How to make: An Eyeball Cake

I got an order in on Tuesday for an eyeball cake. The catch, they wanted it to be a perfect circle. Since cake dynamics, in my mind, don't allow for a perfect circle cake, I made an almost spherical cake with a flat bottom to support the 7 layers of red velvet cake.

Start by filling your cake. I used raspberry filling and white buttercream, alternating the layers. The men who ordered this cake wanted it to ooze a little, so the raspberry was perfect.

I chilled the cake in the walk-in for a good 20 minutes before I shaped it. I started at the top and got the shape I wanted and then worked my way down.

After I shaped the cake, I chilled it again before I did a crumb coat. I like my cake to be really cold all the time. It's easier to work with.

After the crumb coat , I let it get cold again, and then added a even layer of buttercream. It doesn't have to be totally perfect because you're going to iron you cake once it crusts. (That sounds gross but it's fact.)

I didn't put it in the walk-in after I iced it because I want it to form a layer of crust. Shortening based buttercream will always harden enough to be ironed smooth. I use Viva paper towels because they are really soft and have no pattern. Kind of pricey, but I only need one per cake/tier so they last forever.

Try not to make as big of a mess as me.

As much as I love how this cake came out, I HATE how the spacing on Happy Birthday came out poorly. Doug taught me a trick to work on my spacing, so hopefully that will help. I like the top lettering, just fine, but the Happy Birthday drives me nuts looking at it.

So thats how you shape and make an eyeball cake. I made a syringe too, out of fondant and rice crispy treat. It was a lot of fun to do, but now I'm really tired and this flu is moving into my lungs and making it hard to do anything. Boo. At least I have tomorrow off!

xo,

Beca