Another Hobby: Making Cakes

I can't exactly call what I do "cake decorating" because I really am quite inexperienced and all that I do, I just do for fun.

When I was a kid, my mom always made fun cakes for our birthdays. When I turned three, I got a cake made in the shape of a house decorated with candy. When I turned seven, my mom made a princess cake, using a Barbie doll and making the cake as the skirt. That was before that became a common type of cake. There were quite a few others, but those two really stick out in my memory.

So I decided to borrow a page from her book (I seem to do that a lot!) and started making fun cakes for my kids for their birthdays. Now it's the big thing around here on birthdays. We pretty much plan the birthday around the cake!

Turtle cakes: I used a Wilton ball cake pan for the shells and made mini cupcakes for the feet and heads and tail. I used milk chocolate icing for the main shell and body, green buttercream icing for the shell and dark chocolate buttercream for the shell design.

Monkey Tree Cake: I drew the cake shape on paper before cutting it out. It's made from one chocolate 9 X 13 rectangular cake. The monkeys are from a Monkey Barrel game. Buttercream frosting. All my cakes are buttercream frosting.

Train cake: I used mini bread pans for this cake. The coal car has crushed Oreos for coal. The logs are Twix bars. The red you see on the coal car and lumber car are licorice.

Football and Baseball Cakes: I used the Wilton football cake pan and the Wilton ball cake pan for these cakes and basically just followed the instructions that came with the pans.

Football Field Cake: I should have used a metal pan but didn't, that's why I didn't take the cake out of the pan because it wouldn't come out. We found the football players at Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating section.

Baseball Mitt and Ball Cake: This is a two-layer round cake with a cupcake as the baseball. I used two types of chocolate icing for the mitt and then set the cupcake decorated like a baseball on top for the picture. The baseball was then given to my son for his first birthday cake to get all over his face.

Ariel cake: I used my daughter's Ariel doll. I wrapped her legs in plastic and inserted her into the cake. I used a pyrex mixing bowl to bake the cake in. Then I used buttercream icing dyed green, blue and gray to make the fin, rocks, and water.

Butterfly cake: I used the Wilton butterfly cake pan for this cake. It's chocolate with chocolate icing. To make the designs, I put cookie cutters on the wings and sprinkled sprinkles into the cookie cutters for the shapes.

Heart cake: I used heart cake pans to make this two-layer heart cake. The sprinkles are done the same way as the butterfly cake and the sides are edged with marshmallows.

Black widow cake: I used the Wilton ball cake pan for this cake and a cupcake for the head of the spider. Black licorice is used for the legs. If anyone has tips on making black icing taste good, please share. This cake was a hit but it didn't taste very good because of the black dye. Also, after I baked it, I thought that maybe I should have made it out of red velvet, so when it was cut into, it would be like the insides of a spider.

Spider-man on a Building Cake: I made two 9 X 13 rectangular cakes and cut them up to make the building. The Spider-man on top is just a candle.

Firetruck Cake: I made a 9 X 13 cake and cut it in half lengthwise to layer it. I used gum drops for headlights and tail lights, licorice for the ladder, and Oreo cookies for the wheels.

Spider-man Cake: This is just a round two-layer cake decorated to look like Spider-man's face.

Car Cake: I used the Wilton car cake pan for this cake. I actually made a car cake for each of my three boys. Instead of using the wheels that are baked as part of the shape of the cake, I added wheels that were little chocolate donuts and used Life Savers for headlights and tail lights.

Light Saber Cake: I used a 9 X 13 cake pan and cut the pieces up from that, shaping them into the light sabers. The handles are black licorice with red light sabers for the buttons.

This is a Dinotrux Claw Tire Cake. If you haven't read the book Dinotrux by Chris Gall and you have boys, you should. It's great. I made a round two-layer cake and shaped the tire from that. The hubcap is sour green apple licorice, green sprinkles, and green Gobstoppers. The claw on the end is a white Good & Plenty.

Phineas and Ferb Cake: This is from the Disney cartoon, Phineas and Ferb, which my children love. I just made a two-layer 9 X 13 cake with chocolate frosting. Then I made green buttercream frosting. I dyed coconut flakes green for the grass. The figures are little action figures that can be purchased at The Disney Store or The Disney Store online. The tree is made out of Tootsie rolls and green fruity marshmallows.

Ladybug Cake: I used half of a Wilton ball cake pan to make the ladybug. The legs are black licorice. The ladybug sits on a one-layer 9 X 13 cake with chocolate icing.

These are the cakes I've made my kids and others. I'd like to make cakes for special occasions for a little business, but I think I need to hone my skills first and learn to make tastier cakes as well. So far, I only use cake mixes. If I'm going to market them, I ought to learn some good "from scratch" recipes.