Jungle Cake

Making cakes for kids birthdays are probably my favorite event to decorate for. Primarily because kids do not care how "perfect" their cakes are. They're already beyond happy with the fact that you're giving them sugar. Add to that the fact that the cake looks cool and they're genuinely ecstatic. Second, the cakes are just more fun to decorate. It's a chance to play around and do something really unique and interesting.

Granted, being the 1st birthday cake, Caitlin obviously didn't really care what the cake looked like. But it was definitely fun to make!

Hopefully I don't have to tell you that this cake was "Jungle Themed"

I've made a jungle cake before, but that was years ago in my earlier in my cake making days. It's fun to see how my skills have (or have not) changed over the years. Still not too shabby though, if I do say so myself!

The idea for the cake patterns and chunky letters that spelled out the birthday girl's name were found by the party girl's mom, which I absolutely loved. I tried to free form the animals, but after the disaster that is the monkey, I decided to no longer wing it and found random photos online as my inspiration. I can't decide if I like the lion or the elephant better?

Lion...?

... or elephant?? 

In addition to this jungle cake, I also made a small "rock star" themed cake for another girl (whose actual birthday was the same day as the 1st b-day celebration).

Party Time. Excellent. Wooowooowooo.

And if those cakes weren't enough, I slapped together a very simple smash cake. Nothing fancy, and no fondant, so those little fingers have an easier time getting their hands into it.

Caitlin didn't go too crazy on her cake, but she did manage to enjoy it. Slowly but surely.

The neatest smash cake I've seen. Not nearly as bad as this one...

This was just one of the many projects that kept me super busy last month. One more cake to go, and then I can get back to sharing with you guys actual food on this food blog.

Jacqueline