A Tinkerbell Birthday Party

It's hard to believe that my niece is turning 6 this week.  Time really does fly by!  I absolutely LOVE being an auntie!  She has now grown up to be a sweet big sister, fantastic reader, toothless kindergartner.  This past weekend we celebrated her birthday with a Tinkerbell Party.  I was given the task to create a Tinkerbell doll cake.  A fun task it was!  Here are just a few pics :)  Enjoy!

1. I started with a double layer 9 inch cake with a hole in the middle for the doll.

2.  I had baked a portion of the cake in my metal mixing bowl. That trick turned out to be perfect!

3.  Next, I added a thin crumb coat around the whole cake.

 4.  I inserted Tinkerbell and then gave the cake a final coat of frosting with adding some swooshing to make it look like a flowing dress.

5. Now for the real fun part!  Decorating her dress with 'leaves' and flowers. 

6. Ta-da!  Finished her off with some pixie dust of course and then packed her up to go. 

Miss Autrey, the big birthday girl.

 'Pin the wand' on Tinkerbell game!

Happy Birthday, Autrey Ann!  Auntie Johanna loves you so much! 

Finding An Excuse

I always love trying out new ideas in the kitchen.  Many turn out to be flops but, thanks to my family, they are always so understanding :)  With the busyness of working, finding an excuse to be creative doesn't always come up. Today, I just had to try this new idea out it being St. Patty's day and all :) I'm a sucker for whimsical beautiful cake designs so, when I first saw this idea I fell in love.

I started with two 6 inch cake rounds. Flavors were lemon and coconut because I had left over cake batter from an order I just did.

Next, I frosted the cake with vanilla buttercream tinted green. This is called a crumb coat, so that all your loose crumbs don't get in your final frosting layer.

Now for the fun part!  I put both white and green frosting into a piping bag with a petal tip so that the cake would have a two toned effect. Starting at the bottom with your pastry bag, make a colomn zig-zagging about an inch wide to the top of the cake.  Keep the thin part of the tip to the outer edge. Repeat this all the way around the cake.  Last, edge the top with the same ruffle pattern.  This was WAY easier than I was anticipating!  I can't wait to do this again in a fun girly color! :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!