Graveyard Cake

For her birthday this year, Boo wanted a Halloween party, since her big day is pretty close. No problem! I love that holiday. Now, getting her to decide on what she wanted for the cake was a lot trickier. She wanted ghosts and pumpkins and scary and headstones and chocolate. Oooookay...

Luckily, I found a cake posted on CakeCentral.com that was perfect.


Headstones and ghosts are marshmallow fondant. Trees are melted chocolate (and were surprisingly easy to make!). Inside is marbled vanilla and dark chocolate cake.

Very Merry Go Round

Since Baby is essentially a Christmas baby and will hate the lack of year-round gifts for most of her life, I chose a completely seasonal theme for her birthday now, since she won't remember it enough to hate me for it later. And really, what can you do at a party for a one-year-old?

We had a Cookie Swap!

In lieu of gifts, friends were asked to bring 2-3 dozen cookies to share. The invitations were adorable (because I designed them) and were inspired by gingerbread. So I thought it only fitting that the cake should follow suit.

And I will say this: there is a shocking lack of Christmas cookie-themed cakes on the Internet.

Then I found the Very Merry Go Round cake on Wilton.com. It was perfect!


But with all those cookies, I didn't think too many people would really want cake so I made it miniature in scale, with the top tier a 4-inch round over a 6-inch round. And what sort of smash cake do you serve with a cake like that? Why, another gingerbread man, of course!


Cakes were dark chocolate with a lovely chocolate buttercream.

Winter Wonderland with Snowman Smash

This cake was made for a First Birthday. The theme was "Winter Wonderland." I had just gotten a new pan for Christmas and it looked like this:

Of course, I was dying to use it and thought it would make a pretty cool snowflake. I added iridescent cake sparkles on it to make it a little more special.

Can't have a first birthday without a smash cake for the Birthday Girl!

Yule Log with Mushrooms

Traditional Yule Log chocolate cake with meringue mushrooms.

Could not get a decent picture of the mushrooms because I have a lousy camera. Read the blog post about it here.

Bewitching Cake!

I made this for a birthday but it would obviously be great for Halloween, too.

Read the blog post here.

Ghost Cakes

These were made for a Halloween party. It was inspired by a cake my mom made for my little brother's birthday many, many years ago. I tried to make the cake inside into candy corn layers by coloring vanilla cake but the batter was too heavy and kept swirling instead. Might have to try this one again...

Valentine's Day Cake

Read the blog post about this cake here!

Picnic Cake

I was inspired by a cake featured in the M&Ms' newsletter. And I have to say, I loved the little burgers and hot dogs!


Burger patties are melted and smooshed Snickers bars with green fruit roll-up lettuce and vanilla wafer buns. Hot dogs buns are also vanilla wafers with the dog and mustard shaped from Starbursts. Ants are M&Ms and black licorice. The "tablecloth" is white frosting topped with fruit roll-up squares. The fruit roll-ups were more than a little tricky to cut so next time, I'll probably just use frosting to make the checkered pattern.

Daisy w/ Lady Bug

A cute cake for a baby shower or even a Spring party. I've made this one for a neighborhood Easter party, too.


Another option with different colors to match the party's theme or the Guest of Honor's favorites.

Pumpkin Cake

A Holiday favorite! I like to use the Spice cake mix and add a little pumpkin for flavor.

Bride of Frankenstein

Oh, how I love Halloween! It's easy enough to make using an extra long loaf pan. The eyelashes are black licorice, the cheeks and neck bolts are sweet and sour candy. The rest is frosting. This would also make a good Marge Simpson!