How to make a calorie-free cake with lasting power

Hello, hello! My October project for the Cropchocolate.com Design Team was posted on the CC blog today. You can read it here or you can continue scrolling down...

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, just because there is so much room to be creative! For our October challenge, Amber made the task a little more difficult by asking for it to be “candy-inspired”. After much debating, I decided to make a Halloween paper cake.

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a baker. Yes, I like to cook but no, I don’t like to bake. HOWEVER - I find cake decorating to be absolutely fascinating (I love that TV show, Ace of Cakes!). I’m also kind of a fitness fanatic so a calorie-free cake is perfect for somebody like me! Best of all, now I have a Halloween centerpiece that I can use year after year.

Trust me, this is much easier to make than a fondant cake… (been there, done that!)…

You will need…

CC-items

EP Chillingsworth Manor 12x12 Collection Pack

Bazzill Just the Edge Paper Strips – Halloween & Blanche (latter used as a template only)

MM Toil & Trouble Rosette Stickers

MM acrylic paint (Acorn) – hot chocolate goody

Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint

Ultra-thin glue dots

MM Spook Alley Trim & Treats (ghosts & bling)

MM Spook Alley Looking Glass stickers

MM Toil & Trouble Brad Combo (skulls, witch hats, & bling spiders)

MM Toil & Trouble Brad Value Pack (purple & yellow stars)

MM Toil & Trouble trims (orange polka-dotted ribbon)

WRMK The Cinch Wire Clipper tool

 

Non-CC-items

Multiple paper mache boxes (graduated sizing)

Wilton cookie sticks (6”length) – n = 4 (four  3” pieces plus four 2” pieces)

Tacky glue

Krazy Glue

Plastic cauldron (bought or homemade)

20-gauge craft wire (Darice)

Tissue paper for flames

Battery-operated light

Polyester Fiberfill (batting) – Mountain Mist

Miscellaneous Halloween decorations, charger, and glass tea light holders (purchased from Dollar Tree)

 

Step 1 – Painting the Paper Mache Boxes

The first thing you’ll need to decide is how big of a cake you want. Each cake layer will be a paper mache box. I wanted at least 3 different tiers, but ultimately my choice was limited by what the local craft stores had available. In fact, what I found determined the cake architecture – I had to add stilts to the tiers, even though that hadn’t been part of the original plans (but it turned out at the end, you’ll see!).

Once you’ve gotten all of your paper mache boxes together, get the wax paper ready and paint the tops and bottoms of each box. I used some Making Memories acrylic paint (Acorn) that came in my last batch of hot chocolate. After two layers, I topped it off with some Tim Holtz Rock Candy distress crackle paint, to give it more of an aged look.



Step 2 – Decorating the Bottom Tier

To help make each layer distinctive – and to hide the obvious lip separation – I added a scalloped edge to the rim of the bottom and middle tier lid. I simply trimmed a smaller strip of Echo Park’s Chillingsworth Manor paper and traced a Bazzill “Just the Edges” border. Once the border was cut, it was glued to the lid.

Once the scalloped edges had been added, I glued two Halloween-themed borders (Bazzill’s “Just the Edge”) and topped it off with some rosette skull stickers from Making Memories (another hot chocolate goody from long ago).

Step 3 – Decorating the Middle and Top Tiers

I used the same EP Chillingsworth Manor patterned paper (as the bottom) for the middle tier, but opted for a different look for the top, to set off what would be the eye-catcher later. I glued another strip of Halloween-themed Bazzill border and added some stilts to both layers. I had originally planned to have the boxes resting directly upon each other, but because the sizes were not what I had envisioned, I had to add some space so the different sizes wasn’t so obvious.

The stilts were simply Wilton cookie sticks. They’re made out of paper, so you can easily cut them with scissors and sand them down with an emery board. Don’t forget to paint the stilts! Depending on the size of boxes you use, you’ll have to decide how tall to make those stilts. Since TM Crackle Paint is actually kind of slippery, I had to use Krazy Glue to get the sticks to “stick”. I found it best to allow the legs to dry in its final position (prop the tier up on its legs).

Step 4 – Decorating the tops of the tiers with scalloped circles

To make the top of each tier a little more attractive, I topped each one with a scalloped circle. I found a free printable template here: http://www.picstopin.com/500/free-printable-round-scalloped-circle-for-scrapbooking/http:%7C%7C0*tqn*com%7Cd%7Cscrapbooking%7C1%7C0%7Cl%7C1%7C1%7Cscallopedcircle*jpg/

I traced the circles onto another EP Chillingsworth Manor patterned paper and topped them off with cut Halloween-themed brads (use the Cinch wire clipper to remove the tabs and simply glue the brads on with the ultra-thin glue dots).



Step 5 – Making the Cake Topper

You can put anything you’d like on top of the cake! However, it’s probably best not to make it too heavy (if you do make something heavier, I would switch out the cookie sticks to wooden dowels that are screwed to the paper mache boxes, for stronger support). I made my own cauldron (hubby had an odd piece of plastic in the garage that was the right shape) by drilling two holes on the side and twisting some craft wire through it, for the handle. I also popped in a battery-operated tea light, surrounded by some tissue paper (to simulate spooky flames). For the final touches, I glued a chipboard-backed haunted house (Sizzix/Tim Holtz’s Rickety House die) to one side of the cauldron and a couple of bling-eyed ghosts (from MM Spooky Alley Trims & Treats) to the other. I did not opt to glue the cauldron to the top tier, to make it easier to pack up for storage later.

Step 6 – Further Decoration of Bottom and Middle Tiers

I like my cakes fancy, so I added some ribbon trim (MM Toil & Trouble ribbon) around the bottom and MM Looking Glass stickers on the middle tier.

Step 7 – Adding cobwebs

Since every Halloween cake should look old, I added some cobwebs (stretched batting) around the legs of the stilts, securing it with dabs of tacky glue. These webs were topped off with some bling spiders from the MM Toil & Trouble brad combo pack (trim off the metal tabs again with the wire clippers).

Step 8 – Outdoor photos of cake

 Here are some pictures of the cake outside, where you can see the vivid colors better…

Step 9 – Close-ups of outdoor photos of cake

Step 10 – Cake with All the Trimmings

You can opt to set your cake in a fancy display…  and go all out by embellishing the cake base with more Halloween trinkets (skeletons, rats, spiders, and scorpions all purchased from Dollar Tree).

Step 11 – Secret Candy Stash

And last but not least… remember that part about being candy-inspired? Well, I can’t think of a better place to hide your special candy stash, can you? Your guests might even comment on how your cake smells so sweet!

Happy Halloween, everybody! If you decide to make your own Halloween cake, I’d love to see pictures!