Back-to-school season is the perfect excuse to get creative in the kitchen! These adorable back-to-school shaped cake bites turn a simple cake-and-frosting treat into something extra special for the first day of school, teacher appreciation, classroom parties, or just a fun after-school surprise.

From bright red apples and little goldfish to notebook paper and school-inspired designs, there are so many ways to make them your own. Start with your favorite cake and frosting combination, then customize the colors and details to fit your school colors or back-to-school theme.

What You’ll Need

• Your favorite baked cake
• Buttercream frosting
• Bright white candy melts or chocolate coating
• Silicone cake molds or small 2-inch cutters
• Parchment paper
• Heat-safe bowls
• Piping bags
• Coconut oil
• Mesh screen or cooling rack
• Chefmaster food colors
• Small spatula
• Sprinkles or other edible decorations, if desired
• Mini alphabet sprinkles for an extra school-themed touch

Chefmaster Colors Used

• Super Red
• Leaf Green
• Lemon Yellow
• Sunset Orange
• Sky Blue
• Buckeye Brown

Choose the Right Color for Your Coating

New to coloring candy melts? We recommend Chefmaster Candy Colors. Their oil-based formula is designed specifically for chocolate and candy applications, making them the easiest and most beginner-friendly option for this project.

More experienced baker? Our baker created these treats using Chefmaster Liqua-Gel with a small amount of coconut oil. This method can work well with a little extra care, but because Liqua-Gel is water-based, adding too much can cause your coating to seize. Start with a very small amount of color and add gradually.

How to Make Back-to-School Cake Bites

1. Prepare the Cake Mixture

Start with a completely cooled cake. Crumble the cake into a large bowl and add a small amount of buttercream.

Mix until the cake comes together into a soft, moldable consistency. You want it to hold its shape without becoming overly wet or sticky.

Tip: Add the frosting gradually. It’s much easier to add more than it is to fix a cake mixture that has become too soft.

2. Shape and Chill

Press the cake mixture firmly into your chosen silicone molds.

If you’re using cutters instead, roll the cake mixture between two pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Chill until firm, then cut out your shapes.

Transfer the shaped cake bites to a parchment-lined tray and chill until firm enough to handle.

3. Prepare Your Colors

Melt the bright white candy melts or chocolate coating in a heat-safe bowl according to the package directions. Divide the coating as needed for each design.

If using Chefmaster Candy Colors, add the color gradually until you reach your desired shade.

If following our baker’s Liqua-Gel method, use a very small amount of color and add coconut oil as needed to help keep the coating smooth.

For our back-to-school designs, we used:

• Goldfish: Lemon Yellow + Sunset Orange
• Notebook Paper: Bright white coating
• Apples: Super Red

4. Coat the Cake Bites

Once your cake shapes are chilled and firm, carefully place them on a mesh screen or cooling rack.

Pour the melted coating over each piece until completely covered. Gently tap the rack against your work surface to help smooth the coating and remove any excess.

Allow the first layer to set. If needed, add a second layer for more even coverage.

Tip: Work with one design at a time so your coating doesn’t begin to set before you’re finished decorating.

5. Add the Details

Once the coating has set, it’s time for the fun part!

Use piping bags filled with colored candy coating or royal icing to add small school-inspired details such as:

• Notebook lines
• Apple leaves
• Stems
• Lettering
• Numbers

You can also use sprinkles or other small edible decorations to give each cake bite even more personality.

Classic Apple

Cover the apple shape with Super Red coating and allow it to set.

Add a small stem using royal icing colored with Buckeye Brown, then finish it with a Leaf Green leaf on top. A tiny white highlight can give your apple an extra polished look.

Notebook Paper

Cover a rectangular cake shape in bright white coating and allow it to set.

Use royal icing colored with Sky Blue to pipe thin horizontal notebook lines, followed by a vertical margin line colored with Super Red.

Then make it your own! Add an A+, alphabet sprinkles, numbers, a teacher’s name, or another fun school-inspired detail.

Goldfish

Cover the goldfish shape with a light orange coating made by mixing Lemon Yellow with a small amount of Sunset Orange.

Once set, tint a little royal icing to coordinate with the coating and pipe on the smile and eye.

Tips for Working With Chefmaster Colors

• For candy melts and chocolate coatings, Chefmaster Candy Colors are the easiest option, especially for beginners.
• If using Liqua-Gel, start with a very small amount and add color gradually.
• Too much water-based color can cause candy coating to seize.
• Let each coating layer set before adding your piped details.
• Once completely decorated and set, store your cake bites in an airtight container.

Make Them Your Own

The best thing about shaped cake bites is that you don’t have to stick to traditional back-to-school colors. Use your school colors, your child’s favorite colors, or create an entire collection of different designs.

You could even turn these into a fun DIY cake bite decorating activity! Prepare and coat the cake shapes ahead of time, then set out colored icing, piping bags, sprinkles, and edible decorations and let the kids create their own designs.

Whether you’re making them for the first day of school, a teacher appreciation event, a classroom party, or simply because they’re too cute to resist, these little treats are a sweet way to celebrate the start of a new school year!