It's A Piece of Cake!

I have four children. While they were growing up it was a constant birthday party – or so it seemed! I would just get one party out of the way and it was time for another. I always meant to take classes and learn how to make neat birthday cakes for my kids.

But, alas, that never happened. So we usually bought the birthday cake. I did make the occasional cake, but it usually wasn't much to look at. So after I started having grandchildren and had more time on my hands, I enrolled in Wilton cake decorating classes and fulfilled a dream! Finally!! So now I'm making cakes for my granddaughters' birthdays and great-nieces and great-nephews and anyone else who is willing to let me learn on their cake! I've decided to use my blog as a photo gallery of sorts. Show off my work and give other want-to-be cake decorators some encouragement. Share what I've learned and prove that you can make a cool cake fairly easily.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when doing cakes for kids is that they don't look at every minute detail. Their mom might, but generally, they just look at the shape and see if it's what they asked for. Sometimes they will show you a particular cake and want you to make their's just like it. It's usually pretty easy go do.

In the Wilton classes I took, I learned how to make the fondant and gum paste flowers – they can take hours to make!! And if you charge for your time, a cake can get very pricey very quickly!! So I only do this for the person who is willing to pay for it. Your typical kids' birthday party doesn't usually have that kind of budget! So I don't spend a lot of time on that type of thing.

I said earlier that I now have more time on my hands, but I do have limits!. So I tend to use silk or real flowers instead of spending hours making them. Instead of using fondant for add-ons, I sometimes use foam shapes. You'll see this in future pictures. Just make sure to let your customer know what's edible and what's not!

Using a few shortcuts such as these, you can make really attractive cakes in a relatively short amount of time.