Birthday Cake Round-Up

Rapunzel "Tangled" Cake

Today at Life as Mom, it's the Birthday Cake Round Up. Honestly, the vast majority of my cake decorating experience is either self-taught or comes from FishMama. But, I've always wanted to take a cake decorating class. My friend Caroline and I are planning on taking a class together sometime this summer. I can't wait!

Over the years, I've still managed to make some cakes to impress my girls. After all, that is usually the point. If they're happy with their birthday cakes, I'm one happy momma. It is so much more affordable to make your own cake, and oftentimes it tastes even better than the store bought version. I almost always keep it simple with a boxed cake mix and then make it special by adding my own homemade buttercream frosting and a few decorative touches.

I've pulled some links from the archives of some of our favorite birthday cakes. Each link contains  instructions on how to recreate the cake. Enjoy!

Bonnie's Birdhouse Cake

TinkerBell & Terence Cake

Sleeping Beauty Cake (a variation of this Tangled Cake from FishMama)

 Barbie and The Three Musketeers Cake

 Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire

Tinker Bell & Terence Birthday Cake

Once I got the inspiration for Ella's birthday cake from this Fairy House Ornament craft, I was really excited to make it. Originally, I planned on making a 4-layer tower and using one of the Tinker Bell "Polly Pocket" style figurines that we already had. However, once I found a set of tiny Tinker Bell & Terence figurines at Walmart, I decided to make two shorter fairy houses. Logistically, I just figured it would be easier to serve up a 2-layer cake than a 4-layer. Since I used mini-cake pans, I ended up making 12 cupcakes to supplement. The guests got to choose if they wanted a piece of the fairy house or a "mushroom" cupcake. It took me at least an hour to decorate it, but it was totally worth it!Here's how I did it:

What you need:

• four mini-springform pans
• 12-cup muffin pan
• cupcake paper liners
• one batch of cake batter prepared to box instructions
• 1 1/2 batches of 5-Minute Buttercream Frosting, divided usage
• paste food coloring (I used green, red, and yellow)
• green sprinkles
• cocoa powder (or brown paste food coloring)
• pastry bag and tips
• cardstock for the roofs (I used the roof from this craft, enlarged it as big as it would fit on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, cut it out and taped it into a cone shape)
• graham cracker crumbs

What to do:

1. Divide the cake batter between the greased mini-pans and 12 lined cupcake tins . Bake according to package directions. Since the cakes are different sizes, start at the baking time for the cupcakes and keep checking the mini cakes with a toothpick until done. Remove from pans and cool completely.
2. Place two mini cakes on the platter, spread on some frosting, and then top with the other two mini cakes. Frost with a crumb coat and place in the fridge to harden.
3. Put a portion of frosting in a separate bowl and tint to your preferred shade of green. I overdid it and made it a bit too leafy green. I added some dark chocolate cocoa powder to muddy it up a bit. Frost the two cakes. Add some green sprinkles for texture. Place in the fridge to harden.
4. Put a small portion of frosting in a separate bowl and tint yellow. Spread a circle of yellow frosting on the front of the cakes to make the "doors." You can use a pastry bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off to make it easier. Add some sort of candy to make the doorknob. (I used a snowflake sprinkle.)
5. Add some small white "windows" to the sides of the house. Place in the fridge to harden.
6. Put a portion of frosting in a separate bowl and tint dark brown with either dark cocoa powder or brown paste food coloring. Put in a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe around the door, the windows and add some "twig" beams. Place in the fridge to harden.
7. Put a portion of frosting in a separate bowl and tint red. Frost the cupcakes with red. Place in the fridge to harden a bit. Then add some white circles on top of the red to make the cupcakes resemble mushrooms.
8. On the serving platter, coat the empty spaces with a thin coat of frosting and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Put some frosting on the bottom of the figurines and a "mushroom" and press into place. Insert a number candle into the mushroom. Top the fairy houses with the cardstock roofs.

Bonnie's Birdhouse Cake

January is a busy month for birthdays around these parts. My mother-in-law Bonnie was in town recently so we had a belated celebration for her. My father-in-law has always loved birds, however, Bonnie has taken an interest in them as well in the past year. Their backyard is filled with various kinds of birdfeeders. So, I decided to make a Birdhouse Cake this year. I was inspired by the shape of Fishmama's Tangled Cake. 

Although it was far from perfect, I thought it turned out pretty cute. If there is a bird-lover in your life, they just might enjoy one of these too. Here's how I did it:

What you need:

• four mini-springform pans
• one 9-inch round cake pan
• one batch of cake batter prepared to box instructions
• one batch of 5-Minute Buttercream Frosting
• paste food coloring (I used black and yellow)
• cocoa powder (or brown paste food coloring)
• 1 straw
• colored cardstock
• sprinkles
• cut-out of a bird

What to do:

1. Divide the cake batter between the greased mini-pans and round cake pan. Bake according to package directions. Remove from pans and cool completely.
2. Place the large round cake on a cake board or platter. Put enough frosting to coat it in a separate bowl and tint it brown either with cocoa powder or brown paste food coloring. Frost cake. Sprinkle with green sprinkles and let harden in the fridge for a few minutes.
3. Build the birdhouse by placing one mini cake in the center of the large cake, adding a layer of frosting and stacking another mini cake.  Repeat until all layers are used. Skewer a straw or chopstick through the center of the cake tower for stability. Coat the "birdhouse" with a crumb coat of frosting and let harden in the fridge.
4. Tint a small amount of the frosting with black paste food coloring for the birdhouse "hole" and tint the rest the color of your birdhouse (I used yellow). Frost your birdhouse tower and then add a black circle for the entrance. Cut off a piece of straw to use as the perch, and insert it below the black hole.
5. Create a cone out of colored cardstock to use as your roof.
6. Print out a picture of a bird, cut it out and tape it to a toothpick. Insert somewhere in your cake.

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For other birthday cake ideas, be sure to check out Fishmama's Birthday Cake Round-Up at Life As Mom. She also has some great cake ebooks -- Petty.Cool.Cakes and the newly released More Cool Cakes.