Celebrating My Birthday With Cake!!

What’s a birthday without cake? Those that know me well, know that I’ve decorated cakes for years. Since I was a freshman in high school, I planned to own a bakery, but God had other plans for me. I don’t decorate cakes as often as I used to since most of my time is spent writing now. But in celebration of my birthday last weekend, I want to share some of my favorite birthday cakes that I’ve decorated over the years AND as a special treat, I’ll share a real recipe that I’ve made myself for my birthday. I promise no decorating skills will be needed for this one! 😉

Four kids means four fun, birthday cake challenges each year. 🙂 I enjoy designing and decorating the kids’ birthday cakes. These four pics are my childrens’ first birthday cakes. 1) Sports 2) Jungle Party 3) Trains, Cars, Boats, and Planes 4) Butterflies and Daisies

The following, are other birthday cakes that I’ve made for them over the years. 1) Mario: Each tier is a different level on the original Super Mario game. 2) Hobbit: Top to bottom tiers: Wizard’s hat, Ring, Sauron, Smaug’s eyes hiding in a pile of Gold with the Arkenstone, and the Shire. 3) T- Rex 4) Snow White, Cinderella, and Belle 5) Kung Fu Panda 6) Shrek: Tiers from top to bottom: Shrek, Dragon, Fiona, and Donkey

In case you’re interested to know what’s on the calendar this year, I’ve been asked to make a Queen Elsa cake for the little girl and Olaf, Shredder, and Nerf Gun cakes for the boys. 🙂

Now for that recipe!! My mom gave me this recipe, and I have no idea where she got it from so I can’t give proper credit other than to say that it’s not my original recipe. This takes no real baking skills. If you can make a box cake, you can make this. It may have more steps than a standard box cake, but it’s not complicated. I promise!

Better Than Ever Cake

Combine 1 box of yellow cake mix, 1 box small vanilla pudding, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup water, and 8 oz sour cream. Mix well with a mixer.

Stir in 6 oz chocolate chips, 1 bar german chocolate (grated), and 1 cup chopped pecans

Pour into pan (9×13 rectangle pan or 2 9 in pans) and bake at 325 until toothpick comes out clean.

When cake cools, make icing: Blend  1/2 stick butter (melted), 8 oz cream cheese (soft), 1 lb powder sugar until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of chopped pecans and 1 small pack of coconut. Spread on cool cake. Enjoy!

*If you have any questions about this recipe or the decorated cakes, feel free to ask! I’ll give you insider tips and directions if you’re interested. 🙂