My Kids' Cakes

So before I had kids I had never really tried to make a fancy cake.  I didn't really make much of any cakes to tell you the truth, but somehow once the birthdays started, I would find an idea for a cake and just go for it.    

                                                In the beginning, there was just a regular cake.

Isabel's First Birthday.

 

She wasn't too impressed as you can tell ;)

Her birthday celebration also coincided with nap time.  Rookie  parent mistake!

 

Second Birthday cake was also unimpressive....she had growing issues and was on a gluten-free diet at the time, so she had her own mini cake.

 

Third Birthday cake!  My first try at fondant.  I made my own and for my first attempt at making a "cute" cake, I thought it was fantastic!

 

It was a bug themed party.

 

Fourth Birthday she was really into Hello Kitty.  I loved this cake too!  So much fun!

 

Then we had her 5th Birthday and I had just had Ian....so she got this cake.

All I can say is that with a new baby, she's lucky she got a homemade cake.  Her favorite color is purple, so that was impressive to her ;)

 

Ian's 1st Birthday was right around Easter, so this was an obvious choice!  I thought this cake also turned out great!  The only thing that could have made it better is if I could have devised a basket handle.

 

For Isabel's 6th Birthday we had a party at a park.  We invited friends and every single one of them came.  I couldn't believe it!   So I had to make a big cake to feed a lot of people.  I thought a giant "I" for "Isabel" would be fairly easy and get the job done.

Ian's 2nd Birthday I was in the hospital delivering Caroline.  (Remember, their birthdays are one day apart?)  So there is no cake. 

 

 

Isabel's 7th Birthday at the end of the same month got a store-bought cake.  3 kids and one of them a newborn?  Could not handle making a cake!

 

But this year with the baby turning 1, Ian turning 3 and Isabel about to be 8, I had a lot of help and had the time to be able to make a cake again.

 

Caroline's cake turned out floppy.  No literally.  I took the cake layers and put them in the freezer and they froze on an uneven surface leaving me with a lumpy cake.  It was ridiculous.  I hesitate to put it on here, but I mean all the other cakes are here and it IS her first birthday cake, so here ya go.

 

 

So it was a double layer vanilla cake.  Isabel helped make little roses and she decorated the top with one of those edible markers....lumpy cake with some cracking fondant, hahahah..... who will remember those details other than me? ;)

 

Cake not so cute....but Caroline on her birthday?  Ummm....I'll take a second serving of her!  She was a doll.

 

And she loved her cake. 

 

I mean really loved it.  She was covered and smothered by the end.

And then, there was Ian's 3rd Birthday cake.

I searched pinterest for train cakes and came up with a lot of great ideas.  And basically just convinced myself I could do this ;)  And then I did.

 

 

It was really beautiful.  I had to set my ego aside because as soon as Isabel saw that fondant was really just edible modeling clay, she could not resist helping.  She is sooooo into making little figures with modeling clay; she just had a blast helping with the cake.

 

 

So it's a three layer cake.  2 chocolate layers and vanilla in the middle from scratch.  Buttercream icing from scratch, and marshmallow fondant.  Now the recipe said to use high quality marshmallows, but I cheated and used the store brand.  I saved a small bit of the buttercream to puff out the clouds.  It was stinkin' adorable. 

 

 

It tasted alright too. ;)