Corpse Bride Blue Velvet Cake – Complete Tutorial

Hello October!  This month brings out the kid in me like no other (even more so than Christmas!), and I get positively giddy for all things spooky. This year I decided to start celebrating early with a Halloween cake project. I’ll admit – I got carried away with this tutorial. There are tons of step-by-step photos and lots of instruction for all the tiny details – it’s almost like a mini e-course in gum paste sculpture. It’s probably the biggest tutorial in all of Sprinklebaking history!

As you may know, I love Tim Burton’s stop-motion-animation characters (remember my Sparky cake from last year?) and I’ve recently re-watched Corpse Bride. I have a huge soft spot in my heart for the main character, Emily, so I decided she needed to be cake-ified in blue velvet and chocolate frosting.

(Spoiler alert!) I mean, if she can’t have true love she should at least have chocolate frosting. It’s kind of the same thing, right?

Ready to see how I made her?

Materials 

1/2 lb. ready-made gum paste tinted blue with Wilton sky blue gel food color and a dot of black food color

2 white Sixlets candies

Blue pearl dust

Silver pearl dust

Black gel food color

White liquid food color

Pink gel food color

Artist’s brush with a fine tip

Light corn syrup

Plastic pointed fondant tool or unused wood cuticle stick

1/4 lb. ready-made black or dark chocolate fondant

White nonpareils

Blue velvet cake baked in 9×13 sheet (recipelink)

1/4 lb. ready-made chocolate fondant

1/2 lb. ready -made red fondant

1/2 lb. ready-made white fondant

18-20 Sixlets black pearls

Royal blue food color

White pearl dust

1 sheet rice paper or wafer paper

Blue food coloring marker

1/8 lb. white gum paste

Toothpicks

White flower or snowflake confetti quins

Royal blue gel food color

As I worked and compared images of Emily to my sculpture, I found her head to be very skull-like, which makes sense -she’s dead after all. And her nose is teeny-tiny! A Michael Jackson-sort-of-nose, except twice as small, if you can imagine that. Her big round eyes are an important detail, and white Sixlets candies are a perfect uniform size. You can find them at bulk candy shops online and in some craft stores in the baking aisle.

Head instructions

1. You’ll start with a large gumball-sized piece of the blue tinted gumpaste.

2. Pinch one end to a point to form a chin shape.

3. Press the two white Sixlets candies into the paste about 1/3 of the way down from the rounded end.

4. Turn the head to the side.

5. Make a diagonal line across the side of the head from the top third downward to the chin with a paring knife.

6. Cut the bottom piece away leaving a teardrop-shaped head. It should be about 2 1/2-inches from forehead to chin.

7. Place the head cut-side down.

8. Holding the fondant tool horizontally, (you could also use the handle of a small artists’ brush) roll it between the eye holes to create a slight slope for the nose.

9. Press the fondant tool’s end on either side of the nose slope just under the eye holes to create a flat cheek area.

10. Push the pointed end of the fondant tool upward at the bottom of the nose slope.

11. Make two tiny nose holes in an upside down “v” shape with the pointed end of the tool.

12. Just below the nose, delineate the mouth with the pointed end of the fondant tool. Use the blue pearl luster powder and a dry artist’s brush to shade the eye holes.

13. Replace the eye. Add a dot of corn syrup to each candy before pressing them in if they do not want to adhere naturally. Shade the sides of the head with the blue pearl dust. Delineate eyebrow lines on the forehead with pointed end of the fondant tool.

14. Using the fine-tipped artists’ brush, paint one small dot on each of the Sixlets candies. Allow them to dry for 5-10 minutes.

15. Further shade above each eye with the blue pearl dust. Shade all the way up to the eyebrow lines.

16. Paint on the eyebrows using black gel food color and a fine-tipped artists’ brush.

17. Lightly “sketch” lips around the mouth line using the pointed end of the fondant tool.

18. Paint lips using a small artists’ brush and pink gel food color mixed with a drop of white liquid food color. Allow head to stand until dry.

The torso. Admittedly, things will look a little strange in the beginning. The most important part of the torso is the décolleté. Emily is extremely withered and thin and one of her most defining features is very prominent collar bones. As you sculpt this  part of the body, think of its shape as a coat hanger. The rest of the torso will be covered with a dress made of fondant, so don’t worry as much about the detail on the rest of the body.

Body instructions

1. Use about 1/8 lb. of the blue tinted gum paste for the torso; roughly shape it into a 4-inch rectangle. Keep the head on your work board to keep in mind he correct body proportions. Roughly sculpt a waist by squeezing the gum paste rectangle in the center. Shape shoulders with your fingers and pull a long piece of gum paste up from the middle of the shoulders, creating a very long neck. The end sculpture of the neck and torso should measure about 5 to 5 1/2 inches in length.

2. Make a “v” shape at the base of the neck using the fondant tool. This indicates where the sternum and collarbone meet.

3. Press the pointed end of the fondant tool into the gum paste just under each shoulder. The pointed end should be facing inward toward the center of the chest. These indentations create the prominent collar bone.

4. Smooth the neck area away from the collar bone using your fingers. Gently press so that the collar bone becomes more prominent.

5. Create two “cups” using the pointed end of the fondant tool. Start at one shoulder at the collar bone and end at the opposite shoulder.

6. Holding the fondant tool horizontally, roll it downward from the collar bone to create a slope on the breast.

7. Periodically check the head in proportion to the rest of the body. Here I’ve pinched the waist and hips in a little smaller.

8. Roll a piece of blue gum paste into a long rope. This will be the arm. Orient the arm to the body to check for the correct thickness. Her arms are bone-thin, so make sure the rope is, in turn, very thin. Remove the arm from the body and set aside for later use.

9. Roll a out a small piece of white fondant to 1/8-inch thickness, large enough to cover the body.

10. Cut the bottom of the fondant piece into a large “v” with the point resting just below the bottom edge of the torso.

11. Fringe the “v” with scissors or a small knife.

12. Use the end of a straw to cut away small half circles from the top of the dress. Keep in mind that her dress has a sweetheart neckline.

13. I used a paper doily to cover the fondant piece, and then I dry-brushed on some silver pearl luster dust to create a lacy effect. This is optional.

14. Mix blue pearl dust and a few drops of water to create an edible wet paint, and brush it on the top edge of the sweetheart neckline and on the bottom fringe. Allow this to dry for a few minutes.

15. Lay the fondant piece over the torso to make sure paint and lace shading looks acceptable. Remove and touch up any bare spots on the bodice if needed.

16. Roll out a 12×12-inch piece of white fondant to 1/4-inch thickness.Wrap this piece around the torso piece at the waist so that the bottom of the fondant flares out slightly. Cut away excess white fondant if necessary. Use fondant scraps to pad dress to about 3-inches below the torso.

17. Wrap the bodice around the torso. Secure with a dot of corn syrup if needed.

18. Cut out a small rectangular piece from the left side of the bodice just under the breast. Reserve the removed piece.

19. Use the reserved white triangle piece as a template to cut out a same-size piece of black fondant.

20. Cut the reserved white triangle piece into pieces horizontally to make “ribs”. Attach them to the black triangle using a tiny dot of corn syrup to adhere, if needed (mine stuck on without syrup).

21. Fit the “ribs” triangle into the hole in the bodice. Press with a fondant tool to secure.

The blue velvet batter was baked into a 13×9-inch sheet cake. It’s easy enough to cut into a coffin shape free-hand, so I didn’t use a template. I used chocolate icing to coat this cake, but you could use cream cheese if you want to go the traditional route as with red velvet cake.

Cake covering instructions

For the fondant covering, I used red ready-made fondant kneaded with a little black fondant to give it slightly less “cheery” color. Measure the cake and then cut a same-sized piece of the red fondant to fit the top of the cake (roll to 1/4-inch thick, as per usual). Score quilt lines into the fondant using the back of a knife – just make a line, don’t cut all the way through. Place a black Sixlets pearl on each point that the lines intersect. For the wood plank sides, roll chocolate fondant to 1/4-inch thickness. Measure sides of cake and cut chocolate fondant strips to stand about 1/2-inch taller than the top of the cake. Striate chocolate fondant pieces down the length of the strips creating a wood grain appearance. Press them onto the icing on the sides of the cake. Let cake stand while you finish the Emily sculpture.

Emily’s arms and legs were probably the hardest elements for me to figure out. I wondered how on earth I’d make something so delicate-looking that would actually hold together without an armature. In the end I had a little help from toothpicks.

Veil, bouquet, arms and legs instruction

1. Her veil is made from a single sheet of edible wafer paper. You can find this at cake supply shops or order a few sheets online. In the movie her veil is worn and ragged with age, so it can be cut into an organic shape without using a template. The only guideline I can give is to cut it about 8-inches in length.

2. Dry brush the edges of the veil with blue pearl luster dust. Draw “stitchings” of curlicues around the edges of the veil with the blue food color marker.

3. Lay the veil on the cake, then lay Emily’s body on top of the veil. The bottom of the dress should hang off the bottom edge of the cake.

4. For Emily’s skeletal leg, roll a length of gum paste into rope. Cut away a three-inch long piece and gently roll between your palms so the piece is uniform.

5. Cut a small slit into each end of the piece, creating the appearance of bone ends.

6. Roll a much thinner 3-inch piece of gum paste and attach it to the side of the larger bone using corn syrup. Let dry.

7. Roll a small dime-size piece of blue gum paste into a ball, then pinch one side flat so that it fans out. Lay this piece over the bottom of the leg bone, covering a bone end.

8. Wrap the piece around the leg bone and pinch closed on the back side.

9. Scrunch the piece down, so that it has the appearance of a slouchy sock around the leg bone.

10. Wrap a small scrap piece of white fondant around the bottom of the “sock” to form a white shoe.

11. Shape the toe into a point.

12. Fashion a small piece of white gum paste into a 1/2-inch bone end and thread it onto a toothpick. Roll a small scrap piece of gum paste into a ball to form a knee bone and thread that onto the toothpick also.

13. Finally, thread the large leg bone onto the toothpick so that the knee bone butts up against it creating one long skeletal leg, about 5-inches in length.

14. Attach the leg by inserting the toothpick end into the fondant under the dress. I don’t have a pictorial for her other leg, but you’ll essentially make a long rope (about 5-inches) out of blue gum paste, and then attach the white shoe portion as before with the skeletal leg. Insert a toothpick into the top of the leg and then attach it under the dress as before.

15.To make the skeletal hand, roll a small scrap of white gum paste into a ball and then flatten in with your palm. Make 4 slits to fashion “fingers” in the gum paste.

16. Trim fingers so they are slim and cut them in graduated finger sizes.

17. Create a the lower arm bones in the same way the lower leg bone was created, except make it smaller, about 1 1/2 inches in length. Attach the hand to the bone using a toothpick.

18. Her bouquet wrap is made using a small square of gum paste.

19. Wrap the square into a cone shape. Use a dot of corn syrup if the cone does not hold together naturally.

20. Shape the fingers of the skeletal hand around the cone, and then remove and set the hand aside.

21. Place a drop of corn syrup on a piece of wax paper and cover the syrup with flower or snowflake confetti quins. Stir the corn syrup and quins together using a fondant tool.

22. Pour a little silver pearl dust over the quins and spread the dust with a dry brush.

23. Scoop up the quins with a small spoon and pour them into the bouquet cone. Let this set until the “flowers” are set and stable enough to move without them falling out.

24. Create an upper arm bone about 1 3/4-inches long and adhere it onto the veil with corn syrup beside the  left shoulder (your right, her left). Place the forearm upright so that the hand rests on her bodice. Place a dot of corn syrup on the “elbow” portion of the skeletal forearm to adhere it to the veil. Place a dot of corn syrup on the back side of the bouquet wrap and place it under the skeletal hand.

25. Make a hand out of blue gum paste as before with the skeletal hand.

16. Roll out a 1 1/2-inch length of white gum paste and attach the blue hand to the gum paste using a toothpick.

27. Press the white gum paste onto and around the long blue arm. Use a tiny triangle of gum paste over the hand to create the illusion of a bridal glove. Use corn syrup or a tiny dot of shortening to make it stick. Place a dot of corn syrup on the underside of the arm and lay it beside the body on the veil. Butt the top of the arm against the shoulder.

Emily’s hair. It’s kind of a mess, but that only helps with the execution of this detail. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The more ragged, the better!

Hair instruction

1. Begin with a large gumball-sized piece of fondant that has been tinted royal blue.

2. Pull the piece into a long 6-inch length. Attach it to the head with a little corn syrup at the center.

3. Emily has a slight side part to the left, so make the part line first using the pointed end of the fondant tool. Make hair striations down the length of the royal blue fondant piece.

4. Increase pressure as you move the tool down the length of the hair so that the bottom portion of the “hair” is fringed. Place Emily’s head on the neck and arrange the hair around her face and over her shoulders.

5. To make her floral head piece, roll out a skinny rope piece of scrap fondant or gum paste, about 4-inches long. Brush it with silver pearl dust. Place dots of corn syrup in the center of the rope and sprinkle over confetti quins. Brush the quins with more silver dust.

6. Wrap the head piece around the top of her head. Press it gently so it adheres. Let stand until set and stable.

A few more details to consider.

I tore the fondant at the bottom of her dress so that it looks worn. I also dry brushed the bottom edges of the dress with blue pearl dust. And don’t forget to add the slit in the front of her dress, too. This exposes her skeletal leg – a very important detail! I added a few curlicue stitchings around the bottom of her dress with the blue food marker – this matches the stitching on her veil.

Emily has some decay on one side of her face, exposing some of her teeth. I painted this on with a fine artist’s brush and black gel food color.

I used some ready-made royal icing white roses around the sides of the cake board. If I were to repeat this project, I might use some black drippy candles around the coffin. I think that might look even better!

So, how long did it take for all this sculpting and baking? Around 8 hours total spread over the course of two days. Five hours were used on the first day for sculpting most of the figure and baking/covering the cake. The remaining hours were spent figuring out the skeletal leg and scrutinizing some finishing touches. Writing this tutorial probably took longer than the making of the entire cake!

Even if you don’t make the cake, I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my process. The blue velvet cake recipe can be found here (in cupcake form). I promise it’s just as delicious as red velvet!

Happy October, friends!

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Unknown
Unknown
10 years ago

This is truly amazing!! You are so talented and it is so life like (well as life like a cartoon can get!)

Rosa's Yummy Yums
Rosa's Yummy Yums
10 years ago

Oh, I love it! This cake is fantastic. You are so talented.

Cheers,

Rosa

vanillasugarblog
vanillasugarblog
10 years ago

Heather!
Jesus!
Your talent is amazing.
Have to share this.

Veronica LaChance
Veronica LaChance
10 years ago

This cake is BEYOND amazing! It looks like Tim Burton himself made her. Love the movie, love the cake, love your site! Thank you for this <3

Hayattan Azıcık
Hayattan Azıcık
10 years ago

Amazing hand work! Thanks for sharing!!!

Jen (House of Ruby Jean)
Jen (House of Ruby Jean)
10 years ago

You are nothing short of amazing and inspirational! Keep it up!

Megan
Megan
10 years ago

Mad skillz, girl.

Celestine
Celestine
10 years ago

Unreal! It's a work of art. Dynamite job!

Angie - Big Bears Wife
Angie - Big Bears Wife
10 years ago

I can not tell you HOW MUCH I love this cake! I am like blown away! I love Tim Burton and I love The Corpse Bride! I have no idea if I will ever be able to make this but I really, really want to try it!

Mimi
Mimi
10 years ago

You should have your own television show. Really.

Cher Rockwell
Cher Rockwell
10 years ago

Wow – amazing job! Thank you for sharing the tutorial – loved seeing the process.

Unknown
Unknown
10 years ago

A true Masterpiece!!! I have pinned this as your gumpaste tutorial will help for my future projects.

Unknown
Unknown
10 years ago

This is fantastic, one of the best I've seen.

Heather
Heather
10 years ago

She's positively immortal. I sigh when I see that slouchy stocking on her leg! Well done~ so much work but I bet your love of Emily made it feel like playtime! Kudos!!!!

Unknown
Unknown
10 years ago

You have no idea how much respect I have for you after seeing this. You should be amazingly proud of yourself. Holy!!!!

Eva @ Pastel Bakery
Eva @ Pastel Bakery
10 years ago

Love, love, love Tim Burton, and absolutely LOVE this cake!

Erika
Erika
10 years ago

Wow!! That is so amazing.. You did your thang gurl!!

Amy
Amy
10 years ago

Wow Heather! I'm completely speechless. All of the details in putting this cake together… I love how you used the doily for the lacy effect on her top, ad all of the details in sculpting her face, and adding the confetti to her hair. You are an amazingly talented artist!

Shraven
Shraven
10 years ago

Oh my! This is an incredible piece of art! I could never eat her 😉

Anonymous
Anonymous
10 years ago

Unbelievable talent!

connie
connie
10 years ago

What a hauntingly beautiful cake! It is truly a work of art, love this.

Anonymous
Anonymous
10 years ago

You are seriously incredible!

Gypsy Heart
Gypsy Heart
10 years ago

Stunning! I've always admired your talent and creativity but this one takes the proverbial "cake". 🙂 Absolutely wonderful and would be so perfect for a party.

xo
Pat

Beth @HungryHappenings
Beth @HungryHappenings
10 years ago

Your cake and tutorial are both incredible. You really captured Emily in your sculpture. Thanks so much for sharing all the little details in your description.

Colette (Coco)
Colette (Coco)
10 years ago

You really are talented, Heather.
And the tutorial is really nice.

Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet
10 years ago

Heather, you are AMAZING!!!

Stacy | Wicked Good Kitchen
Stacy | Wicked Good Kitchen
10 years ago

I. DIE. Heather, you have truly outdone yourself. I am completely enamored with Tim Burton and The Corpse Bride. You are a ROCK STAR! Thanks for all the hard work in sharing this tutorial. Have a fabulous autumn weekend, m'lady! xo

Coco Cake Land
Coco Cake Land
10 years ago

heather, you are a superstar! totally rad of you to create, photograph and share this amazing tutorial!!! i LOVE the little slice of coffin cake picture with the pretty blue velvet! it looks like a little slice of pie with the coffin wood as the crust. xo

Jenn @ Once Upon a Tier
Jenn @ Once Upon a Tier
10 years ago

You. Are. AMAZING! I am so glad you including how long it took you, because that's what I was wondering as I was reading it all! I am amazed beyond words. Wow.

Nicole
Nicole
10 years ago

I am speechless! The detail you put into this cake and your talent to do so is beyond any words I can find. I love this cake! I too, am a fan of Tim Burton's stop motion films. The Corpse Bride is a favorite of mine. So much that I dressed as Emily one year for Halloween. You are phenominal! Awesome job. xo

Unknown
Unknown
10 years ago

My god this is positively stunning! You did such a fantastic job on this, and I wish I only had 1/4 of your talent!

Nikki B
Nikki B
10 years ago

Hi, I just discovered your site, and i think you are amazing! Such detailing and attention to every little thing.. and photography is awesome. I was just thinking this morning how Red Velvet cake does not necessary need to be red ( I was making red velvet pancakes), and here you come with Blue Velvet cake 🙂 I think i am going to go get your book, can't get enough of your recipes– tried chocolate bomb in cookie dough and loaded cookie cake with peanut butter chips, marshmallow cream and caramel ( gained 5 pounds because of the last one… Read more »

Tieghan
Tieghan
10 years ago

So incredible, so cut and so perfect! I am in love with this cake! I have no words other than AMAZING!

Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
10 years ago

Omg! Incredible details and she looks so "life-like"! Kudos to you for sharing detailed step-by-step on the how tos!

Julie (pharmbelle85)
Julie (pharmbelle85)
10 years ago

This is beyond amazing! I wish I had one-tenth of your talent!

MrsCake
MrsCake
10 years ago

breathtaking!!! 🙂 🙂 absolutely wonderful!

Jeneta
Jeneta
10 years ago

AMAZING!! You are so very, very clever! I absolutely love the step by step instructions and photos – I am even more appreciative of your talent and the time you have given so that others can enjoy it too!

bittermutfakta
bittermutfakta
10 years ago

This is…AWESOME.

Tesei
Tesei
10 years ago

Amazing cake!!! Thank you for sharing it 🙂 you are a darling!

Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
10 years ago

Absolutely unreal. SO GORGEOUS!

Petit-on
Petit-on
10 years ago

Wow! Amazing

sripriya
sripriya
10 years ago

Perfection to the core.Honestly i find no word to say how amazing the cake looks.Congrats!

Anonymous
Anonymous
10 years ago

Heather.. WOW. This cake is seriously BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous
Anonymous
10 years ago

this is remarkable! long time fan of your blog~ thank you for posting ^^

Jessica
Jessica
10 years ago

WOW WOW WOW WOW!

veronicabbee
veronicabbee
10 years ago

I'm in love with this. Seriously. Must go watch all the Tim Burton things now…

Anonymous
Anonymous
10 years ago

waw!! i m not used to post comments,but i m so amazed by your talent(i follow your blog regularly,and i love it!!),and your generosity as well.
thank you very much for sharing this wonderful tutorial,this is so detailed,so well done!!!
and your cake is just GORGEOUS!!
thank you,this is a real gift for us!!
happy caking
vahiné island

Sheri W.
Sheri W.
10 years ago

That is amazing!

Ruffles and Ribbon Boutique
Ruffles and Ribbon Boutique
10 years ago

Wow!! That is A-mazing!!! 🙂

Unknown
Unknown
10 years ago

Beautiful! Thank you so much for the tutorial! I aspire to try this out this halloween, you are amazing!