Sugar Geek University - Sculpted Cake Tutorials
This is every sculpting tutorial I have, in order. Start at the top
if you have never carved a cake. Jump in wherever you like if you
have. Give yourself a weekend per cake. There is no deadline.
The first seven lessons are free to watch right here, no account needed.Everything from Level 1 on is part of Sugar Geek University.
Who is teaching you
Hi, I am Liz Marek. I have been teaching cake decorating since 2008, and every technique on this page is one I use on camera.
I won Netflix’s Is It Cake? Holiday 2 with a hyperrealistic Santa, and I have competed on Food Network’s Halloween Wars, Super Mega Cakes, Duff Till Dawn and Ridiculous Cakes, plus Disney’s Foodtastic and won them all. In 2022, I was inducted into the I.C.E.S. Hall of Fame, and Cake Masters Magazine named me one of the Top 10 Cake Artists in the USA.
None of that is a different skill set from what you are about to learn. It is carving, structure, and knowing how cake behaves when you cut into it. That is the whole game. So let's get started!
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Have a question about a tutorial? Join our facebook group Sugar Geeks.
Jump to a section
The free section is open to everyone, no account needed. Everything else is included with a Sugar Geek University membership. Click any tutorial to see what it covers before you decide.
FREE TO WATCH
This Beanie Boo series is meant to help get your feet wet when it comes to sculpting cakes. We start with SUPER simple techniques of just shaping and covering in fondant and making sugar eyes.
As you work your way through the series we will build on each technique that we learned in the last tutorial. By the end of this series you will have a basic set of sculpted cake skills that will teach you 90% of everything you need to know.
As you work your way through the series we will build on each technique that we learned in the last tutorial. By the end of this series you will have a basic set of sculpted cake skills that will teach you 90% of everything you need to know.
Sea Turtle Cake
How to make an adorable sculpted sea turtle cake! This is an easy cake for beginners with some interesting techniques like edible glitter eyes and gold crackled fondant.
Narwhal Cake
Do you want to learn how to start making sculpted cakes but still need to learn the very basics? This is the cake tutorial for you! In this video I teach the very very simple beginner steps to making a sculpted cake from how to carve, cover with fondant and add fun details. It all adds up to one awesome cake that will impress everyone!
Octopus Cake
The second cake in my beanie boo sculpted cake series is up! Learn how to make this adorable octopus cake with simple structures, sculpted cake, glitter eyes and so much more!
Rainbow Fish Cake
How to make a pretty little rainbow fish cake with pretty under the sea details like starfish, clams, snails and sea anemones. Learn how to make a gravity defying cake structure so your fish appears to be swimming in the water. Lots of fun techniques and a great beginner structure cake.
Dinosaur Egg Cake
I know half this cake is rice cereal but please don't judge me! It's been over 100F for weeks and my air conditioning is broken lol. Frankly I'm stoked my poor daughter got her cake at all! White chocolate ganache saved me!
Cute Fox Cake
The 5th cake in my beanie boo series is up! How I made this cute little fox cake! She's definitely a little bit chubbier than I intended but oh well! We live and we learn (even after all these years I am still learning) and the kiddos loved it so that's all that matters :)
Koala Cake
This is the final video in my beanie boo series! We are going full gravity defying here. I made this tutorial originally to raise money for the fires in Australia but I decided to release the whole thing for everyone. I hope you have enjoyed this series and learned a lot about sculpting cakes!
Ready for the rest?
Everything below this point is inside Sugar Geek University. Full-length tutorials, start to finish, nothing skipped, and something new from me every month.
TECHNIQUES & STRUCTURE
Intro to Cake Sculpting
If you have ever wanted to know everything there is to know about sculpting a cake successfully, from the best cake to use, buttercream, ganache, modeling chocolate, fondant, making templates, scale and even structure, this is the class for you. I break down everything so even a beginner can start making successful sculpted cakes every time.
Cake Structure Basics
Have you ever wondered HOW you turn an idea into an actual cake structure? Watch this tutorial on how to build THREE different cake structures. This will teach you 99% of everything you need to know about building strong supported 3D sculpted cakes.
Mold-Making Basics
If you've ever wanted to learn how to make your own molds, this tutorial will teach you everything you need to know from two part molds, one part molds and simple press molds. A skill I use all the time for cake competitions.
Gravity-Defying Floating Bowls Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Have you ever wondered how to make a cake that looks like it's floating in air? This tutorial teaches you how to build the structure, incorporate supports and fun effects that complete this gravity-defying floating bowls cake. This cake is perfect for the little artist's bi
Cat Cake (How to Ship a Cake)
Skill Level: Intermediate In this tutorial, you will learn how to create this charming cat cake sitting on a pillow I made for a lovely client that lived out of state. Shipping cakes is one of those things you always hear cake decorators talk about but no one ever really breaks down step-by-step how
ANIMALS & CREATURES
Teddy Bear Cake
Learn how to make a basic standing Teddy Bear cake. This cake structure is one that I often use to make figures.
Tiger Cake
Learn to make a sculpted tiger cake that’s all cake! Yep, even the mouth. Liz shows you how to stack, carve, get the right proportions, and make realistic details like teeth, sugar eyes and cocoa butter painting.
Blue Raptor Cake
One of my favorite sculpted cakes of all time is this Blue raptor cake that I made for Avalons dino-FOUR birthday party. This is a gravity defying cake structure with rice cereal but I also show you how to add cake. We're also learning how to make dinosaur sugar eyes, dinosaur scales and airbrushing!
No-Prob-Llama Cake
Need to make a llama cake? No prob-llama! In this tutorial we will go over how to do the finishing touches on our four-legged cake structure from the basics of cake structures tutorial.
Indian Elephant Cake
Skill Level: Advanced I created this showpiece for the Incredible India Cake Collaboration and I'm so excited to share the process that went into creating this piece with you today. While this piece isn't made out of cake, you will learn what it takes to create a piece like this, how to plan out the
Squirrel Cake
Skill Level: Advanced I got an opportunity to work with Disney making this squirrel cake holding a giant donut. This project turned out amazing. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a standing squirrel holding a giant donut. If you've ever wondered how to create a vertical donut shape, let
Pug Cake
Skill Level: Advanced Guest instructor Natalie Sideserf from Sideserf Cakes joins us today for this awesome, super realistic Pug cake. Learn how to pose, sketch and plan out this lovable pug dog cake design. Natalie offers several tips and tricks that she uses when creating dog cakes like this one.
Shark Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate This shark cake looks like it's about to swim right up to you and take a bite! Featuring a gravity-defying structure, flexible edible seaweed and Jell-O water. Sculpt a 3D shark out of cake, learn to paint details and make sugar eyes! All your guests will be wondering how t
Scorpion Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Today's tutorial is an awesome, gravity-defying scorpion cake! This cake was created for a lucky 5-year old bug and insect lover and he was blown away by it. There's several tips and tricks in this tutorial including how to make a sandy dessert texture, the gravity-defying
Giant Crab Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Liz Marek returns to teach her award-winning giant blue land crab cake. This gravity-defying piece stands over a beach and showcases realistic textures and details. Learn how to create a jaw-dropping piece from start to finish. Please note: the final competition piece had a
Sakura Goldfish Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate This tutorial goes under the sea with a beautiful ocean-themed design. Learn how to make a Sakura goldfish cake, featuring a gravity-defying cake structure, edible coral elements, sculpted fish fins that hold their shape, edible shiny fish eyes and a hand-painted pattern, a
Baby Pegasus Cake
Skill Level: Advanced One of the bedrocks of art and anatomy is the human figure, but if there is another anatomical figure that is firmly in second place to artists throughout the course of time, it's the horse. Liz breaks down how to create a horse cake with a twist, it's a baby pegasus, complete
Realistic Unicorn Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Unicorn cakes are super trendy right now, and what better way to embrace this trend than to innovate on it. Liz Marek returns for her take on the unicorn trend, with a realistic, 80s-tastic neon unicorn bust cake. This cake features real horse anatomy, a glowing isomalt (or
Space Dragon Cake
What's that up in the sky? A bird? A plane? no.. it's a DRAGON! A super metallic, rainbow dragon! Join Liz as she teaches you how to create your very own space dragon that is out of this out of this world adorable! In this very in-depth tutorial you will learn how to build a structure so the dragon
Dragon Castle Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Birthday cakes are one of my favorite things to make and this castle cake with a dragon cake topper is the perfect sort of cake to make for the little king or queen's birthday. Learn how to make a dragon cake topper with posable wings, isomalt dragon fire, all the little de
CHARACTERS & POP CULTURE
Bulbasaur Cake
Learn how to make this super cute Bulbasaur Cake! This is an advanced structure with a LOT of cake and we will be working off a reference. This is a good tutorial for learning how to scale up, measure for accuracy, and advanced sculpted cake techniques.
Baby Yoda Cake
My most viral sculpted cake! This cake got over 67 MILLION views when it first launched and has been going strong. The structure is a standard standing cake figure but the fun part here is using modeling chocolate, measuring, and references to recreate this adorable Grogu.
Mermaid Cake
Learn how to make this adorable chibi style mermaid cake with gravity defying tail! Learn techniques like how to add hair for realistic layers and how to make a flexible gelatin mermaid tail fin.
Spiderman Cake Tutorial
I made this tutorial back in 2010 and it's still one of my most popular videos! In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a fully 3D Spider-Man bust cake completely out of cake! This tutorial is perfect for learning how to create any type of figure in cake with the same structure. This tutorial a
Spongebob Cake
Skill level: Intermediate Guest instructor Jessa Coline of Abstract Edible Arts is back once again this time to teach us how to create a Spongebob Squarepants cake. This isn't your average Spongebob cake, complete with Krabby Patty, cook hat and spatula, and all sorts of fun details and additions th
Super Mario Cake
Skill Level: Advanced In this tutorial, you will learn how to create Super Mario leaping out of a green pipe, perfect for any video game lover's special event. Liz Marek breaks down how to create dynamic poses using armature techniques that can be adapted and changed as needed. You will also learn h
Piranha Plant Cake
Skill Level: Advanced This classic Super Mario enemy is back again in all it's glory. If there's one thing that I wanted to teach in this tutorial, it was how to get that crazy bend in the Piranha plant's neck without compromising the creative vision and it turned out so good! In this tutorial, you
Boba Fett Cake
Skill level: Intermediate In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a bobble-head stylized Boba Fett cake. Few characters are as popular and recognizable in the Star Wars universe as the notorious Boba Fett! You will learn how to create this gravity-defying cake, featuring Boba Fett's iconic Ma
Te Fiti Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate You guys have been asking for an all cake bust tutorial so here it is! This Tefit cake is made out of all cake! Learn how to sculpt the body and head out of all cake, how to add realistic features, and a gravity defying hand, gumpaste flowers and the mossy texture of Te Fit
Minecraft Pig Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Learn how to create a cake that looks like a pig from the video game Minecraft. Almost every kid loves Minecraft and if you haven't been asked to make a Minecraft cake yet, you will be soon. If you have avoided making Minecraft cakes because they are notoriously hard to mak
Floating Snitch Cake
In this tutorial learn how to create the golden wings for the Snitch using flexique and wafer paper as well as the gravity defying structure. Then, using a sphere pan, you will bake, torte, fill, and frost the cakes to create a perfectly round and smooth sphere before carefully covering it in fondan
Narnia Lamp Post Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate This tutorial was inspired by one of my most beloved winter-time movies, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe! I was so inspired by the magical lamp post that Lucy sees after she falls through the wardrobe and enters Narnia for the first time! She looks up at the warmly glow
Animal Crossing Celeste Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate (Part 2 here) https://sugargeekshow.memberful.com/posts/107268 In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a sculpted Owl cake based upon the beloved character Celeste from the popular Animal Crossing franchise. You will learn how to use reference to scale up a cake to a
Celeste Cake Part 2
Skill Level: Intermediate In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a sculpted Owl cake based upon the beloved character Celeste from the popular Animal Crossing franchise. You will learn how to use reference to scale up a cake to any size, how to design the grass cake board, the belly pattern
Spiny Blue Shell Cake Tutorial
Learn how to make a sculpted cake that looks just like the spiny blue shell from the popular video game, Mario Brothers! My son Ezra has always been a huge Mario fan and asked for this epic cake for his 6th birthday (specifically with the wings). I'm always up for the challenge to make my kids birth
Squishmallow Cake
Skill level: Intermediate Learn how to make a super-cute fluffy-looking Squishmallow cake that will fool party guests into thinking they can get cozy with it! In this tutorial, you will learn how to create the shape of the Squishmallow, how to make the eyes, ears and face, how to get the edible fuzz
VEHICLES & MACHINES
Porsche 911 Turbo Car Cake
Skill Level: Advanced Car cakes can seem really challenging because every one is different! It's hard to keep proportions from every angle and know how to achieve that perfect shape. This tutorial teaches you everything from what cake to use, how to get that perfect shape and how to make great detai
Monster Truck Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate For my son's 2nd birthday, it was pretty easy to pick a theme, monster trucks! Ezra is constantly talking about trucks so we went all out for his party, and the cake was no exception. In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a gravity-defying monster truck birthday cake
Rotating Airplane Cake
Skill Level: Advanced In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a realistic snow-capped mountain with a rotating airplane made from edible materials that appears to fly around the mountain! This tutorial is packed with high-level tips and tricks, everything from how to make food-safe molds of c
Pirate Ship Cake
Skill level: Advanced Learn how to make a sculpted pirate ship cake with edible sails, yummy chocolate details, buttercream waves that are airbrushed to perfection and some really incredible cannons that shoot real fireworks! This cake is sure to be a real show-stopper! Tutorial includes templates f
Sewing Machine Cake
Skill level: Intermediate Guest cake decorator Shannon Patrick Mayes returns to show off this amazing sewing machine cake tutorial. Shannon takes the popular sewing machine cake design a step further by making a vintage Singer sewing machine with a gravity-defying sewing needle, edible EVERYTHING, t
Working Gumball Machine Cake
Skill level: Advanced This jaw-dropping gumball machine cake comes courtesy of guest instructor Shannon Mayes of SweetArt Cake Company and YouTube channel The Sweet Spot . In addition to being our super-awesome blogger here on Sugar Geek Show, Shannon drops some crazy knowledge in this tutorial. Gue
Playstation 5 Controller Cake
Skill level: Intermediate They may still be hard to get online, but the Playstation gaming system is a video game console near and dear to my heart. I have always liked the shape and design of the playstation controllers and was really excited when I got the chance to make this cake for a friend's s
OBJECTS
Baseball Glove Cake Tutorial
This realistic baseball glove video from Sarah Myers is one of our most loved cake tutorials! Sarah teaches you how to shape the baseball glove, add all the details and even make a baseball out of cake!
Champagne Bottle Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Celebrate the New Year with a splash! Our latest sculpted cake tutorial is the perfect show-stopper for any celebration. Featuring a champagne bottle design with fun and intricate details, including a gravity-defying splash of pink champagne! The perfect cake for any black
Whiskey Barrel Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Cheers! I had the privilege of making a 40th birthday cake for a whiskey connoisseur and his closest friends. This cake features a realistic whiskey barrel shape, edible metal details, a marbled cake board, a rounded bottom that seamlessly supports the cake and a working sp
Ukulele Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Learn to make this adorable ukulele cake that defies gravity and looks just like the real thing. In this online course, you will learn step-by-step every part of making this cake, including the wood grain, making a complicated rounded bottom that supports the cake, the stri
Bas Relief Teapot Cake
Learn how to make a sculpted teapot cake and edible details in bas relief
Gold Mine Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate In our latest tutorial, you'll be learning how to create a golden birthday cake. Golden birthdays are when the child's age, the month, and the day all line up (April 4th for a 4 year-old child in this case). I decided to go all in on the gold theme, creating a gold mine, wi
Donut Pool Floaty Cake
Skill level: Intermediate Learn how to make a realistic pool floaty cake just like the one I made for my daughter's birthday party. This course covers how to get the look and plastic texture of a pool floaty, how to add the sprinkle design to the fondant, how to recreate a rippled water effect and h
Solar System Space Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Cakes.... IN SPACE! This tutorial is all about space, and more specifically, our solar system. This birthday cake was a blast to make, featuring a glowing sun, rotating planets, Saturn's rings, hand-painted Earth and moon, isomalt Neptune and Uranus and a massive galaxy cak
NATURE & PLANTS
Cactus Cake Trio
Skill level: Intermediate Guest instructor Sara Weber returns for not one, not two, but three awesome, realistic cactus cakes in edible pots. Each cactus is unique and features a host of tips and tricks, as Sara walks you through the process step-by-step. Learn to make three different realistic cact
Live Oak Tree Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Guest instructor Sara Weber from Sara's Sweets in Austin, Texas is back with another lovely nature-inspired cake tutorial. In this tutorial, Sara demonstrates how to create a Live Oak tree cake design, complete with a tree swing and all sorts of natural details. 1:46:12 Min
Monstera Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate I loved making this Monstera Cake for Staghorn Mercantile's 3rd anniversary. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a realistic variegated Monstera plant out of edible materials, how to create the plant pot cake, how to add hand-painted details and shapes that read
Volcano cake
Skill level: Intermediate In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a realistic sculpted volcano cake, complete with special effects and a real smoke-like effect! You will learn how to sculpt and create a realistic looking volcano mountain, how to create the glowing lava effect, how to work wit
SPOOKY
Hipster Zombie Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate It's that time of the year where we release our annual zombie tutorial! This year, we're doing a slightly cuter version than the Walking Dead Zombie Cake but still full of zombie fun! In this tutorial, you'll learn how to make a fun gravity-defying structure for the body, c
Scary Zombie Cake
Skill level: Advanced Learn how to make a super scary and realistic zombie cake! Everything from structure to detailed anatomy is included in this gory but great tutorial! 1:41:35 Minutes of Instruction
Barnacle Zombie Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate It's finally here! Liz Marek's award-winning Barnacle Zombie which placed 1st at the 2018 Atlanta Cake Show. Many have been asking for a step-by-step tutorial of this sculpted cake featuring an all-cake body, realistic seaweed, aged skin and barnacle textures, and an awesom
Sugar Skull Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate We're taking the term Sugar Skull very seriously! This delicious cakey creation is 100% edible! Topped with yummy chocolate roses, filled with colorful orange and purple buttercream and covered in a colorful design! Anyone can do this one and is the perfect treat to bring t
Día de Muertos
Skill level: Intermediate Guest instructor Jennifer Reese is back with a festive Dia de los Muertos cake that's sure to impress. In this course, Jennifer breaks down how to create edible pom-pom's complete with tassels and edible fuzzy texture, how to create a beautiful wafer paper marigold using pa
Monster Cake
Skill level: Intermediate In this tutorial, Liz Marek breaks down how to create a cute cartoon monster from a picture. You will learn how to scale a reference picture, how to plan out the internal structure to make the cake gravity-defying, and how to carve and add details to the cake. This cake str
SEASONAL
Christmas Present Cake
Shannon Mayes teaches us how to make this adorable Christmas present cake with gravity defying lid, bow, and realistic knit textured teddy bear inside.
Christmas Tree Cake
Skill level: Intermediate Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, your bows are so dee-lic-ousssss. Yep, that's right! Learn how to make a fully edible Christmas Tree cake that is the perfect centerpiece to your next holiday shindig! In this tutorial, you learn how to sculpt the cake, make teeny-tiny
Hanging Christmas Wreath Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate It's the most delicious time of the year! Celebrate the Holidays in style with this AMAZING hanging Christmas Wreath cake tutorial from guest instructor, Shani Christianson! Shani shows us how to make some incredible details including beautiful gumpaste poinsettia, edible w
Conversation Heart Cake
Skill Level: Intermediate Learn how to make this gravity defying conversation heart cake. In this tutorial we'll be focusing on building a matte board cake structure, isomalt board, paneling with modeling chocolate and using sugar press stamps for lettering. The perfect cake for Valentine's Day! 55:
FACES & BUSTS
Basic Facial Anatomy with the Skull Mold
This is how I use my chocolate skull molds to create my bust cakes. You can get my chocolate skull mold from Simi Cakes Shop under the Sugar Geek Show Collection
Male Face Sculpting
In this tutorial we will learn how to map out masculine facial features starting with a chocolate skull as the base and sugar eyes. This is the technique I have used many times for my TV cake competitions and first created this mold and eyes technique for Halloween wars season 7 which our team won.
King Kong Facial Expressions
Guest instructor Timbo Sullivan of Cakes by Timbo joins us to show how he builds facial expressions into a figure. You will sculpt a stylized King Kong and learn his process for shaping the features that give a face its personality.
Maleficent Funko-Pop Cake
A Funko Pop cake I made for my neighbor, who is obsessed with the figurines and whose absolute favorite is Maleficent. Oversized head, tiny body, and all the stylized proportions that make a Funko instantly recognizable.
Elsa Bust Cake
What better time to make an ice queen than right before Christmas? Stylized facial features, a braided hair demo, edible makeup, and a head sculpted completely from scratch with no molds.
Wonder Woman Tiara Cake
A cake inspired by the strongest female lead there is. This one is built on the basics series, so you will also sharpen torting, filling, frosting, covering double barrels and getting razor sharp edges.
Star Trek Bust Cake
A Trek-tacular tutorial where I recreate a scene from one of my favorite old-school TV shows, Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Candy Crush Bust Cake
It is not every day you get asked to make a Candy Crush cake by Candy Crush. This piece was created for their social media channels around the concept Candy On My Mind.
Egyptian Goddess Bust Cake
Anatomically correct sculpting in cake form, complete with anatomy references, tips borrowed from clay sculptors, and a full structure breakdown. An in depth look at building a realistic female bust.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Bust Cake
The life-sized bust cake I made for Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote his show Fubar. I walk through building the structure, carving the cake, adding realistic detail, matching a portrait and finishing the clothing.
SHOWPIECES
Steampunk Wolf Cake
A howling wolf built on an angled structure, using stacked cake and rice cereal treats to control size and weight. Modeling chocolate details, simple airbrushing, metallic painting, and a slate texture for the base.
Princess Mononoke Showpiece, Part 1
Showpieces are made weeks in advance, kept on display for days, and built light enough to travel. This two part tutorial covers structure building, bulking, shipping and more. Part one of two.
Princess Mononoke Showpiece, Part 2
The conclusion of the Princess Mononoke showpiece build. An advanced tutorial best taken on once you already have sculpting and structure building under your belt. Part two of two.
FUN TO WATCH: SCULPTING TIMELAPSES
Not full tutorials, just fun to watch. These are start to finish sculpting timelapses from my archive, sped up so you can watch an entire cake come together in a few minutes.
Dinosaur Cake Sculpting Timelapse
A full raptor head built from cake and modeling chocolate, start to finish in 13 minutes.
Mermaid Showpiece Timelapse
A life-size mermaid and sea turtle showpiece coming together in the shop, carved from styrofoam and cake.
Squid Contessa Cake Timelapse
A hand-painted bust with tentacles for hair, sculpted and airbrushed from start to finish.
Tropicalia Timelapse, Threadcakes 2014
My Threadcakes competition entry, a big carved jungle cat, built over a couple of days and squeezed into 12 minutes.
Who Are You Gender Reveal Cake Timelapse
An Alice in Wonderland gender reveal cake with a sculpted caterpillar, start to finish.
Tyrannosaurus Walkman, Threadcakes 2015
A T-rex with a cassette player built into its chest. My 2015 Threadcakes entry, sculpted on camera.
That’s the whole sculpted cake library.
Join and you get all of it, plus realistic cakes, wedding cakes, sugar flowers, cookies and sugarwork, with something new from me every month.