sharon hanson
makes + bakes
Mint Chocolate Chip Cake With Milk Chocolate Ganache
This is a mint chocolate chip cake with mint chocolate chip ermine frosting and a milk chocolate ganache drip. I used Goodie Girl Mint Cookies to decorate both the top and base of the cake.
The Tears of the Kingdom cake topper and goodie bag tags made their second appearance in two years with only slight edits (making my job a little bit easier this year).
The Legend of Zelda: Korok Mask
My all-time favorite video game series is The Legend of Zelda, and while there are many endearing characters featured throughout the series, the Koroks are some of the most memorable. I created this Korok mask using cardboard, EVA foam, felt, polyester stuffing, and acrylic paint.
While there were no Koroks in Majora’s Mask, I carried this book in the costume parade because it was quite a bit lighter than Breath of the Wild: Creating a Champion.
Alice in Wonderland: Daisy Hat
Using felt, fabric, a lot of hot glue, and a soldering iron, I created this hat, skirt, and these bracelets for the Daisy character in Alice in Wonderland.
I was given a very limited amount of time to make some hedgehog croquet balls for the play—they kind of look like hedgehogs, but I think they mostly just look like cute little hedgehog/opossum hybrids.
A Harry Potter Birthday: Happee Birthdae
This vanilla bean cake with both strawberry and vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream might not look like the fanciest cake I’ve ever made, but the meaning behind its creation is the very definition of whim and fancy. My daughter was turning 11, and what better way to celebrate an 11th birthday than with a cake inspired by the cake Hagred gave Harry for his 11th birthday?
Tears of the Kingdom Cake and Cake Pops
Inspired by Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, this chocolate stout black bean cake with cookies ‘n’ cream buttercream was a really fun one to make. I used some blue and silver luster dust to give the semi-sweet chocolate ganache a metallic look, and I found some really great silicon molds to make the gears out of white chocolate. While not the prettiest, I did use foil to cover the bottom of the amiibos to protect them from being damaged.
I also made cake pops, a cake topper, and goodie bag tags.
Link Costume: Ocarina of Time
Using faux leather, EVA foam, hot glue, metal grommets, and leather laces, I did my best to replicate the arm guards Link wore in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
I also made Link’s hat, boot covers, a belt, and a sword belt. Additionally, I dyed and modified a tunic shirt I bought to make it look more like Link’s tunic.
Chocolate and Blueberry “Mario” Cake
For my son’s 6th birthday, he requested a chocolate cake with blueberry frosting. He wanted a Mario-themed cake, so I relied on the topper I made to make it clear that it was a Mario cake. The party also had a “cozy” theme. The cake loosely represents a cozy cup of hot cocoa.
To balance out the fruity flavors of the blueberry and sharpness of the chocolate cake and semi-sweet chocolate ganache, I filled the layers and topped the cake with a stabilized whipped cream.
Halloween Party Decor
I’m not usually the biggest fan of googly eyes. I like the idea of them, but I rarely find them necessary. However, they really made these spider tabletop decorations pop. I made them using paint, foam balls, and pipe cleaners. I also made bat and ghost hanging decorations using crepe paper streamers, felt, and even more googly eyes.
Bingo games are always popular at class parties, but I couldn’t find a Halloween-themed game I liked that also used sight words. That’s why I made my own. It consists of 25 unique bingo game boards and calling cards for all of the individual sight words.
Red Velvet Zorua Cake
What can I say? I love a little drip, and my daughter loves red velvet cake with vanilla bean ermine frosting.
Agwé’s Headdress: Once on This Island, Jr.
University School of Nashville’s MS Theater performed Once on This Island, Jr. in December 2021. I was asked to create Agwé’s headdress. Drawing inspiration from the original Broadway production of Once on This Island, I used all recycled materials—some of which I dyed for a more uniform blue hue—to create the headdress.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Cake
Nothing says faux stone like cookies ‘n’ cream buttercream. Rocks and water are featured throughout Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and one of the pivotal moments in the game is when Link finally has enough hearts to pull the Master Sword from the stone in the Lost Woods.
The cake features a white chocolate ganache drip colored blue to represent water and chocolate fudge molded and painted with luster dust to look like small boulders. The Master Sword (a super cool letter opener) and paper cake topper were purchased.
Princess Mononoke Costume
In introduced my children to Studio Ghibli in the hopes that they would fall in love with the gorgeous animations and story like I have. Luckily, they did. My daughter decided she wanted to be Princess Mononoke for Halloween.
I made the mask, cape, apron, and jewelry using paperclay, acrylic paint, faux fur, cotton fabric, air hardening modeling clay, ribbon, stone barrel beads, and polished pebbles.
Candy Land Cake With White Chocolate Ganache Drip
My daughter requested a red velvet “Candy Land Cake” for her 8th birthday. By making this cake, I discovered ermine frosting. Before there was red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, there was red velvet cake with ermine frosting.
This cake topper was the first one I made. Not only did it need to be a “Candy Land Cake,” it also had to be K-On! themed.