The Cake!

When we decided (ie convinced them) to have a backyard pool party, the next topic was "what's the cake going to be???" I turned to my new best friend in all things crafty, Pinterest, and found some great ideas! The winner for me was a cake shaped like a pool. Honey really wanted fondant but the other 2 didn't and this was an easy fix, one section with and one without, perfect!

I started baking the cakes late Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning, Lovey got up and came to the kitchen for breakfast and saw the single layers in the cake container. With obvious disapproval in her face and tone, she asked "is that our CAKE???" Bracing myself for an unpleasant scene I told her it was. "Well, is that it??? It's TOO small!" Honey chimed in about the some fondant/some not idea and that made Lovey even more cross. She hadn't been in the kitchen for 5 minutes and I was ready to lose it! I told her I wasn't finished baking all the layers and that she was making me cranky and better get to work on her breakfast and quit critiquing the cake work!

Despite the harsh criticism, I was excited to put this cake together! The design was simple but with the small decorative touches, it was going to be a fun one. Most years the cake takes SO much time (hello castle cake!) and this one was so straightforward but still looked so neat & festive.

I finished all the baking on Thursday night and started assembly on Friday afternoon. The fondant section got done first, then iced the second "pool" and put them together. Making the little pool accessories didn't take too long and added nice touches to the look. Everything except the slide was done Friday night. I had trouble getting the fondant to hold its shape but left it overnight and by Saturday it had firmed up enough to stand in place.

In the end I got 3 gold stars of approval and had more than enough cake to go around. Just in case Lovey's concerns were justified, I baked a 5th layer to have as extra but didn't end up needing it. Instead I converted it to a Happy Father's Day cake for Rick since he'd missed the party :)

The guests at the party were in awe when I brought it out. Then they found out I had made it myself and jaws dropped as they exclaimed "you MADE the cake?!?!?".  Their astonishment cracked me up. I'm pretty sure I could have saved myself quite a bit of time and trips to the store for extra icing sugar if I'd ordered it from a baker. But it's much more fun and rewarding to make it myself and the girls love watching the process. I'm not sure how long before theme cakes get old but for now it's something I can do for them!

So yes, this was a whole post about a cake. I was so excited & proud of it that I decided to give it a whole post of its own! It's my blog and that's how I roll haha!!!