Baby Girl Turns 5

Hello Everybody!

I am excited as punch to show you Baby Girl's Birthday party. I worked hard on this party, and I had some help, too. Shaun and Mom thanks for putting up with me this weekend while I was preparing for the party.

First off, just look at that big girl, isn't she just the prettiest 5 year old you ever did see? I certainly think so.

Now onto the other lovely in the picture, the piece de resistance, the cake.

This took me a couple of days to work on. I started out by doing a batch of marshmallow fondant using this recipe over at Wilton. This was my first time at doing fondant, and I know I didn't do it exactly right. I think it needed more powdered sugar, and I probably used more shortening then it called for. It still turned out ok for my first attempt. I also made this Buttercream icing recipe from Wilton. I then made two 9-inch cakes from a box mix...Shhhhh, don't tell anyone! I put the cakes in foil and put them in the freezer overnight. I put the fondant and the buttercream in the fridger overnight.

I got the idea for the tower from one of the cake shows on Dish Network. I think it was Extreme Wedding Cakes or something like that. Sorry, I really don't remember which show it was. I do know it wasn't Cake Boss or Ace of Cakes. Anyway, on the show they made a batch of rice krispies and moded them in the form of a tower using a pvc pipe and non-stick spray. They then pushed the tower out the other end. For mine, I started to put it in a pvc pipe, and then I decide I would just form it with my hands. Just a note, put your rice krispies in the fridge for a couple of hours to let them set up a little bit. This makes them easier to form into whatever shape you are making. I formed my tower around a dowel rod so I could stand it on the cake. Another bit of information, one dowel rod alone will not hold the tower, it is really heavy and will sink into your cake and eventually fall over...wouldn't know this from experience. I recommend forming it around at least two rods if possible or even digging out a little bit of the cake where you would like it to sit. Don't really know if that would work, but it's worth a try. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know. I also formed a cone shaped roof to attach to the main tower part. Once you have your tower formed, stick it in the fridge so it will harden and set more. Now, onto the fun of decorating your cake.

The next day I took my fondant and buttercream out of the fridge and I let them come to room temperature. I then took my cakes out of the freezer. I put a little bit of buttercream on my cake stand and placed the first layer on the stand. I then put a layer of buttercream on top of the first layer. I placed the second layer of cake on top. This is where mom came into the picture. While I was working with my fondant, she iced the rest of the cake in the buttercream.

I colored my fondant pink by taking a toothpick and sticking it in the food gel, and then poking it into the fondant. I did this several times to get the pink color that I was wanting. Once, you have put the food coloring in just knead your fondant until it becomes the shade of color you want. I used Wilton food coloring. I rolled the fondant out, and then placed it onto the cake. Mine cracked on one side, and it took me several tries to roll it out and lift it up without breaking. If anyone has any pointers on this step, please let me know.

For tower, I colored it a gray color using a little bit of black food coloring. I then put a thin layer of icing on my tower. I then placed the tower on the fondant and just rolled it up...much easier to put the fondant on the tower than it was the cake. For the roof, my husband dyed the fondant a purple color, and he cut individual shingles out and placed them on the roof one at a time.

We placed both the cake and tower back in the fridge until the party day which was the next day. We didn't put the tower on the cake until about 30 minutes before the party was supposed to start.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know what you think or if you have any pointers for future cakes.

Thanks,