Birthday Cake Gallery

Last week I noticed that Life As Mom does an annual Birthday Cake Round Up.  I thought I would join in if for no other reason than to reminisce.  I'm sure there are more cakes than this, but I didn't feel like searching through the external hard drive to find any more.  Oh, and I did purposefully leave out a few duds. =] There are stories behind most of these cakes, but I'll try not to bore you.

From the most recent back to the very beginning . . .

Isaiah's 4th birthday:  I'm really enjoying making boy cakes after years of girly cakes. My son wanted a "BuzzWoody" cake. Thanks to a friend with a Silhouette, a laminator and figurines from Toys R Us -- it was a success!

Madi's 7th birthday:  This is my first attempt at a doll cake.  At the last minute I had to bake another cake to make the proportions correct (added the bottom half).  Not sure that doll cake pan was worth the price -- even with my 40% off coupon.

Madi's 6th birthday:  My first attempt at fondant.  I was IN LOVE!  I sketched the cake shape out on waxed paper, cut it out and used it as a template for cutting the cake (half sheet cake).  I think this is one of my favorites!

Sister's 30th birthday:  This is here to humble me.  This was my second attempt with fondant, and I made it twice that day -- NEVER, and I mean, NEVER use old marshmallows.  I finished this up around 2 or 3 am.  Glad I took this picture then too.

Everything looked to be starting out well -- watched my Youtube videos and thought I could conquer a topsy-turvy!  Things that I know were problems:  fondant was too thick (didn't have time to mess with it; consistency still wasn't right second time around and it was breaking), not enough supports were put in bottom cake (I won't go into how the top layer of the cake had slid off onto the table by the time I woke up later that morning), and top layer was too big -- but uneducated me just used what pans I had.

I may or may not attempt another topsy-turvy or fondant. =]

Isaiah's 3rd birthday:  Everyone loved this cake, but I have too many not-so-fun memories to put this up there with my favorites.  There were a couple technical issues (ie, support between tractor and cart) and our septic system went haywire the night before the party and we had to lug everyone and the unfinished cake 40 minutes to my inlaws not knowing if my hubby could get it up and working in time for the party.

The haystacks are twinkies and the wheels are donuts.

When Isaiah woke up that morning and saw his cake, he apparently thought it was real and tried to pick it up.  My mother-in-law and I screamed which scared him.  We felt awful.  Add to the not nice feelings about this cake.

We did make it back into our house.  He loved the cake.  The septic was functional.  We all survived.  The End.

Madi's 5th birthday:  We do "big" birthdays for 5 years old which means celebrating with more than just family.  The first cake was LPS (Littlest Pet Shop) for the family party and the princess cake was for the girls that joined us at the paint-your-own-pottery place.  I threw the second one together on a whim, and it ended up being one of my favorites.

Madison's 4th birthday:  Strawberry Shortcake.  It has a large "4th birthday" written on top.

Madi's 3rd birthday:  Decorated to match the plates and table cloth I had on hand.  She didn't have a request.

Baby Shower Cake for baby Avery:  buttercream icing.  Note:  If you attempt to make this cake, ice the white section in the middle first, then the brown sections.  You guessed it.  I didn't do it that way, and boy was it hard to smooth out the white section!

Madi's 2nd birthday:  Saw a picture of this Dora cake in a local grocery store bakery and copied it.  She loved it.  She had a little trouble getting up two fingers but had a great party anyway.

Makenna's 1st birthday:  My first and LAST attempt at a star cake.  My hand still hurts thinking about it.  And I even used a 3-star tip! (sorry for the quality; picture of a picture, 2002)  Makenna isn't a big fan of cake, so she mostly gets ice cream cakes now.  She's trying to talk me into decorating a ice cream cake for her.  Still trying to figure that one out.  She did like the Hello Kitty fondant cake, so maybe I can talk her into something like that -- if I ever attempt fondant again, that is.

And here's where it all started.  Wilton cake decorating class.  These were two of the cakes I made in class back in 2001.  My dad always decorated special birthday cakes -- we're talking upright pianos (candelabra included) and dump trucks filled with candy!  It was such a special memory of my childhood that I wanted to do the same for my kids.

Hope you enjoyed looking through my "gallery" and got your laugh for the day. =D Thanks for stopping by!