Hello friends! It has been another busy week with school, doctor’s appointments, and cake decorating. School seems to be going smoother for my daughter, which helps so much on weeks when I am making cake. We get school done in the morning, eat lunch, and then I work on cake for the rest of the afternoon. This week I got the wonderful opportunity to make a Ghostbusters cake for two little boys in our homeschool group. It was so much fun! I have never done a cake like this before. It is probably one of my favorites so far!

Before I tell you all about how I created this Ghostbusters cake, check out the cool science experiment we had this week!

Cloud in a Jar

This week, in our Schoolhouse Teachers science curriculum, Exploring God’s World with Second Grade Science, my daughter has been learning about the different types of clouds. Most of the week she created different clouds on a blue piece of paper, by gluing on cotton balls. At the beginning of the week though, it explained what a cloud is, and had us do this fun experiment.

All you need is a jar with a little bit of water in it, a sandwich bag with ice in it, and a lighter or a match. First, you put the match or lighter inside the jar to add heat to it. Then you quickly put the bag of ice on top of the jar to seal the opening. Pretty soon after, you will notice small clouds forming here and there. It is hard to see anything in the picture below, but it will at least help you understand how the experiment should look. It was pretty neat! If you want to learn more, you can find this science experiment in the second grade curriculum at https://schoolhouseteachers.com/school-subjects/science/exploring-gods-world-with-second-grade-science/ref/119608/.

Ghostbusters Cake!

Step 1: Birthday Sign

The first thing that I did, after finding out what the boys wanted, was make a birthday sign for the cake. I found a free svg online of the Ghostbusters Logo, and loaded it into my Cricut design Space. Then I created a circle around the logo, so I could place words around it. I typed out the words I wanted on the sign, and then ungrouped all of them, so each letter was separate. Then I began the tedious process of rotating each letter, so that they were the correct angle for their spot around the circle.

I cut the logo out on my Cricut, with red, white, and black permanent vinyl. For the words, and the circle, I opened those parts up in my Glowforge Aura. I had the Glowforge cut out the circle and engrave the words on Proofgrade wood. The sign I made was double sided, so I made two cuts of the logo, and engraved the words on the back of the circle as well.

For painting the sign, I used silver acrylic paint and a paper towel. I wrapped a piece of paper towel around my finger to carefully paint the sign, so that I wouldn’t get paint in the engraved letters. It worked pretty well for the most part. During this process, I learned that the Proofgrade wood from Glowforge has a finished surface that doesn’t let paint stick to it very well. After three coats of paint, I applied two coats of mod podge. The mod podge layers allowed me to put the vinyl logo on without the transfer tape pulling the paint up.

Lastly, I used a thumbtack to poke two holes in the bottom of the sign. Then I super glued two extra long tooth picks into those holes. The sign was finally done for this Ghostbusters cake!

Step 2: Bake the Cake

The boys wanted a vanilla cake, so I went through my Pinterest recipes and found the perfect cake! Below is the recipe I used!

This cake recipe was for three 6 inch round layers. The party I was making this cake for was going to have around 30 guests, so I needed at least a 10 inch three layer cake. I ended up doubling the recipe, and the layers turned out perfectly! It is such a great recipe, and absolutely delicious!

After I allowed the cake layers to cool on the cooling racks, I wrapped them in plastic wrap. I did make these about four days before the party, so I put them in the freezer. Putting the layers in the freezer actually helps in keeping the cakes moist. Plus, making them a little early, helps my stress level during the decorating process.

Step 3: Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I have used this frosting before, and I will continue using it. It is absolutely delicious! This recipe does use a small amount of almond extract, but the boys wanted plain vanilla, so I omitted the almond extract, and replaced it with more vanilla. Also, I found that if you double the recipe, you don’t necessarily need to measure out the powdered sugar. I bought a 2 pound bag of powdered sugar, which is right around 8 cups, so it worked out perfectly. It is a lot less messy doing it this way.

Step 4: Stacking, Crumb Coat, and Final Coat

This next step, is almost always the same for all of my cakes. I can say that I felt much more confident stacking and icing this round cake compared to the rectangle Minecraft cake from a few weeks ago. The layers for this cake, were slightly rounded on top, so I used a serrated knife to cut a small layer off of the top of them to make them level. Keep these thin slices for creating Slimer in the next step.

For this Ghostbusters cake, I purchased a silver 12 inch round cake board for the cake to sit on. I placed the board on my turntable, and began stacking my cake layers. Before putting the first layer on, I always put a small amount of buttercream on the board for the layer to stick to. When applying the buttercream, I just scoop some onto the layer, and use my offset spatula to level it out. Then I repeat this for the next layer. The last layer, I like to put it on upside down, so that the top of the cake has a perfect edge to ice around.

Next, I scooped a good amount of buttercream onto the top of the cake, and began to smooth it out with my offset spatula over the top of the cake and down the sides. This does not need to be perfect. It just needs to cover all of the crumbs. This is called the crumb coat! After this, the cake needs to go into the refrigerator, so that the crumb coat can harden. It should only take 10 to 15 minutes.

Lastly, I used the rest of the buttercream frosting in my mixing bowl to finish icing the cake. This part is always tedious, and can take forever. It can be difficult to get a perfectly smooth cake. I tried my best here, but it definitely is not the smoothest cake I have made. It didn’t need to be perfect though, since the whole top of it and part of the sides would be covered in slime. Once it was smooth enough, I put it in the refrigerator to harden. Then I wrapped it in plastic wrap, and kept it in the refrigerator, until I needed it again.

Step 5: Slimer

This is where it got fun! You can’t have a Ghostbusters cake, without Slimer! Using the thin slices of cake that came off of the layers, I took a glass and cut circles out of them for Slimer’s body. Then I cut a skinny triangle for the tail. I added a few pieces in the back for a more gradual look from the body to the tail as well. For a base to work on, I flipped my 10 in cake pan over, so I had the size I needed to fit Slimer within. Then, I used some buttercream to stick a piece of parchment paper onto the cake pan. This is when I began stacking my small layers of cake with buttercream into the shape of Slimer.

I did end up making another double batch of vanilla buttercream for Slimer and the rest of the decorations. Using buttercream, I did a crumb coat on the Slimer form. It is important to do a crumb coat, so that no crumbs are visible in your finished layer of buttercream, but also so your piped buttercream details can actually stick to the cake. Once the crumb coat was done, I put Slimer in the freezer for a few minutes.

In a bowl, I mixed some vanilla buttercream with green and yellow food dye until I got the desired slime green. I scooped it into a piping bag fitted with a coupler, so that I could switch out different round piping tips. For the body of Slimer, I used a larger round piping tip. I just started, piping his slimy Slimer layers around the body avoiding the mouth area. After each step, I pop him in the freezer for a few minutes. Cold buttercream is easier to sculpt with.

Next, I started smoothing out all of the piping with my finger and a fondant tool, and began carving out the face. I wash my hands a lot when making cakes for family, but it seemed like I was washing my hands every 10 minutes on this one. I’m a little pickier about it when it is for someone outside of the family. My hands will be healing with lots of lotion this week now that it is done.

After carving out the face, I put some white buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a coupler, so that I could change out round piping tips like I did for the green buttercream. Using a smaller piping tip, I added white to the eyes. Then I created some black buttercream.

It can be difficult to get actual black buttercream. One thing that I like to do is, put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Then I stir it up, and put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes. It makes a dark gray buttercream the perfect black! I put the black in a sandwich bag, and clipped a small piece off of the corner. This was so I could add small black dots in the eyes. I also used black for the dark background of the mouth. I made that layer as thin as possible, so I could build on it with teeth.

Using green buttercream and a small round piping tip, I added a nose and ridges above the eyes. Slimer went into the freezer, so it would be easier to smooth out the details around his eyes.

After smoothing out the details, I mixed up a pink for Slimer’s tongue and gums, and a yellow-brown for his teeth. Both of these went into sandwich bags for detailed piping. I just followed close to where I had the black, making sure that all of the teeth were in the black area.

Lastly, I piped lips around Slimer’s mouth with green buttercream and a smaller piping tip. I did end up adjusting his upper lip. It needed to come down over the gums, so I had to sculpt it a little bit more and smooth it out. Then I added the arms with green and two different sizes of round piping tips. Slimer is ready for the Ghostbusters cake! For now though, I made sure he hardened in the refrigerator, and then I wrapped him in plastic wrap to use later.

Step 6: Stay Puft Mini Marshmallow Men

These little guys were another process of doing a few steps, letting it harden in the freezer, and then smoothing it out. I started by piping the body and the head with a larger round tip onto a piece of parchment paper. If you apply even pressure to your piping bag and don’t move your piping tip, the dot for the body will get bigger and bigger. Once it was the perfect size, I did a circular motion, to remove the piping tip from the dot.

Using a medium sized round piping tip, I piped two dots for each arm, and two dots for each leg. Then I added palms and feet with my smallest piping tip.

Next, I used my little fondant tool to carve out eyes and a mouth.

Then I finished up all the little details. I piped white in for the eyes. Using the black, I piped small dots in the eyes, and filled in the smile. I mixed up a few more colors, blue and red, for the hat. To make a perfect red, I microwaved it for 10 seconds just like I did for the black for Slimer. Those colors went into sandwich bags with tiny corners cut out of them, so that small details could be made. For the hat, I piped a blue band, added a white dot, and then piped a red tassel. Lastly, I put some white buttercream in a sandwich bag with a tiny hole in it for piping all the fingers.

Once I figured out how I wanted to make my Stay Puft mini marshmallow man, I made 5 more the same exact way, with all of them being slightly different. Aren’t they just the cutest!

My daughter and I absolutely love the scene in the newer Ghostbuster movie when the Stay Puft men were making smores out of themselves, so I had to add a small scene of that on this Ghostbusters cake. I made them the same way! The ones that are bent over picking up a graham cracker were a little tricky. I made the legs and the arms all next to each other, so they acted like stool legs to support the body and the head. For the graham crackers and chocolate, I just mixed up two different browns. I then piped them from sandwich bags, and smoothed them out after they hardened in the freezer. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Step 7: Slime Time!

This next step is quick and fun! I followed this recipe to create my green ganache for the drip on this Ghostbusters cake.

This recipe was very simple! I tried to get the drip as close in color to Slimer as I could when adding green and yellow dye. After the mixture was ready, I poured it into my Wilton Candy Melts bottle. I then took my cake out of the refrigerator, and began making drips around the top edge of the cake. I applied different pressure for each drip, so that the drips would be different lengths. Then I poured the rest of the green slime on top of the cake, and spread it out quickly with my offset spatula. You have to work quickly, because it sets up fast, since the cake is cold. In the picture below, you can tell where it was starting to set up before I was finished smoothing it.

Step 8: Ghostbusters Cake Assembly

Now it is time to put all of the characters on the cake and finish it up! Before attempting to put any of them onto the cake, make sure they have been in the freezer for an adequate amount of time. They need to be frozen, so they can be peeled off of the parchment paper.

First, I put Slimer on the cake. I just sat him on top in the slime. Then I heated up what was left of the green drip, and dripped some of it on Slimer.

For the Stay Puft mini marshmallow men, I added a small dot of white buttercream to the back of them, and placed them all around the bottom of the cake. Then I sat the ones making smores on top of the cake next to Slimer, leaving a space in the back left for the birthday sign. To finish the cake off, I piped dots around the base of the cake with white buttercream and a medium sized round piping tip.

I waited to put the sign on until I got the cake to the party. Then I got one last picture of my finished Ghostbusters cake! Yay!

Be the Salt of the Earth

I hope you enjoyed learning about this Ghostbusters cake! It sure was a lot of fun to make!

For the past few weeks in children’s church, the kids have been learning about the beatitudes. The beatitudes are what Jesus wants our life as a Christian to be like. Our wonderful children’s church teacher has done such an amazing job teaching about them, that I wanted to share some of what she has been teaching.

One of the things that she has focused on, is being the salt of the earth. It is really interesting to think about being salt. Jesus wants us to make a difference in the world. Just a little bit of salt can make a difference in many things. Salt can even make a difference in buttercream frosting. Just a pinch can make your buttercream perfect. No salt will make the buttercream too sweet, and too much salt will make it too salty for cake. Family Moments explains it really well with some salt experiments in the video below.

We even got to try out one of the salt experiments with the string that picks up the ice cubes. Then the kids worked together to make mashed potatoes for the potluck that Sunday. The kids were salt, by helping and providing for everyone at church. Our teacher really made sure the kids understood what it meant to be salt of the earth. Jesus wants you to be kind and share with the world His love and teachings.

To learn more about being the salt of the earth, and the beatitudes, you can read through the scripture where it is found. The 8 beatitudes can be found in Matthew 5:3-14, with verse 13 being about the salt of the earth, and 14 being about the light of the world. The light of the world always makes me want to sing “This Little Light of Mine”.

If you want to teach your kids about the beatitudes, we have been working on “The Beatitudes Song” at children’s church. Each month, we are trying to teach the kids a song to lead in worship on Sunday for the whole church. This month, I made up some actions to go with the song below. It is a fun and easy way to learn the 8 beatitudes. Make sure you shake like a salt shaker, and shine your light unto the world this week!