birthday cake

Today I made Jamie's first birthday cake! I am so excited about it! I stole the idea for a block cake from my sister-in-law Sarah who made them for Jamie's cousins a couple months ago. I have never taken a cake decorating class or anything, but I have decorated scores (okay maybe just one score) of gingerbread houses and grew up watching my mom making super awesome birthday cakes. I made a carrot cake because it is dairy free, has vegetables in it, and calls for oil (I used olive oil), so it's not quite as terrible for you as most cakes.

I made the cake during Jamie's morning nap and then let it cool.

I finished it during his afternoon (well, actually he woke up earlier than normal so Thomas took him to the park until dinner time and I was able to finish everything). I cut into four regularish pieces

And then I made three of them level. Thomas got to eat the extra one.

cake scraps!

Thomas ate those too.

For the frosting, I used a recipe from the dairy-free cook book my sister-in-law Emily got me for Christmas. It had a specific variation to use if you're decorating with the frosting, so I used that and it worked out great.

Next I assembled my pieces. I tried to make it as close to a cube as I could. It wasn't perfect and was lopsided, but I tried to fix it as best I could. The lopsidedness never did get fixed to my satisfaction.

And then I frosted the whole thing. This was the hardest part for me. I couldn't get it to look as smooth as I wanted it to. Fortunately once it came together, you couldn't really tell anymore.

For the sides of the block, I used Jamie's initials, the number 1, and a star. I did each side in a different color. I used Wilton's gel colors which I purchased for some cupcakes I'm planning to make later. Apparently if you're using red, you have to get a special one that says "no taste." I can't understand why they bother making the normal red if it makes everything taste gross. Walmart was out of that when I went, so I had to go to another store, and I actually found this great cake decorating store. If I did more cakes I bet I'd be there all the time! I will definitely keep it in mind for Jamie's next birthday.

Once the frosting was colored (I had to use a LOT of red before I was satisfied it wasn't pink), I went to town on each side. I used a toothpick to outline them before I used any frosting, and then I outlined each letter with frosting before filling it in. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be!

Ta-da!

I can't wait to give it to him tomorrow!