Yee Haw! Cowgirl Birthday Cake

A cowgirl-themed birthday cake for twin girls... one insisted there be a cow on the cake, and one insisted there be a horse. So, we ended up with this.
It's all buttercream, and really only three colors (chocolate, black and white), so it's not too hard to accomplish. The real surprise is inside of the cow tier-- which is also cow-spotted.

What You Need:
Cake Mix or Recipe for 1 vanilla and 1 chocolate cake 
1 recipe Buttercream Icing
Double recipe of Chocolate Buttercream Icing
Black Icing Coloring
Food-safe dowel rods
6" & 8" cake pans
Piping Bags and Tips #7, 10, 233

Easy Cat or Dog "Food Bowl" Birthday Cakes

My boys turned seven this weekend. Every year, we have a costume party for their birthday, to give them (and their friends) another chance to wear their Halloween costumes.

This year, they were cats. So, they wanted cat food bowls for their birthday cakes.

I decided to go with simple for the decoration because this year the boys were very particular about flavors and fillings. (Chocolate-chocolate-chocolate for Charley, and White cake with lemon curd filling and vanilla frosting for Jax.)

The 'water' is piping gel colored blue. (I added a small layer of white icing underneath the blue gel to make the water look lighter in color.) And the cat food is cereal. Each cat chose his favorite cat-food-looking cereal to go on his cake.

I made each a two-layer 9x13 cake, filled in between the layers, and to get the 'indentation' for the sides of the bowls, I used a tip #12 to add a thick layer. I added three layers, then tried to get them as smooth as possible (easier said than done).

In the end, they weren't perfect, but they won over the cats, and their friends.

Click the Links Below to See
How to Make Cake Mix taste Homemade
Rich Vanilla Buttercream Icing Recipe
Silky Chocolate Buttercream Icing Recipe
Lemon Curd Recipe
How to Frost the Corners of a Cake
Last Year's "Backson" Monster Birthday Cake

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Banana Split Dessert Bars {Recipe}

It's official... I have a problem with banana split-styled desserts. But they're just sooooo good!

I brought these cake/bars to my National Night Out block party, and they got rave reviews all around.

What You Need:
For the Bars:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
2 eggs (at room temperature)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
3/4 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)

For the Chocolate Layer (and drizzle):
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)

For the Strawberry-Pineapple Layer:
1 cup frozen strawberries (defrosted--reserve the juice!)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple (optional)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. corn starch

For the Vanilla Pudding Layer:
1 3.5oz. (small) box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk

For the Whipped Cream Layer:
2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1/4 cup powdered sugar
(or just use Cool Whip or another pre-made whipped topping)

Toppings (optional):
Maraschino Cherries
Chopped nuts (any kind)
Chocolate sauce (from above)
Shredded Coconut
Sprinkles
Mini Chocolate Chips

Yield: About 24-36 bars

Click this link to purchase a printable version of this recipe for $1!

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Ruffle Cake

Ruffle-covered cakes are very popular right now. The problem with a lot of them is just the amount of time it takes to do them.

This strawberry-banana ruffle cake is much easier than most. For this 2-layer 6" round cake, I spent less than half an hour piping the decoration.

What You Need:
6-8" Round Cakes (2-3 layers)*
Buttercream Icing**
Piping Bag fitted with Tip #21

*I used my Banana Cake Recipe. You could also use Cake Mix Made to Taste Like Homemade.
**I used my favorite Strawberry Buttercream Recipe (with some red food coloring added to make it a little darker). You can find all of my Icing Recipes Here.

Red, White and Blue Cake - [Banana Split Cake]

The Fourth of July isn't just a national holiday, it's also the birthday of one of my closest friends. Because my birthday often falls on or near Memorial Day, we share the childhood memory of no one coming to our birthday parties because they were all out of town! (sniff, sniff)

So, I made this special patriotic birthday cake to serve double duty for our July Fourth celebration with her and her family.

I know from past discussions that she loves the Strawberry Buttercream Icing as much as I do, so I wanted to have that for the cake.

And with three colors, and three flavors, I thought why not go for a Banana Split Cake, and just color the icing to make it red, white and blue?

What You Need:
Banana Cake
Swiss Meringue Buttercream*
Red and Blue Icing Coloring
Piping Bag with large round tip (Tip #12 or 1A)
Icing Spatula or butter knife

*Note: You will need to divide the icing into thirds to flavor it (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry). I would recommend a double batch, even though you will end up with some leftovers. Too much icing is always better than too little! 

Lemonade Cake with Strawberry-Lemonade Icing

Happy Birthday to Me!

My husband decided that for my birthday this year, he would make something from this blog for me. I couldn't let that go without some documentation.

He chose to take these Strawberry-Lemonade Cupcakes, and turn them into a cake.

I have to tell you, it's really, really hard to stand by and watch while your non-baker (though decent at cooking) husband follows a recipe I made! But I mostly stayed out of his way... other than with a camera.

Half-Birthday Half-Cake

Yes, I realize that celebrating my children's half-birthday makes me the embodiment of all that is wrong with parents in America... or whatever.
But it's so fun! I made this half-birthday half-cake after seeing something similar online.

What You Need:
One boxed cake mix or about 5 cups cake batter
8" round cake pan
6" round cake pan
Chocolate Ganache
Buttercream Icing
Icing Colors
Piping Bags and Tip #7

Cinco de Mayo- Mango Ruffle Cake

Because I just made some yummy Strawberry-Margarita Cupcakes, and I wanted my boys to share in the cake I made for Cinco de Mayo this year, I opted to go away from margaritas and towards some other Mexican-inspired flavors.

The cake didn't quite turn out as I'd planned, thanks to some silly mistakes on my part, but I think it turned out pretty well, nevertheless.

What You Need:
For the Cake:
1 Box White (or vanilla or yellow) Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup milk
1 cup mango puree*
Optional: 
1-2 Tbsp. limeade concentrate
Food Coloring
6" cake pan

For the Icing:
1 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 cup vegetable shortening
1- 2 lb. bag powdered sugar
1/2 cup mango puree*
2 Tbsp. limeade concentrate

*Note: See below for the mango puree instructions. I used frozen mango chunks from the freezer section, defrosted and pureed them.

Easy Superhero Birthday Cake

A special friend requested a little 'different' kind of cake for his 6th birthday. He wanted Green Lantern, because Green Lantern is his favorite superhero. BUT he was having a party at a pool, so he wanted Green Lantern... swimming.

I decided to try to make what is called a 'frozen buttercream transfer' to make Green Lantern.
But when I got started, I was certain, just completely sure, it would not work. (I planned a trip to Target to buy the figurine. I was that sure it would be awful.)
So, that is why I don't have a whole lot of pictures of the technique, but I have a few. I will share my lessons, and give you a few links to more complete tutorials by others.
And maybe soon, I will try it again, and do a better tutorial, because it really wasn't as hard as I'd imagined.

Polka Dot Cakes Revisited

Remember the Polka Dot Cake?

Photos Courtesy: ScotchBrand.com

Well, as it turns out, I did all of the practice to learn how to make it for a special project.

It is for a website showcasing some pretty cool options for Scotch Tape.

Polka Dot Tape!!

I had a lot of fun watching how the real pros, professional photographers and stylists make pictures look great.

It's a good thing I didn't send them this one!!

Click the Links Below to See:
How To Make a Polka Dot Cake
How to Make a Sprinkle-Sprinkle Cake
Another Polka Dot Cake Idea

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How To Make a Basket Cake {Video}

The basket weave is one of those techniques that takes a little bit to learn, but once it 'clicks,' you can whip out a cake like this in 30 minutes flat!

What You Need:
Cake & Icing (I prefer my Decorator's Buttercream Icing for this. But I used Cream Cheese Icing here-- not recommended for beginners because the consistency is harder to get just right.)
Wilton Tip #47 (use two tips if you want alternating colors)
Wilton Tip #21 (for the border)

How-To Make a Petal Cake

Learning something new... I decided to try the "petal effect" on the side of a cake. I had a birthday cake to make for our favorite babysitter, and I had carte blanche to do whatever I wanted on it. So, this is what I tried.

This white cake was actually the trial, because I was impatient, again, and the cake fell. So, I decided to just use shorty here to practice.

This was the actual birthday cake. I'm not sure that I don't like the practice one better.
I have to tell you that for how pretty this cake is, it's surprisingly easy to do! It took me less than an hour to decorate this cake!

Chocolate & Vanilla Polka Dot Cake

I mentioned this cake a little bit when I wrote my post about How-To Make a Polka Dot Cake. But I wanted to be more specific with it, and share the outside as well as the inside, because I think it turned out nicely. (And I have some solutions for the problems that I did have.)

What You Need:
Chocolate Cake Recipe (Either scratch or cake mix works fine.)
Vanilla/White Cake Recipe (scratch or cake mix again, fine.)
Chocolate Buttercream Icing
Vanilla Buttercream Icing
Small Round Cutter (like these)
Decorating bags and a variety of round decorating tips (I used tips # 12, 10, 7, 5 & 3)

Hearts-Inside Cake... Or Not

After I had so much fun learning how to make the Polka Dot Cake...

I decided that I wanted to try it with hearts for Valentine's Day. It seemed so simple... and really, the hearts-inside part actually turned out pretty well...

It's just the rest of the execution that failed... miserably.
I'm hoping to give the hearts - or maybe another shape - another chance some time soon. But, if you want to try it yourself... and certainly get better results... let me tell you what worked, and what decidedly did NOT.

"Wild About You" - Easy Monster Cake

How about a hairy, purple Monster to say I'm Wild About You, Valentine!?!
This cake is super easy! It took me less than an hour to decorate. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, Birthdays, whatever!

What You Need:
6-9" Round Cake (This was 6"x3")
2-4 cups of Buttercream Icing (depending on the size of your cake)
  Colors: Purple, Pink, Black (and white)
Decorating Bags & Tips #5, 12, 233

Polka Dot Baby Shower Cake

So, I spent last week trying to learn how to make the cake with the polka dots inside.

I offered my attempts to any friends who might need cake for the weekend... as long as they didn't mind that I'd cut a piece out and re-cover the cake with icing. A friend hosting a baby shower took me up on the offer. And since my Baby Boy Cake Pops are the most popular post on this blog (and they're really nothing special), I figured the world was hurting for more BOY baby shower ideas.

While the cake is cute with its blue and green on the outside, it's the inside that really counts.

What You Need:
6", 8" or 9" round cake pan(s)
2-3 white cake mixes (or Vanilla Cake Recipe doubled)
Food Coloring (I used the McCormick NEON that you find at the grocery store)
1-2" Round Cutters (Biscuit cutter, Fondant cutters or Cookie cutters)
Buttercream Icing (Canned icing would also work here)
For the dots on the outside:
2 Piping bags
2 Couplers
Round Tips in varying sizes (I used # 3, 5, 7, 10)

How NOT To Make a Polka Dot Cake (and How-To)

Oh, Pinterest... you evil, evil website, you.

I saw a cake like this polka dot one on Pinterest from a blog called Once Upon a Pedestal. It's beautiful, and an awesome idea.

However, she uses a cake pop pan to make the polka dots. I don't have one of those, and the last thing in the world that I need is another cake pan! So, I decided to try some other options.

It took me four cakes, and five days, but I finally got it! (Well, mostly.)

Cake Trial #1
The mini-cupcake pan

I thought, oh, sure, I will just pop some multi-colored mini-cupcakes into the batter... they're round, it will be perfect.
Not. So. Much.

Easy Christmas Wreath Cake

A fun, easy Christmas cake for you today... a Holly Leaf Wreath Cake.
(Click here if you'd like to sign up to make this cake with me Sunday, Dec. 16 in Crystal.)

What You Need:
Any round cake, iced or covered with fondant
Green Fondant*
Red Fondant*
Holly Leaf Cutter(s)

*Note: I used my Homemade Marshmallow Fondant for this. If you want the leaves to hold their shape for a long period of time, you may want to add either 1 tsp. of Gum Tex or mix in an equal amount of Gum Paste.