I like crystals and I like cake, so I attempted to make a geode cake. This popular wedding cake trend emulates a geode (a small cavity in rock that is lined with crystals or minerals). Why would I not try this super intimidating style?

I scrolled through geode cake pictures on social media and watched geode cake tutorials, speculating if I was up to the task. My instincts told me probably not, but despite my doubts, I tried to find an easy way for an amateur to create their own geode cake with minimal effort. This was my process.

Geode Cake

  • Prep Time:30 mins
  • Cook Time:24 mins
  • Total Time:54 mins
  • Servings:3
  • Easy

    Ingredients

  • 1 Caked baked and cooled
  • Rock Candy
  • Vanilla frosting
  • Sprinkles
vegetable
Photo by Julia Poorvu

  • Step 1

    As an amateur I did a couple things that simplified the process, one of which was to skip the fondant. I also reduced the wedding cake to a mini funfetti, baked in a tiny pie tin. The first thing I did was cut a small, triangular geode shape in my cake.

    cake
    Julia Poorvu

  • Step 2

    Next, I frosted around my divot. I found the rock candy stuck better when I frosted the candy instead of the cake.

    hummus
    Julia Poorvu

  • Step 3

    Now for the fun part: decorating! Here, I started sticking my candy on the cake. I gradually added my lighter candy around the edge of the geode shape.

    pomegranate
    Julia Poorvu

  • Step 4

    This was my final result. I ended up cutting chunks off the edges of the cake to create a rougher rock-like shape.

    sushi, rice
    Julia Poorvu

Here are some glamour shots:

cottage cheese, rice, cheese
Julia Poorvu

(Pre-edge cutting)

jam, raspberry, jelly, cream, cream cheese, cheese
Julia Poorvu

My main takeaway from this process is that making a geode cake does not have to be as difficult as it looks. I had a chance to work around some mistakes (gluten-free funfetti cake is moist and hard to frost) and to solve challenges, like when one of my cakes literally fell apart (RIP) so I couldn't make a double layer cake. I did, however, have a ton of fun making this. 

I found that I had many artistic options with this cake, which made creating my geode all the more enjoyable. My only tips: use good ingredients, have backup materials in case of accidents, and think out of the box with decorations and styling.

Happy baking!