Birthday Cake

I'm a bit late in posting this, but last weekend and this week have been pretty busy! Last Saturday, my old department from John Wieland got together, and I was asked to make a birthday cake for a former coworker's wife, whose actual birthday was that day. This was the first cake I've made for anyone outside the family, so I was pretty nervous.

Last week's practice cake turned out so well, that I decided to stick with that basic design. I only made a few changes - yellow cake and buttercream icing instead of chocolate. (I wasn't sure what flavors the birthday girl preferred, so I played it safe.) I used up a lot of my pink and purple fondant on the practice cake, so I had to throw some yellow in too. And lastly, I had to write "happy birthday" on the cake.

Overall, I was pleased with the results again. My handwriting needs a little practice, but I didn't think it was too bad for freehanding it. (I didn't want to pay the extra $10 for the lettering kit at Michael's.) And I still need some work on getting the icing smooth, but I suppose that will come in time. I was in a hurry on this cake, so I didn't get to spend quite as much time on smoothing things out as I wanted. Time was running a little short on me, so I was glad I'd practiced the week before. I knew exactly what I needed to do and cranked it out pretty quickly.

The cake was well received. I was nervous that the birthday girl might not like the design and colors that I had chosen, but they fit with the overall party decor, and everyone seemed okay with them. It tasted great! :) By the time I left, the cake was almost gone.