Images courtesy of Cake Life Bake Shop

The custom cake, which costs several thousand dollars, took two days to construct and featured the “queen bee” colors of black and gold and three tiers of honey lavender cake. It was topped with a gold crown that resembled the one Beyoncé wore at the 2016 Grammy Awards. The cost of a geode cake can run $3,500 or more, depending on the level of detail required.

“We heard from her people that Beyoncé loved the cake,” remarks Cake Life’s co-owner Lily Fischer, a big Beyoncé fan.

A geode (or gemstone) cake is made by removing parts of the center and adding a gemstone made of rock candy or other edible materials. Popular gemstone cake ideas incorporate amethyst, rose quartz, agate, and turquoise and gold.

Wedding cake makers have been proclaiming 2017 as the year of the geode cake. For one, Mark Seaman is an expert on recognizing trends and helping brides achieve their dream wedding cakes, having taught four years as a chef instructor and master cake artist at the prestigious French Pastry School after running his own cake shop for nine years in Chicago at Marked for Dessert.

Geode wedding cakes “are huge right now,” says Seaman, CMSA, who is culinary applications chef, specialties, for Barry Callebaut. “I think a lot of cakes will be created this year based on the bride’s birthstone.”

How to make a geode cake 

According to cake decorator and blogger Jennifer Johns, here’s a step-by-step method to make a geode cake:

Prepare cakes and cover in a thin layer of buttercream. Have 6-inch cake on a small, thin cardboard cake board, and the 8-inch cake on a large, white cake board. Roll out two long logs of white fondant and a long log of blue fondant and twist together. Continue to twist and roll fondant together until it is marbled. Using a large fondant rolling pin, roll fondant out flat into a circle at least 14 inches in diameter for the small cake, and at least 16 inches in diameter for the larger cake. Drape fondant over top of each cake and smooth flat with a fondant smoother.

Place three wood dowels into the larger cake and cut flush to the top of the cake. Stack with smaller cake on top of the support dowels. Use an edible ink pen to draw a long oval shape onto the cake, with half on the top and half on the bottom tiers. Use a sharp knife to remove a deep groove amount of cake. Cover the exposed cake in buttercream, and then piping gel. Start in the center with the darkest blue rock candies and work outwards with the lighter candies. To use the gold leaf, cut pieces into small strips by placing sheet of gold in between two sheets of transfer paper. Gold leaf is extremely fragile and will move at the slightest movement of air.

Brush application area of fondant with water and press gold leaf to that area. Using a large, dry, makeup brush, press the gold leaf down on to the wet fondant area. Fill in any gaps between the gold and the crystals with additional clear crystals. To make the border around the bottom of both cakes, pipe on a generous amount of piping gel at the bases and start with the darkest blue at the bottom, working your way up to the lightest. Pile the large chunk rock candy on a string on top of the cake as a cake topper.