A baker’s custom “Blank Space” cake is showing how TikTok can be a bit like Rotten Tomatoes: The audience score and critical score were a little different.
Amateur baker Consuelo Rodriguez (@consuelo_e) posted some video of her process last week. A customer asked her to make a “Blank Space” cake for her daughter’s 14th birthday.
In the 2014 video for the Taylor Swift song, the singer sits on a bed and stabs a white, heart-shaped cake. A splatter of red shoots out.
What is a ‘Blank Space’ cake?
The “Blank Space” or “broken heart” cake has been popular pretty much since the music video came out, and instructions for how to make it can be found on YouTube, TikTok, and various baking blogs.
In some examples, bakers create a fake blood mixture under a layer of icing or fondant, so blood coats the knife when one cuts into it. Others use a layer of red fruit, like cherries.
The cake started getting more popular on TikTok in October, around the time 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was released. There are examples where a balloon is used for the fake blood and inserted into the cake.
However, it’s hard to find videos of anyone actually eating a “Blank Space” cake.
@houseofcakescali Blank Space 🔪🩸 #blankspacecake #taylorswift #pasteriacreativa #blankspace #cursopasteleria #heartcake #heartcaketutorial #cursosonline #sangrefalsa #cerezas #escuelagastronomica #tutorial #viraltiktok @Taylor Swift ♬ sonido original – houseofcakescali
The balloon method
By Tuesday, Rodriguez’s TikTok had more than 18.5 million views and more than 4,000 comments. A lot of the feedback was negative and focused on the fact that she used the balloon method—and didn’t wear gloves.
Others thought the cake was cute.
“The comment section did not pass the vibe check,” one person wrote. “I think you did incredible!!??”
Rodriguez posted another video showing the cake being stabbed and a text from the customer saying their daughter was happy with it. In the video, the fake blood is more gooey than splatter.
@consuelo_e Blank Space Cake! #blankspace #taylorswift #taylorsversion #taylorswifterastour #blankspacetaylorsversion #blankspacetaylorswift #cake #caleboss #bakingmom ♬ Blank Space (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift
Reached for comment, Rodriguez, who’s been baking for a year, says, “People are going to criticize you.” She didn’t have any further comment on the reactions to the cake.
But in a TikTok posted on Monday, she expresses gratitude to all her new followers and says that she is “shocked” by the response to her cake.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that something that I love to do would go viral,” she says, stating that she picked up nearly 10,000 followers in 72 hours.
Rodriguez adds that she’s a single mom and baking is an extra source of income, not her full-time job. She also addresses the harassment and demeaning comments she’s received. The comments on that video are largely supportive.
As for the balloon, she says in the TikTok that she researched other “Blank Space” cakes on TikTok and YouTube, and many of them also used balloons for the fake blood. She says the customer was open to the idea.
A lot of commenters referenced “Cake Gate” in relation to this video. Earlier this year, baker Kylie Allen blasted a customer for not being satisfied with a rainbow-sprinkle cake she made. That customer then made her own TikTok and showed the finished product, which led to weeks of drama.
Rodriguez says she’d never tried a balloon cake before—and she at least took a stab at it.
“I don’t think using the balloon was wrong,” she says. “I don’t regret it.”
