I did it!!! It wasn't as hard as I expected. It wasn't totally perfect, but hey...Miss V thought it was the best cake that I ever made. It did take a few days to make. It has been a busy week between her school events, mini birthday party, shopping at the mall, getting everything ready for her brother's pre-deployment party, Easter and her actual birthday which was Easter Sunday.
How this cake started....I was showing Miss V lots of cakes on Pinterest and she spotted this
She quickly decided that is the one she wanted...but had a couple stipulations....It cannot be pink, it has to be lime green. Ok......trying to figure out what other colors to use was easy. She looked at her Vera Bradley backpack in Lime's Up. So off to Hobby Lobby we went.
We found a smaller silicone cupcake mold and she was ok with it. While I was looking for a large square pan she yelled that she found the GIANT cupcake pan.
We quickly put the silicone one away. Then we went in search of the colors. I love Americolor Gels. They are in little squirt bottles. So much less mess than Wilton tubs.
So I made the bottom cake which is a 12 inch square pan. It takes two full cake mixes. The bottom Miss V chose chocolate cake. After it was cooled, I wrapped it in plastic and put it in the fridge.
Then the next day I made the cupcake parts. I did a lot of searching and found some great tips so that the top part doesn't burn.
Set the oven to 325 to preheat. Use one whole cake mix for bottom, so mix according to the package directions. Spray the bottom part of the pan really well with cooking spray with flour or you may grease and flour the pan. Add the cake batter to the bottom section of the pan. Place the pan on a cookie sheet and place into the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
In the mean time mix up the next cake batter. When the 20 minutes are up, carefully take out the pan. Spray the top section with the cooking spray with flour. Add the cake batter up to the next to last line. Place back in the oven carefully and bake for 45 minutes.
Let it cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer that both pieces would come out ok and they both came out perfectly. Let them cool completely. I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
Saturday morning I started by leveling all three section and then started decorating. I crumb coated all three pieces with canned white frosting and placed back in the fridge.
I made some fondant and Miss V helped color small pieces. I rolled and cut out circles while she played with a piece to make the big "gumball" for the top.
Totally forgot to snap a picture of the cut out circles. Oh well....
I was slowly running out of time when it came to decorate it and I had to do it in front of guests and talk with them at the same time. I kind of felt like I was giving a class...I totally forgot to put a dowel through the cakes. I did push a skewer through it a the last minute when I saw that it was a bit wobbly. The only real issue I had was that the canned frosting was a bit soft so it looked messy and I really couldn't pipe around the bottom of the cupcake or it would have plopped off.
Does anyone have tips that would help me next time???
Anyway it still came out adorable and the most important part...Miss V was thrilled with it.
As much as I secretly stress out when Miss V asks me to make her cakes. She was traumatized a few years ago when the grocery store totally made the wrong cake and I didn't notice until we opened at the party. So I am thankful, if that didn't happen, I wouldn't have stepped out of my comfort zone and learned all sorts of new techniques and tricks. Granted the cakes aren't perfect in my eyes...but they are perfect in Miss V's eyes.
A huge thank you to Hobby Lobby in North Port that had all the supplies that I needed to make this cake and I didn't have to run all around to find the GIANT cupcake pan.
Happy 11th birthday to my sweet little lady!
Also a huge thank you to
Do The Happy Bounce for the awesome Army inflatable! If you live in my area, I highly suggest renting from them!!!!
Our soldier.....
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