When Diane was describing the cake she wanted for her baby girl's second birthday, I got so excited! She told me that Eleanor loved the red, white, and blue ice pops so she wanted to make sure I included those in the design.

While she did send a couple of pictures of 4th of July cakes for inspiration, she told me she wasn't tied to those designs specifically. She did want the main colors to be red, white, and blue plus some light blue to soften it a bit so the cake wouldn't look so 'grown up.'

My wheels started turning and I was so happy with the final cake!

Red White and Two 4th of July Cake Details

• I made a double batch of White Almond Sour Cream Cake and baked three 8-inch layers to stack up for this cake. I had a little extra batter, by the way.
• The cake was filled and frosted with Vanilla Buttercream. I had to have two big batches for this cake.

Ingredients and Tools Needed for Decorations

• Ateco #862 tip to pipe the stars and little dollops of white frosting
• Piping bags
• Red, white, and blue jimmies
• Red and blue twisted lollipops (see a few varieties here, here, here, and here)
• Mini star cookie cutter
• Red fondant and blue fondant
• Ice pop mold
• Popsicle sticks
• Red, white, and blue candy melts
• Heavy cream (to add to candy melts for drip)
• I displayed the cake on this tall red cake stand

How to Decorate a Red White and Blue Cake

• Add a single drop of royal blue gel coloring to one batch of vanilla buttercream. Mix thoroughly and add more color if needed to get the perfect shade of light blue.
• Fill and frost the entire cake, then smooth it and chill it for at least 30 minutes.
• Use an ice pops mold to make two chocolate ice pops. I melted red candy melts, then filled a mold about ⅓ full and let it set in the fridge. Then I added white and chilled again. Then blue and a stick to finish it off. When chilled, the chocolate ice pop just pops right out!
• Add red drip (you can use this canned frosting hack) or make ganache using red candy melts to make the drip. Tips here for the drip. I used a squeeze bottle to do the drip on this cake.
• Pipe some stars around the sides of the cake with white buttercream and the #862 piping tip.
• Add red, white and blue jimmies - every 4th of July cake needs these 😉
• Add red and blue twisted lollipops - I bought mine in a brick-and-mortar store, but you can see a few varieties here, here, here, and here
• Cut stars out of red and blue fondant and add those randomly around the cake.
• Use melted chocolate to "glue" a lollipop stick to the top one of the ice pops (at an angle) so it can stand upside down on the cake.

More 4th of July Treats

• 27 Delicious 4th of July Desserts
• Easy 4th of July Cake
• Last Minute 4th of July Dessert Ideas
• Easy 4th of July Cupcakes
• Happy 4th of July with Glittery Candy Apples!!
• Red White and Blue Rice Krispie Treats

Did I miss any details that you're dying to know? Leave me a comment!

The post Red White and Two 4th of July Cake appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally published June 2017, updated July 2023.

Easy 4th of July Cupcake Ideas

I'm cutting it so close to sharing this Firecracker Cupcakes tutorial for the 4th of July.  I had hoped to post it last week, but it was such a busy week, well, here I am!

For a couple of weeks... wanting to come up 4th of July cupcakes ideas - something anybody can make where no special skills or tools are required.   And these firecracker cupcake toppers are exactly that.  I dare even call it a tutorial - it's so stinkin' easy.

I did pipe on some pretty buttercream (I have a tutorial for that here), but even if you just spread on buttercream with a spoon and add some colorful sprinkles (I did below!), I still think the addition of the "firecrackers" would make them super cute and festive.  And it'll look like you exerted way more effort than actually required 🙂

What You'll Need for 4th of July Cupcakes

When looking at fourth of July cupcake ideas, the cake and frosting don't matter as much as the toppers.

I'm sharing the recipes I used but you can easily swap out for your favorite cake and frosting. The firecracker cupcakes really come to life with the DIY cupcake toppers with toothpicks!

• Cupcakes (I baked chocolate ones)
• Buttercream - my favorite vanilla recipe here
• ½" glitter pompoms (I picked out the red, white & blue ones for a 4th of July dessert)
• Toothpicks
• Sprinkles (optional) - I used rainbow nonpariels but if you could find some red, white & blue sprinkles, even better!
• Red White & Blue Cupcake Liners (optional) - I bought this set and they're super cute!! (not pictured above)

How to Make Easy 4th of July Cupcakes

Okay - once you have everything together, these are so, so easy to make!

1. If you purchased a mixed bag of pompoms (like I did), first sort out the red, white, and blue ones. You'll need 3 of each color for however many July 4th cupcakes you're making.

2. For the toppers, you simply stick a pompom on a toothpick.
3. And you're done. No gluing required. The toothpicks stick easily into the pompom easy-peasy.
4. Make as many as you need (you can do them really fast), and voila - Easy DIY Firecracker Cupcake Toppers.

How to Assemble the Cupcakes and Toppers

1. First, you start with a cupcake. So smart, right?  Haha!
2. Then you add buttercream.  I piped these with an Ateco #869 (large French Star Tip) from this set.
3. Next, you'll just add your 'firecrackers' by sticking the toothpicks into the frosting.
4. Last, add some sprinkles (if you want - if you have them).
5. As a final touch, I dropped mine into 4th of July cupcake liners but this is not necessary. They're SUPER cute without the extra liner!

These Fourth of July Cupcakes really are incredibly adorable and so festive, right?  I hope you love them as much as I do!

I was dreaming up all kinds of variations of these. Can you imagine using other colors of pompoms for Christmas cupcakes or a little girl's birthday party?  They're just FUN!!

Anyway - I hope you'll make easy Fourth of July patriotic cupcakes for the upcoming 4th of July celebrations!!   Happy Independence Day peeps!

More 4th of July Desserts & Ideas

• Red White and Blue Rice Krispie Treats
• Easy 4th of July Cake
• 27 Delicious 4th of July Desserts
• 4th of July Last Minute Dessert Ideas
• Happy 4th of July with Glittery Candy Apples!
• Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake (Perfect for a Crowd!)

Recipe

Easy 4th of July Cupcakes

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★★★★★

5 from 1 review

• Author: Rose Atwater
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 24

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Description

If you're looking for 4th of July Cupcake ideas, I'm sharing everything you'll need to make these Easy 4th of July Cupcakes! Use your favorite cake and frosting recipes and the topper supplies are easily at your local craft store, Walmart, or even a dollar store.

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Ingredients

Units USM

For the cake:

• 1 chocolate cake mix
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3.4 ounce box instant chocolate pudding
• ½ cup water
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 8 ounces sour cream

For the frosting:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4-5 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 tablespoons milk

For the toppers

• pompoms
• toothpicks
• sprinkles

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Mix together the cake mix, flour, eggs, oil, water, sour cream, and pudding mix until smooth. Usually 2-3 minutes.
3. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
4. Scoop batter into each liner, filling ⅔ full.
5. Bake 18-20 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
7. While the cupcakes are cooling, mix together the butter and vanilla extract until creamy and smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) until completely mixed in. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the frosting is soft to the touch (softer than cookie dough, but stiffer than cake batter). You want it to hold it's shape for piping.  Mix until light and fluffy.
8. Use a piping bag and a large piping tip (1M or Ateco 869 are good ones) to pipe a pillow of frosting.
9. Add sprinkles (optional).
10. Place one pompom on each toothpick. Place the toothpicks on the cupcakes (one each of red, white and blue).
11. Enjoy!

Equipment

Cookie Scoop

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Mixing Bowls

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Hand Mixer

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• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 20
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: 4th of july cupcake ideas, patriotic cupcakes, 4th of july cupcakes, fourth of july cupcake ideas, fourth of july cupcakes, july 4th cupcakes, firecracker cupcakes, 4th of july cupcakes, easy fourth of july patriotic cupcakes, 4th july cupcakes

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Do you have more 4th of July cupcake decorating ideas? Leave me a comment!

The post Easy 4th of July Cupcakes appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally published March 2021, updated June 2023

When I was recently asked to make a lemon cake and "make it pretty," I knew I wanted to try my hand at candied lemon to use as garnish.

With that in mind, I started looking for a candied lemons recipe and finally settled on how I wanted to make them! As it turns out, when you use lemons this way, you're essentially making lemon candy - what a treat!

Video

Ingredients

When learning how to candy lemons, you'll only need three staple ingredients.

• Lemons - choose lemons that are heavy for their size, bright yellow and fragrant, and not too soft when squeezed. Regular lemons or Meyer lemons will work. Regular lemons will be larger and brighter yellow, but will also be slightly more bitter. Meyer lemons are smaller and darker yellow, but sweeter and less acidic.
• Sugar - any generic granulated sugar works for this recipe, sugar substitutes will not work
• Water - nothing special here

Shop here

Knife

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Cutting Board

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Whisk

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How to Make Candied Lemons

1. First, you're going to want to wash and slice the lemons. You could use a mandolin to get uniform slices (I use my mandolin all the time!!), but for these, I just did my best to get them pretty even with a really sharp knife. The thickness can vary slightly but if they're sliced too thin, they'll disintegrate when cooking. 

2. Gently remove all the seeds. Especially if you know these will be eaten. When I started cooking mine the first time, I realized I missed quite a few.

3. In a large shallow saucepan, combine the water and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer (med-low).
4. Add the cut lemons in a single layer.
5. Simmer the lemon slices over medium heat for 20-40 minutes or until translucent. The cooking time will vary based on the thickness of the lemon slices.

6. If the lemons start to curl into little cups, flip them once or twice during the cooking proces to keep them flat.
7. When the pulp of the lemons starts to look clear (and the sugar water will start to thicken), it's time to transfer the lemons to a a cookie sheet or cooling rack.

I prefer to use a cooling rack over a cookie sheet but you can certainly line a cookie sheet with parchment and dry them that way.

8. Dry the lemon candy (see two options below).

How to Dry Candy Lemons (2 Ways!):

• You can bake the lemons at 200°F for one hour to dry, then let the crystalized lemon cool. Then they're ready to use!
• OR you can let them air dry overnight (at least 12 hours). They are a little stickier when air-dryed but that method works too!

I prefer to bake my lemon slices. So when I take them out of the oven and then let them cool - they're ready to use on a cake!

When the lemons are cooled - they're so beautiful! They still may be a little sticky but they're also stiff and glass-like. How beautiful is this caramelized lemon?

Pro Tips

• Use a shallow wide pot for best results. You want the lemons spread out into a single layer and not overlapping.
• Don't overcook! Once the lemons are transluscent, go ahead and remove them from the simple syrup to drive. If you continue cooking past this, they will disintegrate.
• This exact recipe will work for any citrus fruits including limes, oranges, and grapefruits.
• If you find that your candied lemons taste too bitter, you can blanch them first to soften the rinds and remove some (if not all) of the bitterness. To do this, bring a pot of water to boil and drop the sliced lemons in. Boil for only one minute, then remove them to an ice bath for 30 seconds to stop the cooking. Dry the lemon slices then proceed wiht the recipe as it's written.
• Dip the candied lemon slices in sanding sugar for extra sweetness, some added crunch and a little sparkle.

Serving Suggestions

• Snacks - you can eat them alone... so tart and chewy, a bit like fruit leather.
• Garnish for Desserts: use them on cakes, cheesecakes, pies, cupcakes and more! I was asked to make a lemon cake for a birthday party but to please "make it pretty!" See the details of that cake here -> https://rosebakes.com/candied-lemon-cake/
• Garnish for Drinks: perfect for lemonade, citrus cocktail drinks, or hot teas.

Storage Suggestions

• At Room Temperature: candied lemon slices can be kept at room temperature for 24 hours.
• Refrigerated: candied lemons will last for 2 to 4 weeks if put in an airtight container in single layers (with parchment paper between) in a refrigerator.
• Frozen: Candied lemon slices can be kept in the freezer in single layers, in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

To keep the lemon candy slices long-term, I would suggest that you dip them in another layer of sugar. This will prevent them from sticking to the parchment paper and each other.

FAQ

Delicious Lemon Recipes

• Lemon Kissed Cupcakes With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
• Candied Lemon Cake
• 20 Easy Sheet Cake Recipes
• Lemon Curd Recipe

Recipe

Candied Lemon Slices

---

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Rose
• Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
• Yield: 24 slices

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Description

Candied Lemon Slices are thin slices of lemon, cooked in sugar, then dried until they have a beautiful glass-like look! They are perfect as garnish on cakes or desserts! If you love citrus, you might even eat them for snacks!

---

Ingredients

• 1 cup (226 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (237 ml) water
• 2-3 lemons

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---

Instructions

1. Wash lemons.
2. Slice lemons approximately ⅛th inch thick, throwing away the ends. The thickness can vary slightly but if they're sliced too thin, the pulp might disintegrate when cooking. 
3. Remove seeds.
4. In a large shallow pan, combine the water and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer (med-low) and add lemon slices in a single layer.
5. Simmer over medium heat for 20-40 minutes or until translucent. The cooking time will vary based on the thickness of the lemon slices. Flip them once or twice during the cooking process if the lemons start to curl up into little cups.
6. While the lemons are cooking, preheat your oven to 200°F.  Also, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat OR place a wire rack on your cookie sheet.
7. Transfer the lemon slices to the cookie sheet, then bake for one hour.*
8. Remove from the oven.  The candied lemons can sit at room temperature for up to 24 hours before storing in an air-tight container.  

Equipment

Sheet Pans

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Tongs

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Cuisinart Large Saute Pan

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Notes

Use a shallow wide pot for best results. You want the lemons spread out into a single layer and not overlapping.

Don't overcook! Once the lemons are transluscent, go ahead and remove them from the simple syrup to drive. If you continue cooking past this, they will disintegrate.

This exact recipe will work for any citrus fruits including limes, oranges, and grapefruits.

If you find that your candied lemons are too bitter, you can blanch them first to soften the rinds and remove some (if not all) of the bitterness. To do this, bring a pot of water to boil and drop the sliced lemons in. Boil for only one minute, then remove them to an ice bath for 30 seconds to stop the cooking. Dry the lemon slices then proceed wiht the recipe as it's written.

Dip the candied lemon slices in sanding sugar for extra sweetness, some added crunch and a little sparkle.

• Prep Time: 5
• Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: candied lemons, lemon candy, candied lemon slices, candied lemon, candied lemons recipe, crystalized lemon how to make candied lemons, how to candy lemons, lemon candy, candy lemon slices, caramelized lemon, lemon slices

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Lemon Desserts You'll Love:

Lemon Chiffon Layer Cake Recipe

Easy No-Bake Lemon Icebox Pie

Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Trifles

The post Candied Lemon Slices appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally posted April 2015, updated June 2023

These vanilla petit fours don't always look perfect... but the taste and texture... yep. Perfect!

I mentioned to a client they weren't perfect and she said, "If they looked perfect, I wouldn't believe they were homemade!"

Good point. Mine aren't perfect, but once you bite into one, you won't care!

So, I kept making them... over and over again... to be sure it wasn't a fluke and now I can say with confidence, I'm in love with this recipe & method for making them!

They're delicious. One of my clients declared them "the best cake she'd ever had in her life!"

I won't say they're super easy... you do have to work for them! But I can say without hesitation they're worth every minute of work! And if you want to make them for Christmas, keep reading and see a pic down below! Or for Valentine's Day - be sure to check out my post here on Heart Shaped Petit Fours!

Perfect Petit Fours Recipe

Okay... so here we go. First, you're going to make up the recipe below for a simple butter cake. This is a scratch recipe (which y'all know is rare for me) but it's soooo worth it! It's also actually a pound cake recipe - courtesy of my friend Angela.

She gave it to me to make her daughter's wedding cake and told me (in passing) that it was good for petit fours. I'll be forever grateful for that tidbit!!

To keep this petit fours recipe easy, let's start with the ingredients for the cake batter. They're all very basic, which make it even more impressive how good this cake is!

Vanilla Petit Fours Ingredients:

• Sugar
• Butter - I prefer salted, but unsalted works as well. The tiny salt difference will not affect the recipe. The butter should be softened to room temperature.
• Shortening - Crisco is the only brand I use. I have a full post on shortening here if it's not an ingredient you use often.
• Vanilla extract - I'm partial to homemade vanilla extract, but store-bought works just as well!
• Eggs - large eggs at room temperature
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Evaporated milk - be careful here to not use condensed milk. And please don't use any substitutions. I'm not sure why, but evaporated milk is almost a secret ingredient here.
• Sour cream - use full-fat sour cream here and no substitutions
• Raspberry Filling (optional, and variations below) - if you want to use the homemade filing (which is far superior, I highly recommend making it a day or two beforehand).
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Petit Four Icing

What's the best filling for petit fours?

Because the cake, cream cheese frosting, and petit four icing are all sweet and rich, I love to contrast the filling with something tart. But really, the sky is the limit. Here are my favorite petit four fillings (and some other options):

• Raspberry Filling - this is one of my top two popular fillings. You could also use strawberry filling if you like but the raspberry is a perfect complement to the almond and white chocolate. You will likely want to make this ahead of time!
• Lemon Curd - this is my other most popular filling. I also have a microwave version here or you can buy it pre-made at your local grocery store.
• Fruit Jams - instead of making your own filling, you can use any store-bought jam that you love as filling!
• Marzipan (almond paste) - this is another classic and traditional filling for petit fours. I much prefer the fruit filling, but if you love almond flavor, you will love petit fours filled with marzipan.
• Caramel - I haven't ever tried this, but I imagine it would be amazing! I'd probably skip the almond flavoring in the icing and use vanilla instead!

Equipment and Tools Needed for Petit Fours

• Half Sheet Pan (bonus points if you have a lid for it!)
• Parchment Paper or Silicone Mats
• Mixing Bowls
• Hand Mixer
• Flexible Cutting Boards
• Cake leveler or Agbay or large serrated knife
• Ruler
• Skewers (optional) for dipping
• Cooling rack or wire rack

Petit Fours Recipe

This is the recipe for the butter cake that is the STAR of these petit fours. I have recipes for the filling, frosting, and icing below.

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Prep a 13"x18" half-sheet pan. These Nordic Pans are my favorite... I have about a dozen of them! I line the pan with parchment paper, then spray down the edges with non-stick baking spray.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, butter and shortening until smooth then beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, until fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). To save some time, you can also whisk it all together.
5. Add this flour mixture and the evaporated milk to the original mixture alternately. With an electric mixer, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed, then fold in the sour cream.
6. Pour the batter onto a prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (check at 25 minutes!).
7. See the instructions above for assembling the cake and icing the petit fours.

How to Make Petit Fours

1. Flip the cooled cake out onto a work surface on another piece of parchment paper.

2. Torte the cake into two thin layers. Y'all... torting (or splitting cake layers) is pretty new for me, but you really should for petit fours. You get to add in a little extra special bit of flavor and it makes them pretty too!

Note: Torting is easily done with my Agbay, (which I LOOOVE) but you can also use a less expensive cake leveler such as this extra-wide cake leveler. As a last resort, you can also torte the cake free-hand using a long serrated bread knife - just be careful because this cake is thin and it would be easy to mess it up!

3. With the cake bottom-up on parchment paper, lift the top layer onto another sheet of parchment paper. I've found the easiest way to do this is to slide a flexible cutting board into the cut, then simply lift it off.

4. If you're using a filling, such as raspberry or lemon curd, spread a thin layer onto the cut side of the cake.

5. Then spread a thin layer of frosting. I use both filling and frosting, but you could use frosting only if you don't want to use a fruit filling.

Note: for the filling - today I'm using raspberry. You could make your own raspberry filling or use raspberry jam. I have my Raspberry Filling recipe here and it's perfect and so easy! My only tip would be to make it ahead of time! For other ideas, check out the list below.

6. Using the flexible cutting board again, place the top layer of cake over the filling and/or frosting layer, lining up the edges.

6. Finally, the last step before freezing the cake is to put another layer of frosting on top. I use this as an opportunity to level out any low spots and make a really smooth, clean surface for the poured frosting!

This layer of frosting can be as thin or thick as you like, so long as it's level and smooth. Why? Because the poured icing on top will only be as smooth as the surface it's poured over!

8. Once you have that top layer of frosting smooth, cut off the edges so you'll have really nice squares. Plus, you get to eat the edges and I have to tell you - they're much fought over in this house!!

9. Freeze the cake. I lift it (with the parchment underneath), put it back on the sheet pan I baked it on, put a lid on (love these with lids!!), and then I put it in the freezer for around an hour.

Petit Four Icing Recipe

To keep this post from being miles long, I'm not going to share the full step-by-step icing recipe here. I do have it in the recipe card below or you can read a full post about it here: Petit Four Icing.

How to Make Petit Four Icing and Set up

1. Make the icing. While the petit fours are freezing, I work on the set-up and the icing. I use this Petit Four Icing recipe (be sure to start prepping it before you take the cakes out of the freezer).

Here's my icing setup... a make-shift double boiler:

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment, wax paper, or a silicone mat, and lay a cooling rack over it.

I like to use cooling racks larger than the sheets so there's good space between the cooling rack and the surface beneath.

3. When the cake comes out of the freezer, use a sharp knife to cut it into squares (1-1.25 inches square). Sometimes I just eyeball it, sometimes I use my sewing ruler and/or a straight edge to get them perfect. I've also found the smallest biscuit cutter in this set works great! Do whatever makes you happy!

4. Place them on a cooling rack.
5. Working quickly (they're easier to keep pretty and square when they're cold), I move a small batch of them to the prepped cooling rack and immediately start covering with icing.
6. TIP: Freeze the remaining cake while you work and only take out as much as you can dip before it begins to thaw (I usually do 10-12 at a time on small baking sheets).

How to Ice Petit Fours (2 ways)

Icing Method #1: skewer each frozen square in the side and dip the cake in the melted icing.

Place the dipped petit four on your prepared cooling rack and twist the skewer while pulling it out of the cake. Let it sit until the icing is set.

Video

Below is a short (informal) video of us skewering from the bottom. Now we do it from the side as seen above, but you'll get the idea!

NOTE: If you're using an adblocker, you must turn it OFF to see this video!!

Icing Method #2: ladle the icing over the frozen cakes while they're sitting on the cooling rack. I first ladle the icing around the sides and then into the middle. You must work quickly because it will set up fast.

• Whichever method you choose, when you place the dipped or coated petit fours on a cooling rack, the excess runs off and onto the paper or silicone mat below. It can be reused if it doesn't have a bunch of cake crumbs in it. Let it firm up and you can peel it off and put it back into your bowl to re-melt! No waste... which I love!!
• If you're adding sprinkles or any decorations that need to stick, add them before the icing sets (which is quick because the cake is cold).
• Otherwise, let them set then decorate.

After the petit fours are iced, let them firm up for a few minutes - the icing sets fast because they're cold - and then you can move them to a platter or individual candy cups (my favorite way to present them).

Pro-Tips for Perfect Petit Fours

• If you don't have an Agbay and/or flexible cutting board to torte your cake into layers, you can make this job less stressful by cutting the cake into fourths before you start working. Then use a serrated knife to torte the smaller cake squares. It'll be much easier to handle in small portions when removing the top layer to fill with fruit and frosting.
• Do not skip the freezing step! Dipping the small cake squares is exponentially easier with frozen cake.
• In that same vein, dip or coat the cubed cake in small batches and keep the other cake in the freezer while you work.
• Spread any fruit filling that you choose very thin. If it's thick, it will cause the cake to slide around and be more difficult to handle.
• Use almond bark (my preference) or white chocolate bars for the poured icing recipe. White chocolate chips are very difficult to melt and get smooth.
• As with almost all baking recipes, it's best to have your ingredients (eggs, butter, cream cheese, etc.) at room temperature.
• Follow the detailed instructions or alternating the wet and dry ingredients when mixing.
• For perfectly square and uniform petit fours, use a biscuit cutter to cut your squares. I recommend the smallest one in this set.
• If you don't need several dozen petit fours, you can use a portion of the sheet and freeze the remaining cake (before or after filling). If it's wrapped up tight and/or covered well, it will keep in the freezer for 3-4 weeks!
• If you want to use homemade raspberry filling or lemon curd, I highly recommend making it ahead of time (hours or days ahead). Otherwise, a store bought alternative might be best!

How to Decorate Petit Fours

Brush of color - My favorite way to decorate petit fours is a brush of gold or color across one side. For the petit fours in this post, we did a brush of hot pink. Beneath that picture, you can see others where we used a brush of gold. I always use Sweet Sticks Edible Paints for this.

Fondant decorations - I used a tiny bow mold to make the burgundy bows on the petit fours below. They were for a dessert display at a wedding.

Flowers: You can also add fondant, buttercream, or royal icing decorations to petit fours. Examples are the bows above and the flowers (buttercream and fondant) below.

Initials or monograms are great decorations for petit fours for baby showers, bridal showers, or weddings.

Drizzle of white or colored icing or chocolate is simple and fits most any decor. I recommend gel food color if you want to change the icing color.

Candy or sprinkles can be added to petit fours to make them fun! You should do this before the icing sets!

Wafer Paper - I used wafer paper butterflies on the petit fours below and they were so lovely!

Stamps: One last idea is to use a stamp. I made custom chocolate medallions stamped with the couples initials for their more formal wedding.

Serving Recommendations

• Petit fours are best served at room temperature.
• I always serve petit fours in candy cups. These are slightly smaller than cupcake liners but cupcake liners will work in a pinch!
• Petit fours are so versatile - you can serve them as a stand-alone dessert or as one dessert of many on a dessert bar. They're perfect for weddings, birthdays, baby and bridal showers, or even family gatherings and holidays.

Christmas Petit Fours

Here's a bonus nugget for you! If you're a fellow home baker like I am, Christmas petit fours are one of my top sellers! This past year we adapted the recipe to a Christmas Petit Fours recipe!

We baked two sheets, one red, and one green, then mix-matched the top and bottom layers to make them red and green on the inside. To finish them off, we added a brush of gold on the outside and they were perfection! Here's a quick (slightly blurry) photo we snapped:

How many petit fours are in one batch?

NOTE:  This recipe will yield ~84 petit fours at the size listed above (1.25-inch squares). However this will vary if you cut smaller or larger petit fours or you free-hand them. My daughter cuts them slightly larger and gets around 60-70 petit fours per batch. If you cut smaller 1-inch squares and don't trim too much off the edges, you can get as many as 130 petit fours from one batch.

Storage Directions

• Petit fours are okay at room temperature for a few hours.
• To keep them overnight or longer, they need to be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to a week.
• Can petit fours be frozen? Yes, they can be frozen for up to 2 months if stored in a freezer-safe container.

Recipe FAQ

More dessert ideas...

• How to Make Candy Apples Any Color!!
• Pralines & Cream Fudge Recipe
• Easy Southern Pecan Pralines
• No-Bake Cheesecake Cups Recipe
• 16 Simply Irresistible Party Perfect Desserts

Recipe

Perfect Petit Fours Recipe (with Tutorial)

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★★★★★

4.9 from 55 reviews

• Author: Rose
• Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
• Yield: 6 dozen

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Description

These vanilla petit fours are the perfect bize-sized cake for weddings, showers, or parties of any kind! Buttery cake with raspberry filling, cream cheese frosting and a hint of almond in the white chocolate icing makes them packed with delicious flavors!

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Ingredients

Units USM

For the cake:

• 2 ¾ cups sugar
• ¾ cup salted butter, softened
• ¾ cup shortening
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup evaporated milk
• ¼ cup sour cream

For the cream cheese frosting:

• ½ cup salted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
• ¼ cup Crisco* shortening (just under 2 oz. on a kitchen scale)
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1.5 pounds powdered sugar
• ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons milk (add to get the consistency to pipe or spread)

For the filling:

• Raspberry filling recipe here
• OR Raspberry Jam

For the icing:

• 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup (or 6 ounces) of chopped white chocolate or almond bark

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Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Prep a 13"x18" half-sheet pan by lining the pan with parchment paper, then spray down the edges with non-stick baking spray. These Nordic Pans are my favorite!
3. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, butter, and shortening until smooth then beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, until fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). To save some time, you can also whisk it all together.
5. Add this flour mixture and the evaporated milk to the original mixture alternately. With an electric mixer, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed, then fold in the sour cream.
6. Pour the batter onto a prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (check at 25 minutes!).
7. Flip the cake out onto a cooling rack and allow it to cool, then follow the instructions below for filling and frosting.

For the cream cheese frosting:

1. First, cream the butter and Crisco in a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed for a couple of minutes until smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla and cream cheese and mix again until very smooth.
2.  Gradually add the confectioners' sugar until it's all combined. It will be very stiff! Then begin adding milk until you reach the desired consistency for decorating (2 tablespoons works well for me!)

Filling and frosting the petit fours:

2. Flip the cooled cake out onto a work surface on another piece of parchment paper.
3. Torte the cake into two thin layers. This is a fancy way of saying split the cake into two layers with a cake leveling tool or sharp serrated knife.
4. With the cake bottom-up on parchment paper, lift the top layer onto another sheet of parchment paper. I've found the easiest way to do this is by sliding a flexible cutting board into the cut, then simply lifting it off.
5. If you're using a filling, such as raspberry or lemon curd, spread a thin layer onto the cut side of the cake.
6. Then spread a thin layer of frosting. I use both filling and frosting, but you could use frosting only if you don't want to use a fruit filling.
7. Using the flexible cutting board again, place the top layer of cake over the filling and/or frosting layer, lining up the edges.
8. Finally, the last step before freezing the cake is to put another layer of frosting on top. I use this as an opportunity to level out any low spots and make a really smooth, clean surface for the poured frosting! This layer of frosting can be as thin or thick as you like, so long as it's level and smooth. Why? Because the poured icing on top will only be as smooth as the surface it's poured over!
9. Once you have that top layer of frosting smooth, cut off the edges so you'll have really nice squares. Plus, you get to eat the edges and I have to tell you - they're much fought over in this house!
10. Freeze the cake. I lift it (with the parchment underneath), put it back on the sheet pan I baked it on, put a lid on (love these with lids!!), and then I put it in the freezer for around 30 minutes to an hour.

For the petit four icing:

1. While the cake is freezing, bring a pot of water to boil, then place a larger glass bowl over it. You'll do all of this recipe in the glass bowl!! This is my "double-boiler".
2. In the glass bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup and extracts. 
3. Continue whisking or stirring until the mixture becomes smooth and consistent. It should be thin enough to drizzle from a spoon, but not so thin that it all runs off the cake! You can also check the temperature and when it reaches 92° F, it's good.
4. When it's ready, add in the chopped white chocolate and stir until melted. I like to turn down the heat but keep my water steaming underneath as I work to keep the icing from setting up!

Icing the petit fours:

1. When the cake comes out of the freezer, use a sharp knife to cut it into squares (1-1.25 inches square). Sometimes I just eyeball it, sometimes I use my sewing ruler and/or a straight edge to get them perfect. I've also found the smallest biscuit cutter in this set works great! Do whatever makes you happy!
2. Place them on a cooling rack.
3. Working quickly (they're easier to keep pretty and square when they're cold), move a small batch of them to the prepped cooling rack and immediately start ladling the icing over the cakes, or use a skewer to dip them.
4. Freeze the remaining cake while you work and only take out as much as you can dip before it begins to thaw (I usually do 10-12 at a time).
5. I like to use cooling racks larger than the sheet pan, so there's good space between the cooling rack and the paper beneath.
6. Whichever method you choose, when you place the dipped or coated petit fours on a cooling rack, the excess runs off and onto the paper or silicone mat below and can be re-used. Let it firm up and you can peel it off and put it back into your bowl to re-melt! No waste... which I love!!
7. If you're adding sprinkles or any decorations that need to stick, add them before the icing sets (which is quick because the cake is cold).
8. Otherwise, let them set then decorate.

And finally... ENJOY!

Equipment

Half Sheet Pan

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Bosch Mixer

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Mixing Bowls

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Notes

• If you don't have an Agbay and/or flexible cutting board to torte your cake into layers, you can make this job less stressful by cutting the cake into fourths before you start working. Then use a serrated knife to torte the smaller cake squares. It'll be much easier to handle in small portions when removing the top layer to fill with fruit and frosting.
• Do not skip the freezing step! Dipping the small cake squares is exponentially easier with frozen cake.
• In that same vein, dip or coat the cubed cake in small batches and keep the other cake in the freezer while you work.
• Spread any fruit filling that you choose very thin. If it's thick, it will cause the cake to slide around and be more difficult to handle.
• Use almond bark (my preference) or white chocolate bars for the poured icing recipe. White chocolate chips are very difficult to melt and get smooth.
• As with almost all baking recipes, it's best to have your ingredients (eggs, butter, cream cheese, etc.) at room temperature.
• Follow the detailed instructions or alternating the wet and dry ingredients when mixing.
• For perfectly square and uniform petit fours, use a biscuit cutter to cut your squares. I recommend the smallest one in this set.
• If you don't need several dozen petit fours, you can use a portion of the sheet and freeze the remaining cake (before or after filling). If it's wrapped up tight and/or covered well, it will keep in the freezer for 3-4 weeks!
• If you want to use a homemade raspberry filling or lemon curd, I highly recommend making it ahead of time (hours or days ahead). Otherwise, a store-bought alternative might be best!

• Prep Time: 3 hours
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: simple, butter cake, petit fours, easy, how to make, pound

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The post Perfect Petit Fours Recipe (with Tutorial) appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Homemade Robin Egg Chocolate Cake Recipe

The best part of this cake is that the decorating is super easy - even an amateur can do it! And nothing screams spring more than a Robins Egg dessert!

So let's get started!

Ingredients

• Sugar - granulated white sugar
• Cocoa Powder - I love fancy, rich cocoa powder but the best, easy-to-find brand is Hershey's and it makes a delicious cake!
• Butter - unsalted butter is the preference here, but salted works as well
• Buttermilk - I have an entire post about buttermilk here and if you don't have any on hand, make a perfect substitution with this recipe.
• All-Purpose Flour
• Baking Soda - check the expiration date on your baking soda because if it's expired, your cake will not rise like it should
• Eggs - large eggs are best and be sure to set them out so they're at room temperature
• Vanilla Extract - I only use homemade vanilla extract, but any real quality vanilla will work
• White Frosting - I don't share a recipe in this post, but you'll find my favorite vanilla buttercream here, or cream cheese frosting here. You can also use store-bought frosting for this recipe
• Blue Gel Food Coloring - I only use Americolor gel colors (Electric Blue is my favorite!) but Wilton brand is easily found at your local Walmart or grocery store and works just as well.

Equipment You Need to Make this Cake

• Mixing Bowls and Electric Hand Mixer
• Or a Stand Mixer
• 8-inch Cake Pans
• Silicone Spatula
• Offset spatula (or you could use a butter knife)
• Bristle Pastry Brush

How to Make a Homemade Robin Egg Chocolate Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Start making the cake batter by adding your sugar, butter, cocoa, and water to a large mixing bowl. Mix until combined.
3. Add in buttermilk, flour, baking soda, eggs, and vanilla extract.
4. Beat until well combined.
5. Divide evenly and pour into two prepared, round cake pans.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. If you're going to use homemade buttercream frosting, make it while the cake is baking. I recommend this vanilla buttercream or this cream cheese buttercream.
8. If you're using store-bought frosting, pour it into a bowl and use your hand-mixer to whip it up to a smooth, fluffy consistency.
9. Flip the cakes out onto wire racks to cool.
10.  While the cake is cooling, add food coloring to your frosting and stir, until you achieve a robin egg blue. I started with 3 small dots and slowly added more.
11. Once your cake is cool, assemble it and cover the cake with robin's egg blue frosting.
12. In a small bowl add cocoa, and slowly add water until it is paint consistency.
13. Dip your brush in and flick the mixture onto your cake to create a speckled effect.
14. Serve and enjoy!

How to Assemble the Cake

1. To assemble the cake, trim the rounded edge off the first cake layer and place it cut-side down on a cake board or cake plate.
2. Then spread a layer of frosting on top of it. While normally I'd tell you to repeat this for the top layer, this time we'll do something different.
3. Without trimming the second layer of cake, place it on top of the first layer with right-side-up so that the rounded top gives it more of an egg shape!
4. Last, cover the entire outside of the cake with the robin's egg blue frosting.

Video

Pro Tips

• Chill the cakes before assembling to lower the risk of breaking or tearing a cake while frosting it.
• As a cake professional, I have tons of frosting spatulas and cake tools but if you're an amateur, using a butter knife to frost this cake is just as effective as a fancy tool. There's no need for a flawless finish on this cake.
• If you want, you can further decorate this cake by making a nest on top with some toasted coconut and filling it with candy eggs (Cadbury Mini Eggs are my fave!!).
• To prepare the cake pans, you can line them with parchment paper, spray them with cake release (such as Baker's Joy) or make a homemade version!
• The blue frosting color will develop and darken over time so if you want a light blue, be careful to not add too much gel coloring in the beginning.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this cake as dessert for a Spring or Easter Celebration, or for a sweet baby shower. There's really no wrong occasion to serve chocolate cake!

Of course, any cake is always better with a tall glass of ice-cold milk or steaming cup of coffee 🙂

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for the ultimate splurge!

Make-Ahead, Storage, and Freezing Tips

Here are my best tips for keeping this cake moist and fresh.

Unfrosted Cake Layers: 

If you want to bake the cake ahead of time and decorate it closer to your event, wrap the cake layers tightly in plastic wrap and store them at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To bake them more than 3 days ahead, wrap the layers in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and freeze them for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before you decorate the cake, then allow it to come to room temperature at least an hour before serving.

Decorated Cake:

The Homemade Robin Egg Chocolate Cake can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days but it must be covered in a cake carrier or on a cake stand with a lid.

You can also freeze the decorated cake. Start by freezing it, uncovered for 3-4 hours. Then take it out and wrap it in plastic wrap, followed by aluminum foil. If you have a box that will fit in your freezer, place it in the box as an added layer of protection against it being damaged. Freeze for up to one month. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then allow it to come to room temperature at least an hour before serving.

FAQ

More Easter Dessert Recipes

• Spring Flower Cake Pops
• Easter Egg Cake Pops
• Easy Easter Rice Krispie Treats
• How to Make Decorated Easter Bunny Cookies
• Easter Rice Krispies Pops

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Printable Recipe:

Recipe

Homemade Robin Egg Chocolate Cake Recipe

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★★★★★

5 from 1 review

• Author: Rose Atwater
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 20

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Description

This Homemade Robin Egg Chocolate Cake Recipe is so easy and perfect for Easter or a spring dessert! You're going to love this moist, delicious cake and how easy it is to decorate for a family dinner or baby shower.

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Ingredients

Units USM

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons of Cocoa
• ½ cup of Butter
• 1 cup of Hot Water
• ½ a cup of Buttermilk
• 2 cups of Flour
• 1 and ¾ teaspoons of Baking Soda
• 2 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla
• White Frosting
• Blue Gel Food Coloring
• 2 tablespoons of Cocoa
• Water
• Bristle Pastry Brush

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Instructions

1. Start by adding your sugar, butter, cocoa and water to a large mixing bowl. Mix until combined.
2. Add in buttermilk, flour, baking soda, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Beat until well combined.
4. Pour evenly into two well greased and floured, round pans.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6.  While the cake is cooling, add food coloring to icing and stir, until you achieve a robin egg blue. I started with 3 small dots and slowly added.
7. Once your cake is cool, ice it with blue icing.
8. In a small bowl add cocoa, and slowly add water until it is paint consistency.
9. Dip your brush in and flick the mixture onto your cake to create a speckled effect.
10. Serve and enjoy!

Equipment

Kitchenaid Mixer

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Bristle Pastry Brush

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• Prep Time: 30
• Cook Time: 25
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: robin egg, robins egg cake, robins egg chocolate cake, homemade chocolate cake, from-scratch chocolate cake, easter cake, egg cake

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This was my last cake of 2022 and I couldn't have been more excited to make it. It was small and easy and fun!

Video:

My daughter is a hedgehog lover and owner and she's mentioned a few times me making a hedgehog cake so I had to say yes... even though I had the weekend "off" from cake and had planned for it to be a down week for me.

Sarah has owned three hedgehogs... this is her current baby, Stardust:

They were in the Pet Parade at a local festival last Fall and won 1st place 😊

Anywho... I digress. Let's talk about the cake.

How to Make a Hedgehog Cake

I don't have a photo tutorial but I hope I can talk you through this sweet little cake.

1. Bake, fill, and crumb-coat two (2) 7-inch cakes. I used this white almond sour cream cake and vanilla buttercream. But you could use any flavors you like, including chocolate, strawberry, etc. As always, I baked in Magic Line pans.
2. Chill your cake until cold all the way through. I prefer overnight.
3. Trim the top corner edge off the cake to give it a rounded look. Just a small trim will do the trick.
4. Cut out a semi-circle piece modeling chocolate for the face. I used this Satin Ice Chocolate Fondant and place it on the cake. If you have trouble getting it to stick, using a slightly damp paper dowel, dab the side of the cake until the buttercream is moist and sticky so the fondant will stick to it.

5. Mix up three colors of buttercream (I used pink, yellow and dusty blue). One cup (or less) of each is plenty.
6. Using these Russian piping tips and a #22 star tip, pipe the flowers/stars onto the cake, mixing up the colors to give it variation.
7. For the feet, arms/legs, and ears, I used the backend of large piping tips to cut out circles of modeling chocolate. For the arms/feet, I used thicker modeling chocolate, then a butter knife to score them. For the ears, I roll it out thinner. You could also use small circle cookie cutters.

8. For her face, I cut out an oval-ish piece of modeling chocolate then added nose/snout on top in a small pyramid shape. One benefit of modeling chocolate is being able to smooth seams until they disappear and that's what I did here. Then I added the pink nose and used a ball tool to make an indention to add small balls of black fondant for the eyes.
9. That's it!! She was presented on a cake drum with a white ribbon. See my tutorial here for adding ribbon to a cake board.

And that's all I have for you! I fell in love with this sweet little cake and I hope I have an opportunity to make another one!

The post A Super Cute Hedgehog Cake appeared first on Rose Bakes.

A while back I sent out this cake in an email, and asked if my readers had any questions about it. First, I'll give you the details of how I made it, then I'll answer the questions some of you asked!

Details for the Fancy Rainbow Unicorn Cake

• The cake sizes are 5-7-9 inches. I baked them in my favorite Magic Line pans.
• The cake flavor was white almond sour cream with sprinkles (aka confetti cake!). See the recipe down below.
• The frosting was vanilla buttercream.
• I used homemade marshmallow fondant for almost all of the decorations. We then colored the fondant with Americolor gel colors.
• The gold decorations were made with Satin Ice Gold Shimmer fondant.
• The unicorn mane was piped with a #1M piping tip. Then the borders were piped with a #22 piping tip.
• The clouds were cut out with these cloud cutters.
• The stars were cut with these star plunger cutters.
• The name was cut out with Funky Alphabet Tappit cutters.
• Everything else was hand-cut and rolled (the rainbow, the large cloud, the unicorn eyes, ears, and the unicorn horn). However, I do have a video for a unicorn horn here.
• Finally, I used Americolor Electric Pink and Electric Blue for the bottom and middle tiers.

Shop here for supplies:

Round Cake Pans

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Bosch Mixer

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Bench Scraper

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Rainbow Jimmies

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Cloud Cutters

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22 Piping Tip

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Reader Questions

Recipe

Confetti Cake Recipe

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★★★★★

5 from 1 review

• Author: Rose Atwater
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 20

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Description

This Confetti Cake Recipe is delicious, and moist, and holds up well for tiered cakes or carving.

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Ingredients

Units USM

• 1 (15.25 oz) white cake mix - I use Pillsbury White Cake Mix
• 1 cup (200g) sugar
• 1 ½ cups (185 g) all-purpose flour (OR 1 cup of AP flour + ½ cup extra cake mix)
• 1 ⅓ cup (360 ml) water
• 1 tsp. (5 ml) vanilla extract
• 1 tsp (5 ml) almond extract (or omit the almond and do 2 tsp. of vanilla)
• 4 egg whites (for true white) or 3 whole eggs
• 1 cup (8 oz. or 25 g) sour cream
• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml) vegetable oil
• ½ cup rainbow jimmies

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Instructions

1. Mix all dry ingredients by hand using a whisk in a very large mixing bowl.
2. Add the liquid ingredients and beat on low speed for 2-3 minutes, until well combined.
3. Gently stir in jimmies.
4. Bake at 325° (time depends on the size pans used*). I bake cupcakes for 18 minutes or cakes in 8" round pan for 40-45 minutes.
5. Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then flip out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
6. Fill & frost with Vanilla Buttercream or Cream Cheese Buttercream.

Equipment

Measuring Cups and Spoons

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Mixing Bowls

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Hand Mixer

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Notes

• This is enough batter to perfectly fill two 8-inch cake pans. You will have to multiply it to make a tiered cake like this unicorn cake.
• You can frost this cake with cream cheese or vanilla buttercream. Both are delicious!

• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 45
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: confetti cake, confetti, cake, funfetti, white cake, white, confetti cake recipe

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The post Fancy Rainbow Unicorn Cake (+ Confetti Cake Recipe) appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally published January 2020, updated August 2022.

It wasn't too long ago that I hadn't even heard of using canned frosting to do cake drip. So when I saw it suggested in my cake group, All Things Cake, I was quite intrigued. ➡️ Click here to join my Facebook group All Things Cake!!

Those who use it were saying it was super easy, even fool-proof, and well... I'm all about an easy solution to a cake problem.

Not that creating drip cakes was a problem; but it is certainly not always foolproof. Having tried candy melts and chocolate ganache drips (with chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream) and white chocolate ganache, I knew it was a challenge to always get the drip "just right." I even addressed this issue in my book, Cake Decorating for Beginners.

Read more about this Gold Drip Cake with Sugar Magnolias & Strawberries here.

And the truth is, drip cakes are beautiful and trendy and popular... but also easy to mess up. Ask me how I know? 😉

But now, after finally trying the canned frosting to do a drip cake, I can say with confidence that canned frosting is by far the easiest way to add colored drips to the extremely popular drip cakes! So let's get to it...

Ingredients for the cake and frosting

For the Cake:

• White Cake Mix - Pillsbury is my favorite brand, but I've also used Duncan Hines with good results!
• All Purpose Flour
• Eggs
• Water
• Oil
• Sour Cream
• Instant vanilla pudding mix (or use white chocolate pudding for a whiter cake) - use the dry mix, do not make the pudding!

For the Frosting:

• Butter - I use Great Value brand salted butter for almost all of my frosting, but you can also use unsalted butter and add a pinch of salt to the recipe.
• Shortening - Crisco is my preferred brand!
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla Extract - I always use homemade vanilla extract, but any good quality vanilla will work. You can also use clear vanilla, but the flavor is not as good.
• Butter Extract - optional, but so good!
• Milk, water, or heavy cream - use to thin the frosting to the desired consistency for frosting the cake. Milk is my go-to but I've used both water and heavy cream in a pinch and they're also great.

Find the full instructions in the Drip Cake Recipe here.

Ingredients for the Cake Drip:

To do the drip, you'll need two things...

• Canned white frosting - you could also use vanilla frosting or cream cheese frosting - any flavor of canned frosting that is also white
• Food coloring - I wouldn't recommend anything other than gel colors, but I have seen others use powder colors with success
• Oh. And a spoon 😁

Chocolate Drip Cake

As an alternative, you can absolutely use canned chocolate frosting for a chocolate drip cake or even dark chocolate frosting! Everything is the same except you don't need any gel coloring, obviously.

For this Gluten-free, Soy-free, Egg-free & Dairy-free Chocolate Cake and Frosting recipe, I melted the homemade chocolate frosting and also had fabulous results, so if you want to try that with homemade chocolate buttercream, it works!

How to Make a Drip Cake

Start with a chilled cake. More specifically, you'll need to have your cake already baked, and the layers are cooled. Then fill and frost the cake... then place it in the refrigerator or freezer. For this cake, I used a 6-inch vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.

You really want the frosting to be very cold and firm so that the drip doesn't get away from you. I like to chill in the fridge for around an hour.

Melting the canned frosting

Next, to prep the frosting, I opened up the top, peeled off the foil cover, and placed it in the microwave without a lid. Then I warmed it for 10 seconds. I stirred and warmed another 10-seconds, and repeated one last time, for a total of 30 seconds.

The timing will vary based on the power of your microwave but basically, you want the frosting melted, warm, and smooth. You want it warm enough to easily pour over the cake (although we won't be pouring it). You don't want it so hot that it starts to bubble.

If you like more precision than that, I like to use my Thermapen (mine is pink ;)) to check my frosting and my goal is to have it around 100°F-102°F after it's stirred.

I used a butter knife to stir mine so I could get into the corners and it worked perfectly.

Coloring the canned frosting

I was making a pink drip cake, so immediately after it got to the right consistency and it was melted through, I added a few drops of Electric Pink gel coloring and stirred again. I wanted the drip to be pretty bright so I ended up adding more drops.

The frosting won't really change colors after it sets (like homemade buttercream frosting) so go ahead and get it the color you want.

Spoon the frosting on to form drips

When the frosting is warm and your cake is chilled, place the cake on a turntable and you're ready to start decorating the birthday drip cake!

Then using a spoon, gently add a small amount of the frosting near the edge of the cake (but not on the edge).

Then using the edge of the spoon, gently push a tiny bit out and over the edge until it starts to run down. Then turn a tiny bit and repeat.

You'll keep working around the cake, adding drips approximately one inch apart. If you find the drips are not running down the cake as far as you'd like, you can push a little more over the edge.

I like to vary the amount so that the drips aren't all exactly the same length.

Keep going until you get back to where you started. When you have all the drips done, then it's time to fill in the center.

Use the spoon to add more frosting and smooth it as you go, until the center is completely covered with frosting. It doesn't set really fast so you should be able to get it as smooth as you like.

You could also pour frosting in the center and then spread it around with a spoon. Just be careful to not add too much!

Then go back and clean up the edges if there are places you don't like.

The finished drip cake:

I was so incredibly pleased with how easy it was to make a drip cake with canned frosting. It was easy to work with, easy to color, and super smooth and pretty.

I'm not sure I'll ever use anything else to do drips! Before I did any more decorating, I placed the cake in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to set the drips. I'm also told they'll set up at room temperature, but it'll take longer.

Drip Cake Ideas

Here are a few trendy cakes I've done with canned frosting drip along with one from my friend, Holly!

My friend, Holly, at Once Upon a Cupcake used white canned frosting (without coloring) to make this gold drip cake. She let the drip completely set, then painted the drips gold with great success (see pic above!!)

I've also made a rose gold drip cake! For this cake above, I used white canned frosting, then painted it after it set using this Edible Rose Gold Luster Dust mixed with lemon extract. It was gorgeous!

Note: See how I paint with gold in this Unicorn Horn tutorial!

You can also leave the canned frosting white and do white drip cakes. They look just like white chocolate drip cakes, but so much easier! As you can see above, it works on everything from an elegant naked cake for a baby shower to a very colorful buttercream rainbow cake for a birthday.

Drip cakes are especially fun if you add the elements of candy and sprinkles! Both of these bright cakes above are perfect for Birthday Drip Cakes!

But you can also use this drip cake recipe for weddings... here are a couple of my favorite wedding cake drip cakes:

Finishing the cake...

In addition to using the canned frosting hacks, you can continue to dress up a drip cake with sprinkles and piping! I didn't photograph the rest of my decorating for this cake, but I can give you some details.

I used a 1M tip to pipe on the border and the little clouds of frosting on top of the cake.

Then I added Valentine's sprinkles and called it a day. This cake was so easy to make and your clients will love it if you offer these for Valentine's Day or change up the colors and do this design for any holiday!

And that's it - a finished Valentine's Drip Cake made with canned frosting!

Equipment Needed:

• Cake Pans
• Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
• Mixing Bowls - to make the cake batter and frosting
• Bench Scraper - to smooth the cake
• Spoon or small offset spatula - to apply the drip
• OR a Squeeze Bottle - this is an alternative way to do the drip.
• 1M tip for piping the border

Shop for Drip Cake Supplies:

Pillsbury White Frosting

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Electric Pink Gel Coloring

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Spoons

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Wilton 1M

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Valentine's Sprinkles

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Bench Scraper

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FAQ

How to Make a Drip Cake Ahead of Time

I've mentioned before that I use boxed cake mix recipes for my cakes, so if you're doing that and using my recipes below, you can make this cake up to 3 days ahead of time. Keep it in a box or covered cake plate in the refrigerator until an hour before serving.

Pro Tips

• A drip cake is beautiful on its own, but you can dress it up more with candy, sprinkles, piping, dipped strawberries, and more!
• The drip will set up completely within 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator. If you want to keep it at room temperature, assuming your cake was cold when you started, it should be completely set in 30 minutes. But if you're going to paint the drip, I highly recommend refrigerating vs room temperature.
• In addition to using a spoon or small offset spatula for your drip, another option is to use a squirt bottle. Simply pour your warmed and colored frosting into one of these cheap squirt bottles and go around the edges the same way as you did with the spoon.

Storage

• Refrigerator - store the finished cake in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It's best if covered in an airtight container or cake box.
• Freezer - if you want to keep the cake longer, you can! Place the UNWRAPPED cake in the freezer (in a box or on a plate). Allow it to freeze overnight, then take it out of the freezer and wrap in a few layers of plastic wrap. Place the cake in a box and back into the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Unwrap the cake BEFORE thawing so the drip doesn't stick to the plastic wrap and pull off the cake. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Check out these other popular cake tutorials:

• How to Smooth Frost a Cake and How to Get Sharp Buttercream Edges {Video Tutorial}
• Messy Ruffles Cake Decorating Video Tutorial
• How to Use a Silicone Pearl Mold
• How to Sell Paint-Your-Cookie Sets (the ebook!)
• Can You Freeze a Fondant Decorated Cake?
• How to Organize Ribbons

Recipe

Super Easy Drip Cake Recipe (Canned Frosting Hack!)

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★★★★★

5 from 1 review

• Author: Rose Atwater
• Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
• Yield: 24

Print Recipe

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Description

Can I use canned frosting for drip cake? I've seen this question so many times recently and the answer is yes, you can use canned frosting for a drip cake! And yes, the results are fabulous!! So today I'm sharing a Super Easy Drip Cake Recipe (Canned Frosting Hack!)

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Ingredients

Units USM

Cake Recipe

• 1 (15.25 oz.) White Cake Mix, I prefer Pillsbury*
• 3 oz. extra cake mix or 3 oz. all purpose flour
• 3 Whole Large Eggs (or ⅔ cup of egg whites)
• ½ cup water
• ⅓ cup oil
• 1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
• 1 small box (3.4 oz) of instant vanilla pudding mix** (or use white chocolate pudding for a whiter cake)
• *Be sure to read my post on adjusting recipes for smaller cake mixes!
• **Use the DRY pudding mix - do not actually make pudding!

Vanilla Buttercream Recipe:

• 2 sticks (8 oz) salted butter
• 1 cup (7.2 oz) vegetable shortening
• 7 cups (2 pounds) powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp butter-vanilla (optional)
• 2-3 tablespoons milk, water or heavy cream

For the drip

• 1 can store-bought white or vanilla frosting
• gel food coloring

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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Instructions

For the cake:

1. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together.
2. Divide the batter between two 7-inch or two 8-inch prepared pans.
3. Bake at 325° for about 38-45 minutes just until a toothpick comes out clean. 
4. Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then flip out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
    

For the frosting:

1. First, add the butter and shortening to the mixing bowl and cream together. Scrape down the sides to be sure that it’s completely mixed together.
2. NOTE: I put my bowl on the scale, zero it, then add the shortening and weigh it. I do this for 2 reasons – it’s more accurate than trying to measure messy shortening in a measuring cup AND it’s one less greasy cup to wash!
3. Add the vanilla and butter flavors and mix again.
4. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, a little at a time until completely incorporated. This will take time and might make a mess. I like to drape a damp towel completely over the top of my mixer to "catch" the powdered sugar dust. Again, scrape down the sides of the bowl often.  UPDATE: Now that I use a Bosch mixer, I don't have the huge mess or need the damp towel. It's all kept in the bowl ... YAY!  See my post about that here.
5. When all of the sugar has been added, start adding tablespoons of milk or cream to “thin” the frosting to the desired texture. I usually use milk unless I happen to have cream in the frig, but either works just fine. I make a fairly thick icing to cover and fill cakes and make it slightly thinner to decorate.  
6. You can use this immediately or keep in the fridge in an airtight bowl for up to 2 weeks. It can also be frozen for several weeks. If you’re using it out of the fridge, make sure its completely thawed and rewhip, adding milk as needed to get the desired texture again.

Assemble the cake:

1. Place the first cooled cake layer on a cake board or cake plate, 
2. Add frosting to the top of that layer, then place the second layer of cake on top.
3. Frost the entire cake, then smooth it with a bench scraper and small offset spatula.
4. Chill the cake for at least an hour, or 30 minutes in the freezer.

For the drip:

1. Open the can of frosting and remove the foil seal.
2. Microwave in 10-second intervals and stir in between each until the frosting is pourable.
3. If you have a food thermometer, it's best to get the frosting to 100°F-102°F.
4. Using a spoon or squeeze bottle, apply the frosting to the top edge of the thoroughly chilled cake.
5. Decorate with piping, candy, sprinkles, etc.

Equipment

Spoons

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Mixing Bowls

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Notes

• It is crucial to use a fully chilled cake when making a drip cake.  Chill it in the fridge for an hour or in the freezer for 30 minutes before applying the canned frosting drip.
• A drip cake is beautiful on its own, but you can dress it up more with candy, sprinkles, piping, dipped strawberries, and more!
• The drip will set up completely within 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator. If you want to keep it at room temperature, assuming your cake was cold when you started, it should be completely set in 30 minutes. But if you're going to paint the drip, I highly recommend refrigerating vs room temperature.
• In addition to using a spoon or small offset spatula for your drip, another option is to use a squirt bottle. Simply pour your warmed and colored frosting into one of these cheap squirt bottles and go around the edges the same way as you did with the spoon.
• Refrigerator - store the finished cake in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It's best if covered in an airtight container or cake box.
• Freezer - if you want to keep the cake longer, you can! Place the UNWRAPPED cake in the freezer (in a box or on a plate). Allow it to freeze overnight, then take it out of the freezer and wrap in a few layers of plastic wrap. Place the cake in a box and back into the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Unwrap the cake BEFORE thawing so the drip doesn't stick to the plastic wrap and pull off the cake. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

• Prep Time: 30
• Assemble & Decorate Time: 45
• Cook Time: 35
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: Drip cake,, cake drip, Chocolate drip cake*, how to make a drip cak,e pink drip cake, birthday drip cake, drip cake ideas, drip cake recipe, rose gold drip cake, gold drip cake, canned frosting hacks

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Do you have any other questions? Leave me a comment!

The post Super Easy Drip Cake Recipe (Canned Frosting Hack!) appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally posted January 2013, updated August 2022

Update: If you'd rather buy them than make these, I am taking orders for these and can ship them within the USA.  Please visit my online store to order or order in the box here and complete checkout to get your Hello Kitty Toppers on the way!

If you're the crafty type, or you own your own cake business, this tutorial might help you out... How to Make Easy Hello Kitty Cupcakes. These are so cute, you can skip the birthday cake and only serve cupcakes for your kitty-inspired event!

Or you can get a simple cake from a bakery and add one of these as an edible cake topper and then serve cupcakes for the party guests.

Here's a simple cake I made with a slightly larger Hello Kitty topper. The birthday girl couldn't decide on a theme so her mom had multiple paper cupcake toppers made and then focused on a fondant Hello Kitty for the simple cake. Note: I had to hand cut the cake topper; I could not find a bigger cutter.

Supplies

Here are the things you'll need to make these edible cupcake toppers:

• White fondant (homemade marshmallow fondant or a store-bought variety like Satin Ice)
• Hello Kitty Cookie Cutter
• Black Food Marker
• Yellow Food Marker or a small amount of Yellow Fondant
• Pink Fondant
• Small round cutters or round piping tips
• Sugar glue and a small brush
• Cornstarch
• Ball tool (optional)

How to Make Easy Hello Kitty Cupcake Toppers

These were super simple to put together!  I don't have photos for all the steps but I'm writing out the instructions and they truly are super easy to follow!

First, I used a Hello Kitty Cookie Cutter I found on Amazon and cut the faces from homemade marshmallow fondant. It's actually called a Hello Kitty Vegetable Cutter, but it works great for fondant!

I love this cutter because it has the inside plunger that makes an impression of where the eyes, nose, whiskers, and bows go ... taking the guessing out of decorating these (yes, I'm lazy that way) and they're perfect every time!

After cutting the faces, I drew the faces on with Americolor Food markers... easy-peasy. You could also use tiny bits of fondant for the eyes, nose and whiskers, but the markers were SO easy!!

For the bows, I wanted them to really stand out, so I used pink marshmallow fondant and cut them with frosting tips.   I found the round tips closest to the impressions on Hello Kitty's face and used those (Ateco #806 and Wilton #12).  

Lastly, I made a tiny impression with a ball tool to finish the bow. This step could be skipped but it gives it a little more character. 🎀

I used a tiny dot of sugar glue to hold them on the faces. You could also use a tiny bit of water. After the bows were on and the faces drawn, I placed them on a cookie sheet dusted with cornstarch and let them dry overnight so they wouldn't sag when placed on the cupcakes.

These cupcakes were half chocolate and half strawberry.  They were topped with pink vanilla buttercream (piped with a large Ateco star tip), then I added a few sprinkles of Wilton Spring Confetti. I used Americolor Electric Pink in the frosting.

These liners were Wilton Snappy Stripes Baking Cups.  Very pretty and very matchy to the Hello Kitty theme!

Pro Tips & Tricks:

• Roll your fondant a little thicker than usual (approximately 4mm) so they will hold up well. This also makes them less flexible so they won't sag or bend on the cupcakes.
• Use cornstarch underneath the toppers when you let them dry so they won't stick to your surface.
• Place the cupcake toppers on fresh buttercream before it crusts and they'll more easily stick and stay in place.

I hope this tutorial helps you but if I missed any details, please feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email!

How to Store Cupcake Toppers:

• All fondant and gum paste decorations can be kept for 12 months.
• Store in a cool, dark, dry area at room temperature (such as a kitchen cabinet or pantry).
• DO NOT store in an airtight container or the refrigerator (a cardboard box works great and keeps dust or anything from settling on them).

Order Hello Kitty Cupcake Toppers here:

The post How to Make Easy Hello Kitty Cupcake Toppers appeared first on Rose Bakes.

With the new Minions movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru, making big waves in the theaters, I know that it won't be long before Minion-themed parties will be making a comeback! With that in mind, I wanted to round up some party inspiration for you. So if you're ready, keep scrolling for...

15+ Super Fun Minion Cakes & Treats

Minion Cake by Rose Bakes

And I have a full tutorial for the cupcakes here.

Minion Cupcakes by Rose Bakes

Don't like fondant cupcake toppers? Check out these buttercream Minion cupcakes...

by Taste of the Frontier

I adore this cake with a Minion having a cupcake... just so cute!!

by Custom Cakes by Beth.

Wanna change things up or combine two of your kids' favorite things? How about a Hulk Minion?

by So Sweet

How about these Minion Macarons? What a fun, bite-sized treat?

by Baked by Andres

Combine those macarons with a simple drip cake and it's perfection!! Also by Baked by Andres.

Do you need things to be a little more on the feminine side? Check out this sweet cake with bows and pink overalls?

by Rose Bakes

Or a pink hat and twirlers:

by Little Hill Cakes

And if you haven't already seen enough cuteness... how about Minion Cakesicles:

by Crave by Leena

or fancy little Mini Minion Cake Pops...

by Bakerella

Maybe you want 1st Birthday cake for your baby... check out this Baby Minion:

By Frost Me Sweet

Wanna keep things super easy? How about Minion Dipped OREO cookies?

by Fun Squared

Or a sheet cake:

by Rose Bakes

Or even just a simple fruit tray:

by Feeling Nifty

And that's all folks! I hope you found all the Minion inspiration you'll need to serve up a fantastic party!!

Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook & Twitter!

The post 15+ Super Fun Minion Cakes & Treats appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally posted July 2017, updated July 2022

Minion Cupcakes Supplies

• Yellow, Black, White, and Gray Fondant (I use homemade marshmallow fondant for all colors except black and there I use Satin Ice). You can also buy pre-made fondant in all of these colors at most any big box store or craft store (make gray by mixing black and white). Another option: modeling chocolate. You can make this homemade using this recipe.
• Rolling pin
• Round cutters (various sizes) - you can also use cups and bowls (upside down) for different size circle cutters, and both ends of piping tips for smaller circles.
• Mini Cutters - again, here you could use round piping tips or the backend (big end) of any piping tips for bigger circles
• Ribbon cutter - I absolutely love my ribbon cutter but you could also use a ruler (or any straight edge) plus a knife or pizza wheel to cut the black strips of fondant
• Food markers - if you don't have food markers, you could use q-tips and black food coloring to finish the eyes.
• Sugar glue - I have a recipe linked for homemade sugar glue, but you can also use glue made from corn syrup and water.
• Small Paint Brushes
• Xacto knife or scalpels

Shop for Minion Cupcake Supplies here:

Round Cookie Cutters

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Round Piping Tips

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Ribbon Cutter

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Rolling Pin

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Food Markers

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Xacto

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How to Make Minion Cupcake Toppers

Once you have everything together, let's get started! I'm sharing detailed instructions for you along with several substitutions and alternatives you can use with things you may already have on hand.

1. Start by rolling out your fondant to 2-3mm thick.  Then cut out 2" round circles.

2. Next roll out the black fondant, then use your ribbon cutter to roll it into strips, slightly less than half an inch thick.

3. Using a tiny bit of sugar glue, attach a black strip to the yellow fondant, then trim the edges.  I used a disposable scalpel - one of my favorite tools these days!

Now it's time to add the eyes and other details.  These will vary depending on which faces you want to make, but here are the tools I used:

I used white and gray fondant plus some mini round cutters, the back-end of some large piping tips (not pictured above), and these circle plunger cutters.

4. To make the eyes, just roll out the white fondant, cut out the different sizes you need, and use sugar glue to attach them to the black stripe.  I made some with one large eye and some with two smaller eyes.

The Tiny Details...

5. To make the goggles, roll out the grey fondant.  Then using the same size cutters as the eyes you need to cover, cut out some gray circles. Use smaller circles to cut out the centers.

TIP: You can easily make gray fondant by kneading a tiny ball of black fondant into a larger ball of white fondant!

6. Use sugar glue again to attach the goggles to the eyes.  Once they're attached, use food markers to draw on the pupils and irises.  I used brown and black but you could also use green and/or blue for the irises.

7. To make the mouths, you can get creative.  I did some with tiny circle cutters and others by rolling out tiny snakes of black fondant.  So many different faces and personalities can be made by mixing and matching eyes and mouths.

8. The last tiny detail I added was some hair on a few of the Minions and then I was done!  I used a black food marker but you could also use tiny snakes of fondant and sugar glue if you like. Or paint them on with a small paint brush and black food coloring.

9. And to finish them up, I spread them out on a cookie sheet dusted with some tylose powder and let them dry overnight.  That way they will stiffen up and hold their shape once they're placed on the buttercream on the cupcakes!

If you don't have Tylose, you could also use cornstarch. Also, make sure they're in a cool dry atmosphere so they'll dry faster.

And you're done!!

Put the Minion Cupcakes Together!

This is the easy part!! Bake however many cupcakes you need and make up a batch of buttercream frosting. My cupcakes were vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.

Pipe a good amount of soft buttercream on each cupcake, then place the topper on! That's it 😊

Do you have any questions about How to Make Minion Cupcake Toppers?  Leave me a comment!

More Easy Recipes & Tutorials:

• 15+ Super Fun Minion Cakes & Treats
• Despicable Me Minion Cake Tutorial
• Cake Decorating for Beginners (my book!)
• Vanilla Cake Recipe + Gray & Yellow Wedding Cake
• How to Make Homemade Marshmallow Fondant

How to Make a Dispicable Me Minion Cake

The post How to Make Minion Cupcake Toppers appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally published February 2015, updated July 2022.

This Minion Birthday Cake was so much fun to make! I generally don't like making sheet cakes, but this was sort of a combo between a sheet cake (laying flat) and a 3-D cake... so I didn't mind!

Supplies to make this Despicable Me Minion Cake:

• (3) 8" round cakes plus (1) 6" half ball cake - Magic Line pans are my favorite cake pans
• serrated knife for carving cake
• buttercream, for filling and frosting
• yellow, blue, black, white, gray and brown fondant (a combination of Satin Ice &  homemade marshmallow fondant)
• rolling pin
• pizza wheel
• fondant smoothers
• Ribbon cutter
•  Xacto blade
• Sugar glue
• Stitching tool
• Cake ball dough
• 1" and 2" round cookie cutters
• Small round frosting tip (#3 or #4 would work well)
• Black Licorice Laces (can substitute fondant if you need to)
• Silver Sixlets
• Small round cutters

Recipes for the Minion Cake

I'm going to list the recipes I used but you can substitute any of your favorites or use store-bought products (such as the fondant) if you want.

Vanilla Cake - this is one of my favorite recipes for carving.

Vanilla Buttercream - this crusting buttercream is what I use for 90% of my cakes!

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant - my go-to recipe for light-colored fondants. For dark colors (like the blue and black, I purchase Satin Ice fondant).

Sugar Glue - an easy homemade edible glue to attach fondant pieces to each other.

How to Make a Despicable Me Minion Cake

Once you have everything together, it's time for the step by step guide to make this cake!

Step 1.  Bake the cakes.  As mentioned above, you'll need (2) 8" rounds plus a 6" half ball cake for the body.  You could just bake (3) 8" rounds, but I used foil and dry beans to make half a cake in one pan because I didn't have enough batter to fill it and I *thought* I might need the extra cake for the body.  I didn't.  But I did use it to make the cake ball dough for the legs & feet!

Step 2: Build the main body of the cake.  I take the 8" rounds and fill them normally with a layer of buttercream, then cut them down the middle.  I also take the half-ball cake and cut it in half, then put filling between all of the layers to create the body. Half-round on top, followed by four layers of cake.  Then crumb coat the entire thing!

Step 3:  Cover the Minion body with yellow fondant; cut off the excess around the edges and use fondant smoothers to get a smooth finish. Note: I use homemade marshmallow fondant for the yellow and white parts on this cake then Satin Ice for the black, blue, and brown.

Putting Overalls on a Minion Cake

Step 4:  Use blue fondant to create the blue overalls.   I didn't do step-by-step photos here, but I just pulled up a picture of a Minion online and then did my best to copy that design.  I used a ribbon cutter, X-Acto knife and then sugar glue to attach it.

Step 5:  Add the pocket on the front and then use a stitching tool to add details around all the hems and seams. You can stick the pocket and overall straps on with edible glue or a thin layer of shortening.

Minion Feet & Legs from Cake Ball Dough

Step 6:  Now it's time to add the feet and legs.  I used the leftover cake from the half ball and the extra half a cake to make cake ball dough to do these.  You can see my tutorial here for making cake balls  - that's the dough I used.  I laid them out side by side to be sure I had them symmetrical.

Step 7:  Cover the legs in blue fondant, then the feet in black fondant.  I added a sole to the shoes, then painted them with water to make them shiny (just don't touch them until they dry!).

Step 8:  Add black bands around the side of the head.  I used Satin Ice black fondant, my ribbon cutter, and an impression mat to give it a cloth texture (you could skip that).

Step 9:  For the eyes, roll out a thick layer of white fondant, then use a 2" round cookie cutter to cut out white fondant circles. Next cut out gray strips with my ribbon cutter to wrap them in.   Assemble it all with sugar glue.

Step 10:  Put the eyes on with the seams in the center, then you cover them with a little bridge.  Also cut a moon-shaped sliver for the mouth out of black fondant and attach it with a tiny dot of sugar glue.

Step 11:  Cut out 1" circles, then use a round frosting tip to make impressions in it for the buttons on the overalls and also attach those with sugar glue.

Minion Cake Details

Step 12:  The rest of these pictures are where I added all of the details to finish him up. First, I used Black Licorice Laces for the hair but you could also use tiny rolls of black fondant.    With this candy, I cut it into pieces maybe 2" long, then pushed it into the top of the cake.

You can see the hair in the picture below, along with a few other details.  I used black and brown to add black circles on the eyeballs with smaller round cutters and I used Silver Sixlets to add the rivets around the edges of his glasses (are they glasses? goggles?).

I also hand-cut the little logo on his front pocket - I didn't get it super clean but that little booger was hard!

Oh, oh, oh!!  And I almost forgot... the arms and hands!!!!!!!!!!  That would've been terrible, huh?  They were both solid fondant.  I rolled out long ropes for the arms then cut & glued them to the sides.  For the hands, I shaped the balls of fondant, flattened them, then cut and pulled them apart for the thumb.  Then I added a little band around the seam between the arm & hand.

And that's it!!   Not counting the baking, I was able to decorate him in 3 hours or less.   The most tedious part was the little logo!!

Do you have any questions about this Despicable Me Minion Cake Tutorial?  Leave me a comment and I’ll answer if I can!

More Fun Cakes & Cupcakes

• How to Make Minion Cupcake Toppers
• 15+ Super Fun Minion Cakes & Treats
• Alice in Wonderland Cake
• Cascading Sunflowers Wedding Cake
• Having a Ball Mason Jar Birthday Cake with Flowers

Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook & Twitter!

The post Despicable Me Minion Cake Tutorial appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally published in May 2019, updated July 2022

This cake would be perfect for any spring or summer celebration... a birthday cake (use the year of birth on the jar as I did) or even for a bbq or picnic cake. This was made for my favorite person at our local nursing home and she loved it!

Tools & Equipment to Make a Mason Jar Cake

Rectangle cake pan: I recommend this alphabet pan or a 9x13 cake pan. If you need more servings for a larger number of guests, you could easily do different sizes. Maybe upgrade to a 10x15 or 12x18 cake. You can see my favorite sheet cake pans here.

Knife (for carving the cake): I love my watermelon knife for carving!

Small Spatula: I have about a dozen of these small spatulas for covering cakes with frosting.

Piping Bag & Small Round tip: you can use whatever bags and tips you like - nothing specific or special ris equired to pipe the words and design on the cake.

Cupcake Pan

Piping Tips for the flowers: I don't have pictures of piping the cupcakes, but you can see me piping rose cupcakes in this post.  After decorating them with an Ateco #825 tip and some with a #104 petal tip. You can do all piped rosettes or mix them up with whatever designs you like for different buttercream flowers.

Americolor Gel Colors: For my design, I used Americolor Teal gel coloring, Americolor Ivory, Americolor Orange, and Americolor Electric Pink. 

Shop my favorite supplies:

Alphabet Pan

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Americolor Gel Colors

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Small Spatula

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Cupcake Pan

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Piping Bags

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Ateco #825 Tip

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Round Piping Tips

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Watermelon Knife

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Mixing Bowls

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Cake & Frosting Recipes

You can substitute pretty much any cake recipe flavor and frosting recipe that you love, but here are the ones I use and recommend. Both are doctored cake mix recipes and if you click through the links, you'll find all the ingredients needed. You could also follow the box instructions for a cake like this.

Vanilla Cake or Chocolate Cake: I used vanilla cake but chocolate cake or any yellow cake or white cake would also be great. The linked recipes are great for carving!

Vanilla Buttercream: I used my most popular vanilla buttercream recipe but any white frosting will do including this amazing cream cheese frosting.

For reference, I used a double batch of the vanilla cake batter to make the cake and cupcakes. This made enough dessert for around 30-35 guests.

Having a Ball Mason Jar Birthday Cake with Flowers Tutorial

First, you're going to need a sheet cake for the jar. I used this alphabet pan to bake my cake, but you could use any size/shape sheet cake that will work for you. I'd think a 9x13 cake pan would be a pretty common size that most cake decorators will have and will work great.

Because the alphabet pan comes with the squares used to make different letters, I used a couple of them to make the rough jar shape.  Again, if you don't have this pan, you can easily just carve out the jar shape from a rectangle.

Using the alphabet pan gave me a slightly skinnier/taller "jar", but personally I don't think it would be a big deal for your jar to be wider and shorter as long as you have a recognizable shape.

Even with the pan I used, I still had to do some carving:

I cut off the sharp corners and all of the top edges to get a more rounded finish.  My favorite knife for carving cake is this watermelon knife.  After the cake was trimmed, I popped it into the freezer for 20-30 minutes to firm it up before frosting.

Then I mixed up the pale blue vanilla frosting and covered the cake. I used Viva paper towels to smooth it and round off the edges.  For the color, I used a tiny drop of Americolor Teal gel coloring.

Then for the writing on the cake, I added another drop of gel color to darken it. Then I put it in a piping bag with a #3 round tip and added all the text and lines to bring it to life.

Buttercream Flower Cupcakes

I don't have pictures of piping the cupcakes, but you can see me piping rose cupcakes in this post.  After decorating them with an Ateco #825 tip and some with a #104 petal tip, I used a dot of buttercream on the bottom of each cupcake to attach them to the board above the jar.

For the flowers, the colors were Americolor Ivory, then some Americolor Orange and Americolor Electric Pink.  I added a few sugar pearls and sprinkles to the centers of the pink ones 🌸🌸🌸

My client only need about 30 servings of cake (cake and cupcakes included), so I added a dozen cupcake flowers. If you need more servings, make a larger bouquet with more cupcakes! Here's a really large cupcake bouquet I made without the Mason jar:

And that was that... an easy, impressive "Having a Ball" Mason Jar Cake with Flowers!

If you have any questions about this cake, please leave me a comment and I'll answer if I can!

Check out these related posts:

• How to Make Easy Cupcake Bouquets (in a box!)
• How to Make a Flower Cupcake Cake
• How to Make Minion Cupcake Toppers
• Despicable Me Minion Cake Tutorial

Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook & Twitter!

No blog post for this one yet... but a long-time favorite bouquet of cupcakesL:

The post Having a Ball Mason Jar Birthday Cake with Flowers appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Modern Gender Reveal Cake with Gold Leaf Details:

• The cake was white almond sour cream. Recipe here → http://rosebakes.com/WeddingCakeRecipe. Want a from-scratch recipe? Check out this Vanilla Cake recipe.
• The buttercream was vanilla. Recipe here → http://rosebakes.com/VanillaButtercream
• I only use Americolor Gel Colors. I used Soft Pink Gel for the pink buttercream.
• I used Navy + a tiny bit of Super Black Gel for the navy buttercream.
• I used 24K Edible Gold Leaf to add the gold highlights.

More resources for making this cake:

• In my book, Cake Decorating for Beginners, I have an entire section on mixing colors. I also have a tutorial with baking tips, how to fill and stack cake layers, etc. Check it out here → Cake Decorating for Beginners.
• I have a tutorial on how to get the frosting on the outside of the cake smooth → How to Smooth Frost Cakes.
• I have a video here of palette painting flowers onto a cake. For the cake above, you don't need to do full-blown painting, but small swipes of frosting. The technique is very similar. You'll only need a small offset spatula to do this design.
• The cake is displayed on this gorgeous Wavy Gold Border Cake Stand from Macy's.

Shop for supplies here:

Bench Scraper

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Small Spatula

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Gold Leaf

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Round Piping Tip

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Soft Brushes

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Viva Paper Towels

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How to use Gold Leaf on a cake?

More Gender Reveal Cakes...

• How to make a Poofy Bow {Fondant or Gum Paste}
• How to Make a Baby Gender Reveal Cake
• Baby Gender Reveal Party Cake Pops
• He? She? Open to See! Gender Reveal Gift Cake
• "What Will Baby Bee?" Gender Reveal Party Cupcakes

The post Modern Gender Reveal Cake with Gold Leaf appeared first on Rose Bakes.

Originally published October 2017, updated June 2022.

Over the past several months, simple, textured buttercream cakes have been a really nice trend.  I'll share some of mine below, but every time I've posted one on Facebook, I've been asked How to Make Lines Texture on Buttercream Cakes.

Because of the repeated requests, I've decided to share a couple of ways I've made them. First - the cake above was from this past weekend (June 2022), and it was done in a more elegant style.

How I made smooth, even stripes on the cake:

• First, I used this piping tip to add a generous layer of soft buttercream frosting onto the top and side of the cake. I used the smooth side of the comb to scrape down the buttercream and make it even.
• Then, before the frosting crusted, I used this Stainless Steel Cake Comb to add the horizontal lines.
• Next, I boiled some water in a large shallow pan and dipped the comb in it to make it warm. I quickly wiped off the excess water with a Viva, then I made a second pass around the cake to get really clean, smooth lines.
• I added the texture to each tier, then chilled them in the fridge for about an hour before stacking. That way I could move the tiers easily without damaging the texture on the side of my cake.
• Lastly, after stacking and doweling the cake, I added a border using this large round tip for the buttercream pearls border. I have often used fondant for a pearl border too - see that tutorial here.

After I delivered the cake, I added the fresh flowers (peonies) using these cake spikes, then added 24K gold leaf. Here's a photo before adding the gold:

Tools to make horizontal lines or ridges on a buttercream cake:

• Large Round Piping Tip
• Bench Scraper
• Scalloped Edge Cake Texture Comb
• Spoon - for a more rustic look. Use different size spoons for different size grooves.
• Offset Spatula - also gives a more rustic look and they are available in a couple of sizes

Rustic Lines Texture on Cake

In addition to the textured buttercream cake with the more polished look, I'm also sharing a cake design that's more rustic. I have a short video of this technique down at the bottom! 

For the more rustic technique, all you'll need is a small offset spatula and I also recommend a bench scraper and turntable.  That's IT!

It's so, super easy and the technique covers a multitude of flaws on a buttercream cake.  The benefit of this technique over the icing comb is that you can choose a subtle texture or a more dramatic groove texture!

But first... let me show you some of my favorites with this "lines texture" I'm talking about. So this first cake I did 4 days after having surgery a few years ago:

Also, this lines texture is really elegant on a wedding cake and anybody can do it!

I was so incredibly happy with how it turned out - especially considering I was not feeling all that great that weekend!   The addition of the fresh roses, lavender, and olive leaves (added by the florist) really did finish it perfectly!

Then there was this recent 50th Birthday Cake:

Small Rustic Lines on a Cake

For this cake, I actually used the rounded edge of a butter knife for small rustic lines. I don't know if my client added a topper at the party or left it as it was, but the sheer simplicity is so appealing!

Another example was this wedding cake:

I've already shared this cake with more details (you can click here for more info on this cake), but it warranted mentioning again in this post!

FUN 40th Birthday Cakes

This one (above) ... it's SO cute and bright. My husband declared that it was Miami Dolphins colors (although that was NOT the plan). You can click here for more details on it!

And then finally... the cake I made the video of. It was to celebrate a sweet, sweet friend's mother's 102nd birthday!  That's right you guys... 102 years old!!  This was her cake:

Her only request each year is that her cake is PINK - which of course, I love!! So I did a single-tier ombre pink cake including lines on the top of the cake. So are you ready? 

VIDEO: How to Make Rustic Buttercream Lines

It literally took me less than 15 minutes from starting to having it finished and ready to box up!  The wedding cakes take longer than that obviously, but it's still a very quick technique that makes for a beautiful finished product!

If textured buttercream is not the look you're going for, be sure to check out this post for How to Smooth Frost a Cake and How to Get Sharp Buttercream Edges! I have a video for the smooth buttercream cake as well!

Shop for Equipment here:

Bench Scraper

Buy Now →

Small Spatula

Buy Now →

Large Round Piping Tip

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Scallop Edge Frosting Texture Comb

Buy Now →

Turntable

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Spoons

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To make sure I've covered everything, here's a summary for you...

Frequently Asked Questions

The post How to Make a Textured Buttercream Cake appeared first on Rose Bakes.