have to heat the egg whites, whip them, let them cool, then whip in the butter and if you're making a lot of cakes then that's a huge amount of time.

Then one day, I read about this recipe called Lauren Kitchen's Buttercream and everyone was raving about it. Same amazing flavor as SMBC with one BIG difference. She used pasteurized egg whites instead of heating her egg whites which significantly cuts down on the prep time. LIFE CHANGING!

Now I can literally make a batch of flawless buttercream in ten minutes. By the time I learned this recipe I was retired from baking. I tweaked the recipe to use a little less butter and named it Easy Buttercream and is my forever go-to recipe. It's great for stacked cakes, sculpted cakes, buttercream flowers and even cupcakes. It's not as sweet as regular ABC (american buttercream) which is what most people use for buttercream in the USA. French Buttercream, cream cheese buttercream and Italian buttercream are all delicious as well.

Cake Decorating Tip #2 - Cake Goop

I am embarrassed to tell you how long I used the old vegetable shortening and dusted flour technique for prepping my cake pans. It was the only thing I could do that was fairly easy and dependable. The issue? Super messy. I always had flour remnants all over the trash can, the sink, the floor (when you miss the trash can).

I WISH I could remember who told me about cake goop because it changed my world.

No more pan spray, no more shortening and flour, no more parchment paper. Just brush it in the pan and bake it up. Cakes will slide out of that pan so easy peezy, you'll kick yourself for not making up a batch of cake goop sooner.

The ingredients are simple, mix up equal parts vegetable shortening (or margarine) vegetable oil and flour. Mix well until combined (I do mine in the mixer) and then store in a container. You can keep it on the countertop or the fridge but it won't spoil. I use a pastry brush to brush it on the pans evenly. Don't worry, you don't need a lot. Just a nice even coating will do you.

Cake Decorating Tip #3 - Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

I distinctly remember the day I ran out of fondant. I was in the middle of my biggest cake order yet. Six custom car cakes for a big birthday party! It was also the most amount of money I had ever been paid so the pressure was on. Halfway through covering my cakes, I realized I was not going to have enough fondant. It was 11pm and the cakes where due in the morning.

I decided to do a search for "homemade fondant" and found a recipe that involved combining some melted marshmallows with powdered sugar. That seemed easy enough! Even though Michaels wasn't open and I couldn't buy more fondant, I could definitely buy more marshmallows at the grocery store.

Trouble was, the fondant didn't work. It was oily and just cracked when I tried to cover the cakes. Ugh! In a desperate attempt to stretch what fondant I had, I combined my useless marshmallow fondant with a little of my leftover Wilton fondant and that's when the magic happened.

The fondant covered perfectly! It was soft, stretchy, didn't tear over the odd shape of the car cake and it actually tasted amazing. Like marshmallows.

I decided to keep making my fondant this way. Melting marshmallows, adding powdered sugar and a little bit of pre-made fondant. I got rave reviews from my clients! I even shared the recipe in my groups and it was named lovingly by some friends LMF fondant (Liz Marek Fondant) and was the first thing I think I was really known for sharing.

Cake Decorating Tip #4 - Professional Cake Pans

One of the things I distinctly remember struggling with early on was getting straight sides to my cakes. I would look in these books that showed these perfect cakes getting stacked on top of each other and the sides where just super straight. Mine... were not. They where curved or shrunken or crispy on the top and stuck to the bottom. What was the deal?

So for some INSANE reason, the pans I started out with had slanted sides. The walls where super thin and the best part? They weren't even evenly sized so instead of 8" they where like 7.5". Oye. One of the very first things I did was invest in some good quality cake pans.

It seems across-the-board, favorites are either Fat Daddio (my favorite) or Magic Line. I personally like the nice browning that happens on Fat Daddios because it makes them easier to release from the pan but I know others love how Magic Line produces a much lighter looking cake.

Whichever way you go, you can't go wrong with professional pans. They will make your cakes bake up much more evenly.

Vanilla cakes made with Magic Line pans, sprayed with bakers joy and line with parchment paper. Photo credit from Short Cakes

Cake Decorating Tip #5 - Using a Scale

For some crazy reason, in the USA, our standard of measurement is volume (cups). Everywhere else in the world they go by weight. This may be the reason why I straight up hated to bake my whole life. Everything I tried to make never turned out very well and I had no clue why. My guess is a lot of us start out that way. You find a recipe you like, sometimes it turns out, sometimes it doesn't.

The problem, my friend, is that not all dry ingredients can be measured by volume and turn out the same every single time. Did you know that some measuring spoons can even vary vastly from manufacturer to manufacturer? Sometimes you might get a little too much flour and not quite enough baking powder. Then your cake falls flat and you're out $18 in ingredients.

Buy a scale. Measure by weight.

I know you want to fight this change, change is scary. You no like change. But please, if you ignore all my other advice, at least take this.

I know you're going to say you can't afford one. But listen, you don't have to buy the fancy scale I have, go to Target or whatever store you have near you and go to the kitchen aisle. Scales cost less than $20 and are a priceless tool for cake decorating. This is one of my top tools for every cake decorator.

When you use a scale to measure your ingredients, no longer do you have to worry about whether your cake will turn out. It will turn out every single time (granted you follow the directions but that is another tip, lol). You'll make less of a mess and you can double and triple your recipes easily.

To convert a recipe you already love to weight, measure out in cups as usual then place into a bowl and write down the weight. I usually will round up to the nearest whole number for ease.

For the love of butter, please do not google "how much does a cup of flour weigh" because that's how recipes fail. It depends on your area, how much moisture is in the air, the recipe you're using and even your elevation. One more little bonus tip, if a recipe calls for cups, use cups the first time around before converting. If it uses weight (like all of mine) go with weight and don't try to convert to cups. I mean... unless you like throwing cakes in the trash...

Get a scale. This is the link for the exact scale that I have been using since pastry school. (affiliate)

Cake Decorating Tip #6 - Reading the Recipe

So about that whole "following the directions" thing I talked about before. Would you believe that the #1 answer to 99% of all the questions about failed recipes that come to me is "did you follow the directions". Sometimes the answer is YES! Of course, but then they realize, oops, no they didn't. They used all the correct ingredients but skipped a few steps here and there in the directions. This part is SO important.

You can't mix and match mixing methods or switch out times. Baking is a science and someone spent countless hours perfecting that recipe you're trying and you spent good money on ingredients so don't waste them.

How to follow a recipe successfully

• Read the whole recipe before you start making it.
• Gather all your ingredients together to make sure you aren't missing something. Nothing like stopping mid-mix to go buy oil (guilty of this).
• Bring ALL your cold ingredients to room temp (eggs, butter, milk). This is CRUCIAL to a cake turning out. If you don't do this, often times your batter will break, the center will be doughy or it might not rise. Cake batter is convincing oil and water and dry ingredients to come together as one. For this to be a success, they have to be the same temperature. Now, I have many times forgotten to bring my ingredients out of the fridge before I start baking.To warm up your eggs, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes to warm them up. You can nuke milk for 30 seconds in the microwave to bring the temp up. Butter can be microwaved as well just make sure you don't melt it.4. Measure out all your ingredients in bowls ahead of time so they can easily be reached while mixing. This is called Mise en place (everything in it's place) and yes I do it too, every single time.
• Don't make any adjustments to the recipe until you have at least made it successfully one time.

Cake Decorating Tip #7 - Chilling Your Cakes

Last but not least, I want to talk about chilling yours cakes. I remember hearing in the very beginning of my cake journey that you can't put your cakes in the fridge because if you did, the cakes would sweat and that would ruin the fondant. So when I covered in fondant, I would literally be trying to put it over soft buttercream. It was not pretty.

I distinctly remember making this cake for a friends wedding (yes wedding, lol) and the cake literally split in half while I was trying to frost it. How did people do this? How do you get your cakes to be so straight and pretty with sharp edges?

One of my first HUGE wedding cakes circa 2009. I delivered this cake fully stacked and was not refrigerated. The cake actually slid off the cake board during delivery because we where driving up a STEEP hill. I was so lucky the thing did not topple over. I now always deliver my cakes not stacked, all chilled and boxed individually. 

The answer is you CAN put your cakes in the fridge. As Yolanda Gampp says, crumbcoat and chill! YES your cakes will sweat a bit coming out of the fridge but that small amount of condensation is not going to ruin your cake.

That beings said, if you live in an area that has HIGH humidity you might need to put a fan on your cake to get rid of that shine. For instance, you plan on painting on your cake, you take it out of the fridge and it's shiny. You'll want to wait until it comes to room temp before you paint on it. The fan will speed up that process.

Another tip, if you store your cake inside a cardboard box when it's in the fridge, when you take out and go to deliver it, the condensation will collect on your box, not on your cake.

This cake was covered in tiny rolled pieces of fondant because I didn't know how to make a chocolate cigarette as the bride requested lol. During delivery, this un-chilled cake fell to pieces. All the fondant pieces detached every time we went over a bump. The fact we had very bad air conditioning in the car did not help. I think we bought a new car the day after this white-knuckle delivery. 

To stop my cake from getting sweaty, I store my cakes in a regular standard freezerless fridge. I have it on the warmest of the cold settings so there isn't a huge gap between room temp and the fridge. You don't want it like a freezer or it will take even longer to come to room temp. Some commercial fridges will make your cakes sweat even more because their fans blow inside the fridge not outside. Weird huh!

So that's it! I just brain-dumped everything I could think of as a "must-know" for any beginner cake decorator. If you already knew all of this stuff then I hope at least you had a good laugh with me. I was just like every other eager newb starting to sell cakes before I knew what I was doing, I under-charged for years (probably still do) and made tons of mistakes. I would like to say I've grown a lot since then and have had a fair amount of what I would call success so there's hope for anyone, lol.

Tip #8 - Want to learn more about the basics of cake decorating? Take our basics series online!

This may or may not be a shameless plug but truly, I wish I had a series of videos to watch when I was first starting out to teach me everything, and I mean EVERYTHING from start to finish on how to make beautiful and successful cakes. If you feel like you're missing something in your process, you might check this out. We're even doing a 7 day free trial right now for new memberships so you literally have nothing to lose <3

Do you have a cake tip? Leave it in the comments below for anyone reading this post

An intermediate sewing machine cake tutorial full of techniques including a gravity defying structure, realistic details, hand painting and more!

Sewing machine cake pictures can be found all over the web and I think everyone can agree, they're impressive! A cake that looks so much like an everyday object catches people's attention. Just about everyone knows someone who loves to sew and would absolutely love a sewing machine cake!

As usual I like to be different so instead of the vintage Singer sewing machine cakes you typically see, you know the ones, black with the wooden base and filigree, I thought I would make a retro sewing machine cake!

On top of that, Liz gave me the added challenge of making it gravity defying so you could actually pass some fabric under the presser foot like a real sewing machine! Most cakes you see have the needle down acting as some of the support.

Singer Sewing Machine Cake Tutorial

The biggest feature of the sewing machine cake is the structure and the carving that ultimately make it look like a sewing machine! Another big feature of this cake is the hand painted details that make the logo and dials look realistic.

Edible Sewing Themed Cake Decorations

Along with the sewing machine cake, you will learn how to make some super fun and unbelievably realistic details to go along with it! No sewer feels complete without some essential tools such as a pin cushion and a measuring tape. In this tutorial I show you how to get the most realistic details possible and they are completely edible!

Here is a short tutorial from my personal YouTube Channel The Sweet Spot showing how to use Flexique Edible Fabric. I used it to create the super realistic measuring tape and of course the edible fabric from this sewing machine cake tutorial!

Just in case, here is proof that it is indeed a cake! And it is ALL cake. No rice krispie treat supplements this time.

Our birthday cake recipe is a great recipe to use for this cake design or really any sculpted cake design as it is nice and sturdy! It uses both butter and all purpose flour giving it extra stability. It's a fabulous base cake that can be altered to many different flavors depending on what you want!

Recipe

Print Recipe

4.90 from 114 votes

Vanilla Sculpted Cake Recipe

This is the BEST vanilla sculpted cake recipe using AP flour that I have ever tried. It's moist, tender crumb is great for using in wedding cakes or sculpted cakes and the flavor can easily be adapted to make custom flavors!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 cups

Calories: 859kcal

Author: Liz Marek

Ingredients

• 12 oz AP Flour I like king arthur brand
• 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 8 oz unsalted butter room temp
• 12 oz granulated sugar I like superfine
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs room temp
• 8 oz milk room temp
• 2 oz oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F and prepare two 8" rounds with cake goop or preferred pan spray.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter for 20 seconds until smooth
• Sprinkle in the sugar and whip on med-high until light in color and fluffy. About 8-10 minutes. Scrape the bowl halfway through mixing
• Bring back to low mixing, add in eggs one at a time. Let mix in fully for one minute fore adding the next egg. Mixture should look smooth, not broken or lumpy. If it is, your eggs might have been too cold. 
• Add your vanilla and oil to your milk 
• Add flour to mixture in four parts, alternating with the milk. Start with flour, mix until just incorporated, then add ⅓ of the milk. Repeat in alternating steps beginning and ending with flour. Let mix for 10 more seconds then stop 
•  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Do not over-bake or your cake will shrink and your sides will not be straight.

Nutrition

Calories: 859kcal | Carbohydrates: 103g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 209mg | Sodium: 265mg | Potassium: 376mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 59g | Vitamin A: 1185IU | Calcium: 169mg | Iron: 3.4mg

How to Construct a Sewing Machine Cake

If you're looking for a traditional sewing machine cake structure, there are lots to be found around the internet! A Cake to Remember has a fabulous free tutorial with step by step photos on how to do it! It uses PVC Pipe and foam and is a simple design to start with. As you can see, it has the PVC pipe coming straight down from where the presser foot goes. That area will need to be covered up which is why my tutorial is extra unique!

Sewing Machine Cake Topper

If you're wanting to start small, The Frosted Cake N Cookie has a super adorable step by step sewing machine cupcake topper tutorial you might just love! It's itty bitty and oh so cute! Make it on a larger scale and you've got yourself a cake topper. Making it larger would give you room to add a few more details too. Want it large enough to need a little more structure to it? You could also try forming the shape out of rice krispie treat and then covering it in fondant.

Sewing Machine Cake Photos

I've found a few other sewing machine cakes I absolutely love and wanted to share with you. Perhaps they will give you ideas for your own sewing machine cakes!

The whimsical design and molded details on this vintage Singer sewing machine cake really caught my eye.

This cake has a unique design and some really fun details up top to emulate the specific sewing machine model. The use of silver metallic dust gives it an extra realistic element that stands out! I also like that they have a nice thin needle.

The modern style and clean lines of this cake are really what caught my eye. Clean, straight lines are key with a sewing machine cake in order for it to look realistic. The clever use of edible images for the display and even the scissors are also a great touch!

There, now you're all up to date on everything sewing machine cake related! My full retro sewing machine cake tutorial is available for Premium and Elite Sugar Geek Show Members. If you're not already a member, sign up today! You will instantly gain access to this tutorial along with hundreds of others.