The Cake

This year for my daughter's birthday, I decided to do something I've never done for my kids before...make a birthday cake. Because both of my kids have summer birthdays, we typically travel to spend their special days with family. So, that usually means buying a cake...or having my mom make one. :)

Now that I think about it, I did make cupcakes for L's birthday last year...and transported them to Iowa. But that's still not cake.

So, when I saw this idea for a Candyland cake in my Parents magazine, I decided I was up for the challenge of making my first cake. Every year I almost cry when I price out store bought cakes. This year would be different.

We were only planning a small party, so I knew that we didn't need as big of a cake as was pictured. That was okay. Smaller = easier.

So, with the help of my wonderful husband, the night before the party, we set to work decorating the cake. I used one box of Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix, and baked it in two 9-inch cake pans. We used almost two containers of vanilla frosting, putting a thin layer between the two cakes to make sure they stuck together. Then we decorated with candy. Here is our final product:


To make the path, we used chewy jolly rancher candies that we microwaved, rolled with a rolling pin, and then cut into rectangles. We bought the string licorice at a candy store at the mall (it was unbelievably hard to find!) We ended up having to remove the jujubes because they were SO hard. Darn bulk bin candy. A broken tooth at a birthday wouldn't have been fun.

I was so pleased with how the cake turned out. It was SO sweet, but also SO good. I've been craving it for a week! Now I'm on to scheming what kind of cake to make for my son when he turns two in August.