Hi everybody~ Are you ready for another Halloween blog? Last year I REALLY wanted to try a design with some fun witch legs :0) –I know it seems strange at first, but take a scroll through Pinterest or your local card/invitation shop and you’ll notice that witches these days have a fabulous sense of fashion when it comes to their pointy black shoes & crazy tights ;0) — I could never quite come up with a design that worked last year with this theme….but today, I had better luck!
Here’s what I did…
I started out with a basic 8″ cake, and some crusting vanilla buttercream. (I would recommend a crusting buttercream/frosting or ganache–anything that isn’t overly soft or wet.) Next, frost however you’d like. I gently waved my spatula up and down as I spun my cake around on the turntable to get the pattern that you see. I wasn’t in the mood for smooth today ;0)
** A day in advance, I prepared the witch legs so that they would have extra time to dry. I tinted some royal icing with Americolor Orange, Electric Green and Regal Purple. I sliced some long pretzel rods in half to create the basic witch legs. I scraped a few of the obvious salt crystals off, and pushed a toothpick into the end of each pretzel. Then, I painted them with the royal icing. The royal icing was not runny, but thin enough to easily paint with. It was a consistency a little thicker than Elmer’s glue if that helps. For me, this was easier and smoother than dipping my pretzels in chocolate.
Next, I allowed the legs to dry in an inverted styrofoam bowl (styrofoam block or inverted paper cups would be good too). If you’d rather let them dry flat on parchment paper, that should work too. You’ll just want to move them after the excess has run off to keep things neat. The backs won’t be visible anyway. My legs were dry and ready to use after a day. I probably could have used them sooner…but it’s better to play it safe. If you are into sugar cookies, I think that cookie legs would be adorable too!!
Next, I tinted some fondant (with tylose powder kneaded into it) using Americolor Super Black. Gum paste is a good choice too. If you have neither, you could also just pipe your shoes in buttercream …I’m sure there are other great alternatives for fun, witch shoes. To make each shoe, I started with a ball of the black fondant, pinched the end to form the pointy toe of the shoe, and flattened what would become the back of the shoe.
Then, I used a knife to cut out a small wedge so that I could form the heel. Flatten and pinch your way to your fabulous witch shoe. Then, use your first shoe as a guide to create the other shoe. (I like to lay one shoe on top of the other to check the size.) *By the way, I did not allow my shoes to dry for very long…(maybe about an hour)…but it always helps if you can work in advance! ;0)
Now for the fun part! I used my black Americolor pen to create stripes, and I tinted buttercream for more accents on the tights and shoes. All of the witchy details in buttercream were added with a Wilton Piping Tip 3 (but any of the small round tips would be fine!) I also added a small shell border around the base of the cake using a Wilton tip 21.
Our witches are sassy with their short ruffled skirts ;0) — I used my tinted buttercream piped with a tip 104 (petal tip) to create the ruffles. (Make sure that the thin end of the tip is facing you as you pipe!)
Now for the next set of legs~ The basic idea is the same for all of these. I pressed the shoe into the icing first, then “glued” on the leg just above it with a little fresh buttercream. The shoe is not supporting any of the weight of the leg…the pretzel legs are locked into place by that buttercream “glue” that we added to the back.
Here’s my second set of legs…and you can see a bit of my candy corn border and brooms! (I demonstrated how to make brooms in my last witch themed tutorial.)
I added a third set of legs, a few sprinkles here, a few candy corns there and a cardstock/lollipop stick sign. And………WE’RE FINISHED! Wahoo!
I hope you enjoyed our witchy leg cake. It was so much fun to make! I had a few other sayings in mind that I was deciding between–these were my two runner ups: “Witch Way to the Party?”… “Eat, Drink, & Be Scary” ;0) –There are lots of sites with fun sayings, but I think that I found the most on Etsy. Let me know if you think of other ones…and especially let me know if you try the cake yourself. You know that I would love to see!
Thanks for flying by the blog…come back again soon! ;0)
You are so talented! I’m learning so much from this website. So glad that I found you. Thanks so much!
oh my gosh! SO CUTE!
I cannot get over HOW CUTE this cake is!!! The tights, the shoes, the brooms, I love it all!
CUTE CUTE CUTE!!!!!
How did you cut the pretzels without them cracking
Sooooooo nice … Very very nice . I love the colours too
Thanks very much for sharing. Its adorable!
So cute! And so easy!
That is such a clever idea!! Love how you used royal icing too!
I am SO doing this for my Witches Only party next month! And the pretzel sticks….genius!
Wow love this cake and Thanks for the tutorial
This is just TOO DARN CUTE!!! ( : ……….. Your Holloween decorations make me smile every time I see a new one Melissa!! Thanks so much for sharing!
I make it a habit to NEVER park my broom (just ask my hubby and daughter!) BAWWAAAHAHAHA.. However, I may reconsider that if offered a piece of this cake. It inspired me to try to make at least the legs for a fun treat that is for sure! The entire cake would be the BOMB!!!
This is so cute and I love how all of the witches have their own personality with their tights. Love it!!! 😎
Do you keep royal icing made to use or do you make it every time you have a project?If so how do you store it to re-use it?
Hi Cindy, We use meringue powder to make our royal icing and our recipe keeps approximately 2 weeks in the refrigerator. I press plastic wrap onto the surface of the royal icing and it is in an airtight container. It will separate over time and you will need to remix when you are ready to use.
So cute, love it!
I just love this. Thanks again for sharing. This web site is th!e best
“Bottoms up, dont drink and fly!”
LOVE LOVE LOVE this cake! Love the “cute” side of Halloween! You’re awesome Melissa and BeBe!!
From Spain. I love your delicious work. I will try to make your marvelous cake. Love your blog!!!!!
This is fabulous! So clever! Great job.
So cute; you mentioned this is an 8″ cake, is it a double layer? What was the height on it?
Hi Peggy, This cake is three 8″ layers and is approximately 5 1/2 inches tall.
You are too cute! I love this cake, I’m going to practice it this weekend and will send pics!!
Adorable! Makes me want to decorate again!
Sweet!! Even though i am not a cake anything, i really want to have a go at making something that will try to look like this, your site is inspirational.
Thank you.
Now this is a very cool cake! Love those tights :-)) Has me wishing I was organizing a girly party for Halloween – what fun this cake would be! Thanks for sharing all your fun cake decorating tips & ideas, Melissa.
~ marie
Hi Melissa!!!!!!! absolutly supercute!!!!!!!!!!
love this…wish i was having a Halloween party just so I can make this cake!
How stinkin adorable is this one. I saved it, Pinned it and liked it several times (so all my friends and family) could see and…I keep coming back here to look some more =0) Just fabulous Melisssa XXXX
I made this cake for my niece’s 13th birthday (Oct.28th). Thank you for the inspiration & the directions.
Thanks SO much for your wonderful comments! @Linda–So glad that you made it!!
TOO freakin’ cute!~!~ I LOVE it!
Seriously awesome!! Love the creativity!
So cute, easy, great!!!!
Of all your Halloween themed cakes, this one featuring Witches legs is simply “the bomb!” I just love the whimsey you put into your cake designs. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you!!
I love this cake idea. I asked a bakery how much it would cost to duplicate this and and they told me it would cost $150. So, I am going to attempt to practice making the legs this weekend and then just buy a plain cake from Walmart and decorate it myself using your methods. Wish me luck.
Hi Miya, Wow, that is a lot of money. I think you have a great idea using the plain cake from Walmart…..it will be great!!
I LOVE this cake! I love the idea of witch legs. Last year I made a cake with a cauldron on top and witch legs sticking out of it. I wish there was a way to post a pic to show you. Any way, I think I might have to do this cake this year at our children’s Halloween party.
I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was mine! Wasn’t that the cutest thing? I bought the magazine just for it. I just reposted it on Pinterest. It was really fun and not too hard. The kids loved eating it!
Love this cake!!! I was thinking of using candy melts instead of royal icing for the witch leg, you think that will work as the have great Holloween colors this year…Thanks
How did you make the brooms?
Hi Joye, I link to the broom instructions from another tutorial of mine just above the 2nd to last photo above. Here is the link!:
link to mycakeschool.com