Casper the Friendly Ghost Cake

When I received and email asking for a special cake, along with a picture of Casper, I was puzzled. You see, I’ve never heard of Casper. According to my research Casper the Friendly Ghost is a beloved TV character and first appeared in children’s book in 1939.

This is totally off cake topic now, but I just have to share this. My little 16month old niece loves Casper. We Skype almost every morning and one day I showed her the picture of Casper; she was so captivated by him, kept starring at the screen and waving. Now every time I show her the picture of Casper she turns her head, points at the screen and says..blalalala. You know in her own language.

Okay so, back to the cake, or the big storm, that apparently is really coming. We made some preparations today and now just to wait and hope for the best.They say we’ll probably loose power so if you don’t hear from me that is probably why.

But before I filled buckets with water and reserved some drinking water in bottles, I made a cake. Casper Cake.

I decided to carve the cake out of 2 9×13 cake layers, and 1/2 of the ball cake pan. Everything went according to my plan until I was ready to cover the cake with white fondant. I realized it would probably tear in more than one place so I optioned for a Crusting Buttercream. I’ve only used it once, many years ago and I didn’t remember how it was made so I looked up a the recipe online, seemed pretty straight forward. I added some butter flavoring and extra vanilla extract for taste.

For some reason, once I frosted the cake I had to leave it crust in the fridge for nearly 30 minutes, perhaps because I spread it thick(original recipe say 15 minutes), I’m not sure. Once it crusted I was able to smooth it out with some texture free/ Viva paper towel.

More details about the cake:
Velvet Vanilla Pound Cake
Marshmallow Fondant
Swiss Buttercream -filling
Royal icing
Crusting Buttercream(recipe below)-outside of the cake
Rice Krispies for sculpting (recipe below)- little football

Food Coloring: leaf green, black, brown, pink

Crusting Buttercream – to frost the outside of the cake

1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup crisco shortening
1 pound / about 4 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3tbl water
1tsp clear vanilla extract
1tsp butter flavor
1tsp vanilla extract, regular kind, no substitutes

Cream butter and crisco on low speed until combined and smooth.
Gradually add powdered sugar and water.
Add extracts and beat just until well combined. Don’t over mix.
Use to cover cake, instead of fondant.
Chill the frosted cake for 15-30 minutes,(check the frosting after 15 minutes, if it hasn’t crusted yet, chill if for a bit longer) then using a texture free paper towel (VIVA) smooth the frosting gently with your hand.

Rice Krispies for Sculpting – to make small football
1/2 + 2tbl cup mini marshmallows
1/2cup rice krispie

Place marshmallows into a microwavable bowl. ,melt the marshmallows in microwave, don’t over heat.
Stir in rice krispie cereal and stir until well combined.
Let cool slightly.
Form the football shape. Let cool.
Smooth some royal icing on the football.
Cover with brown fondant.Add details. Set finished football aside.

Bellow you’ll find several pictures of the process. Enjoy.