How to Fill Cakes

Have you ever done a layered cake with fun fillings? If you think it's hard, it's time to think again. I'll give you a step-by-step layout on how it's done. Below you can see the cake my daughter recently made. She baked 2 8" rounds and then sliced them horizontally to make four layers. This is easiest and most level if you use a cake slicer. This one is great for cakes less than 10" wide, and this one is perfect for larger cakes. If you don't have a slicer handy you can always use a long serrated knife but it's a lot harder to get the layers even. So you start with your clean surface, this time, the middle of the cake.

Next you take your frosting and outline the cake on top. This keeps the filling in between the cakes so it doesn't squish out and bulge the sides. This was just piped on with #7 tip.

Since she had some frozen pie filling, she just spooned some on and used a spatula to spread it. An angled spatula is actually easier for this job, especially if you are filling a large cake, but you can make do with a regular one if necessary.

Next she put on the top layer, then did the crumb coat. It's easiest to decorate a cold cake, so all of the layers were chilled before slicing. The extra advantage is that the crumb coat sets/dries faster on a cold cake. A crumb coat is used to seal all of the crumbs into the cake. That keeps the outer coat clean and looking nice. Make sure you scrape the crumbs off your blade into a small bowl or cup to keep the bigger bowl of frosting clean as you work.

Once the crumb coat has set, you put on your final layer. In this case she didn't do a second coat to the top of the cake because she knew it would be covered up, but if she had done a chocolate cate or tinted the frosting on the white cake she might have needed to do a top coat to make sure the cake color didn't come through.

Next she did a shell border around the bottom and top and filled it with cherry pie filling. It ended up being both pretty and very yummy. The main caveate she mentioned: Make sure you put the top border on first and give it a little time to dry before adding the cherries on top. If you top it before you put on the border the frosting won't stick and it'll slide off the sides when it has the cherries pushing against it.

How to Make Fondant Flowers

My daughter recently made a cake for a friend's bridal shower and was willing to share pictures on how it was done. She used a marshmallow fondant recipe one of my other daughter's picked up online, but you can use prepackaged fondant if you prefer and simply tint it whatever color you like.

Since she was working on a deadline and didn't have the usual petal and leaf cutout set made especially for these types of projects, she had to improvise and used the flower cut-outs.

Always remember that fondant dried out easily, so only work with a smal bit at a time, and keep the rest wrapped up tight in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out too quickly. She rolled out enough to cut six to eight pieces from at a time. Also, since she doesn't have a fondant rolling mat yet she used corn starch on the counter and rolling pin to keep the fondant from sticking. If the fondant got too dry to work with between rolling it out, she added a few drops of water to the small ball in her hand and worked it in. This can be messy and you don't want to add too much as it will make the fondant really sticky, but with care it can make the piece workable again.
She used the large cutout from the set and for the first row of petals cut out every-other petal.


This picture is really bad, but you can see she ran the toothpick through the cut peice, then wrapped it around the tip. Once she had the shape she wanted on the top petals, she pinched off the base part so the second set of petals would be even or nearly even with the inner row.

This is the second row of petals. She cut out one petal from the shape and added cut lines between the petals so they could overlap each other. when she slid it onto the toothpick, she also used a clean paintbrush from a kids' watercolor set that she bought just for fondant. She brushed a thin layer of water over the petals where they would overlap. Fondant will stick to itself easily with a touch of water. Be careful, though, not to let water drip on any parts that are going to be seen on the outside as water will leave marks behind to mar the surface.

For the third row she didn't cut any petals out, but still split the space between the petals. Then she took a toothpick and separated the petals and curved them back slightly to give them a slightly more realistic look. This really works best if you use thin pieces of fondant. These were rolled to 1/8 inch or thinner, but there may be some times when slightly thicker pieces will work fine.

Wile she was at it, she also made over 150 little flowers with the tiniest cutout in the set. Then she used the end of a chopstick (the fondant shaping foam and confectionarry tools would have bee much easier) and her finger to create a curve in the middle of the flowers.

If you're going to have roses, you obviously need leaves! Again, there were no cutters for leaves in stock, so she used the edge of a glass to cut each edge. If she had to do it again, she would have used a round cookie cutter because the glass didn't leave a crisp edge and they had to be trimmed with a knife to clean them up.

Next she used a toothpick to draw lines on the leaves.

Then she set everything out to dry since she made them several days in advance of the cake. Be aware that some colors fade a lot when the fondant dries. The pink faded to way less than half the original brilliancy as it dried, while the leaves only lightened a little bit.

A few days later she baked the cake, frosted it (crumb layer, then an outter layer), and rolled the purple fondant. Once that was ready, she used the toothpicks on the roses to stick the roses in the cake where she wanted them. If needed, they could have been cut off or trimmed back, but they were handy to creat the design she wanted.

The first of the small flowers were attached to the bottom of the cake with buttercream icing.

Then she used some yellow buttercream to put yellow dots in the flowers and the roses.

With a little extra playing, she finished up with the little flowers, tacking them and the leaves onto the cake with buttercream frosting. The green stems on the roses are also buttercream piped on with a small round tip, probably a #7. A slightly smaller circle tip, like a #4 made the dots in the flowers.

This cake was made using 2-8" round pans and it fit perfectly in one of these boxes.

Marshmallow fondant

1 16 oz package of mini marshmallows

1 Tbsp of water

2 tsp vanilla

Most of a 2 lb package of powdered sugar.

Heat the marshmallows slowly with the water and vanilla until they are melted, then begin encorporating the powdered sugar. You'll probably have about two cups of sugar left in your bag when the fondant reaches the right consistency. It's easiest to work with when it's a little warm, so if it gets cold, or you pull it out of the fridge to work with, zap in in the micro for 10-15 seconds to make it softer. Don't let it melt though!

This will make a pretty big batch of fondant, half a batch is generally enough for an eight-inch cake, unless you're doing fancy decorations with it, in which case you may need a bit extra. Another advantage of fondant is that it can be made in advance since it takes quite a bit of time to make and then tint it. The color has to be kneaded into the fondant, so it can take a while to reach the right color. It can also be kept for several weeks and then used if you have some left over. Tightly wrap any fondant in plastic wrap (some people suggest covering it with a light layer of shortening first) and then place in a zippered bag, taking as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing it. Many red colors will bleed into other balls of fondant, so make sure to wrap each color separately.

Animal Cakes Are Great For Kids' Parties

Kids parties offer so much scope for the imagination. If your little one likes things that flutter, crawl, or swim, we probably have an pan that will fit your needs.

As with all of Wilton's shape pans, the Animal Crackers pan comes with instructions for decorating the cakes shown on the box. Not only does this one tell how to make the bear and pig shown below, but also for making a cat or giraffe.

The monkey pan could be just right for a jungle-loving child, or just one who enjoys reading the exploits of Curious George.


And tropical fish go great with a sea-side themed party.


Do you have a little insect lover? This Lady Bug pan can be used to make all kinds of insects with a little imagination.


Butterflies appeal to most little girls (and many of us who are not so little anymore).


Check out our Website for a complete list of our novelty pans and the supplies you'll need to decorate the cakes. Also, check out the Wilton site for other ideas of things you can do with these pans.

Patriotic Desserts Take the Cake

The Fourth of July is a really big deal in my hometown. Almost all class reunions are held that weekend, 'kids' who have moved away come home to visit every year because, let's face it, when else are they likely to encounter that friend they haven't seen in years? And my house is going to be overrun with grandchildren as all of my kids come home for the holiday.

Since preparations have been on my mind, I decided to see what fun designs Wilton had on their website. I found some fantastic cake ideas. All of these cakes have complete directions available at the linked location on the Wilton site. The first few use the star pan.

This one is called Bursting in Air, and it uses lollipop sticks, and either colorflow icing, or food coloring and fondant--which is the way I would make it. If you use this method, it's best ot use the cute star shape cutouts. It also calls for colored foil, but if that's not handy, a little ingenuity will fill in instead.

This tasty treat uses fruit to add color and style to your cake. On the Wilton site it is simply called the July 4th cake.

This one is called the Country Cake, and could be adjusted for any country with a star on the flag. It uses the star shape cutouts too, though any star-shaped cookie cutter would work instead.
This one is called Soaring Spirit. It uses 6" and 10" pans, more lollipop sticks, fondant, and star fondant shape cutouts. This cake would be perfect for a more formal holiday occasion, or any other patriotic event.

This one is called the Rocket's Red Glare and uses the Enchanted Castle pan. See my blog on other fun cakes you can make with the Enchanted Castle pan here. Again, lollipop sticks feature in this cake, as does white florist ribbon, and colored foil.

You can buy almost all of the supplies for these cakes and much more on our Website.

Topping off Special Occasions

Weddings and babies are some of the greatest events of our lives, but there are lots of other special days in our lives that deserve to be celebrated. Anniversaries are milestones that tell the world how far we've come. We have these great silver and rhinestone picks perfect to top cakes celebrating 25th and 50th anniversaries.

A Quinceanera is the big fifteenth birthday party in Latin American countries celebrating a girl's blossoming into womanhood. Many times this day is as celebrated as a wedding. This lovely topper can add a bit of class to any cake. This topper could be used for lots of other special events for the young woman in your life.

Celebrating a sacred occasion? From baptism to First Communion, these decorative crosses can add a special touch to your celebration cake. The white cross stands 5 1/2 inch tall and is made of a durabel resin.

The silver cross has rhinestones on it and comes with a detachable pick so you can lay it flat on the cake, or stand it up on top.

Graduation is behind us for most schools, though fall graduations at many colleges are still to come. If you are looking forward to a graduation ceremony, check out our many graduation products.

Dress up Your Romantic Event

Do you have a romantic celebration coming up? Whether a wedding, bridal shower, engagement party, anniversary or something else, these great bags and favors can add a special touch to your event.

These Sweet Heart Favor Bags are 6 inches tall, include a sheer white ribbon to tie them closed and come 10 to a package. These would be fun for a few pieces of really excellent chocolate or other small favors.

These Drawstring Sachet Wedding Favor Bags are perfect for flower petals, rice, favors, treats, and gifts. We have them available in both medium and small sizes.

Most people are probably familiar with the simple gold and silver wedding bands, but have you seen these Diamond Engagement Ring Favors? These would work tied to the treat bags listed above or as table decorations.

To learn more about these products, or to see what else we have available, check out our Website.

Personalize Your Wedding Cake

I did a post about some of the fun wedding cake toppers available here. But since the selection continues to grow, I thought I'd highlight a few more. If these intrigue you, check out our Website. We have still more toppers I haven't featured on this blog.


I thought I'd start with this fun option, the Rhinestone Heart Wedding Cake Topper, which could be used easily for an anniversary cake as well. This is 8.5 inches tall.





This new topper is one of my all-time favorites. It's called Forever in Your Eyes, is made of a durable resin, has great details, and will make a great keepsake.

This topper is called Just Married, and makes me think of Jane Austen and other romantic classics. It stands 5 inches tall, and is also made of a durable resin. It works great with revolving stands, too.

One thing our selection didn't have before was options for minorities, but we've recently added two new toppers for those of other races and ethnicities.

This humorous topper is available featuring both a white and ethnic couple. It's called Oh, No You Don't and stands 4.25 inches tall.

For the more traditional couple, we also have the Classic Ethnic We

dding Cake Topper. It's also one of our least expensive wedding products. This topper is also available with a caucasion couple.