Craftside: How to make a Halloween skull cake ball inspired by the book Decorate Cakes, Cupcakes, and Cookies with Kids

How to make a Halloween skull cake ball inspired by the book Decorate Cakes, Cupcakes, and Cookies with Kids

As it would turn out, last week was my birthday and I happen to have a cake! So I thought I'd try the tutorial I feature on how to make cake balls from Decorate Cakes, Cupcakes, and Cookies with Kids: Techniques, Projects, and Party Plans for Teaching Kids, Teens, and Tots. But being that it is Halloween season I thought I'd try making a cake ball skull.

Not too bad, eh?

I followed the directions in Decorate Cakes, Cupcakes, and Cookies with Kids on how to form a cake ball.

Then I went to try melting the candy drops, but as it would turn out they had expired and decided not to melt (not pretty). Then I stood staring at my food cabinet and thought about what else I had that was white?

Light bulb moment-powdered sugar!

I generously covered my cake ball with the powdered sugar. I also adjusted the shape from a ball to more of a skull shape at this point.

To make the eyes, nose and mouth I used raisins. It was kind of fun picking the 2 for the eyes, sculpting a raisin into a kind of triangle shape for the nose and I cut one in half lengthwise for the mouth.

If this looks like fun-sculpting cake, here's the tutorial:

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Our sister blog, Quarry Spoon, is also holding a special Halloween Candy giveaway this week you can enter here:

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More about the CPi cook book:

Decorate Cakes, Cupcakes, and Cookies with Kids: Techniques, Projects, and Party Plans for Teaching Kids, Teens, and Tots

by Autumn Carpenter

Get the kids involved with Decorate Cakes, Cupcakes, and Cookies with Kids by Autumn Carpenter. This instructional craft book is filled with fun baking and decorating experiences that you can share with your children or grandchildren, while teaching them valuable skills they will use for a lifetime. With adult supervision, kids can learn to decorate cookies, cupcakes, and cakes for holidays, special events, or to share with friends.

Within these pages, you’ll learn baking and preparing of cake, cupcakes, and cookies, starting off with the basics: utensils needed, measuring instructions, and kitchen safety tips. After the basics, the book continues with baking, filling, and icing—50 to 60 techniques in all—with eye-appealing, tasty designs for children to create that incorporate the methods taught. Instructions include piped icing as well as rolled fondant. Additional decorating techniques include edible frosting sheets, products to add sparkle, and using store bought candies to decorate. The last chapter includes instructions on hosting a cake or cupcake decorating party for children. A convenient glossary in the back will be a quick reference for children to discover new culinary terms.

The book is designed with 8-12 year olds boys and girls in mind, and includes instructions clearly labeled for difficulty and time allowance, and instructional pictures that show children using the tools. Kid-inspired cake and cookie themes are perfect for birthdays, seasonal celebrations, and other special events.

Autumn Carpenter is a third generation sugar artist who learned from her grandmother, Hall of Fame sugar artist Mildred Brand, and her mother, Vi Whittington, who owned a retail cake and candy supply shop. Having demonstrated her art throughout the country, Autumn has also served as a judge in cake decorating competitions and has been a member, teacher, and demonstrator at the International Cake Exploration Society (ICES) for nearly 20 years.

Autumn is co-owner of Country Kitchen SweetArt, a retail cake and candy supply store that has been in her family for over 45 years. The business caters to walk-in store sales, catalog sales, and an online store, www.shopcountrykitchen.com.

Autumn has developed her own line of useful tools and equipment for cake decorating and cookie decorating, and sells them online and in many cake and candy supply stores throughout the United States and in several other countries. Her cakes and products have been featured in numerous publications and magazines including American Cake Decorating and Cake Central.

Autumn is also the author of two other books for CPi: The Complete Photo Guide to Cake Decorating and The Complete Photo Guide to Cookie Decorating.