Let them EAT Cake: Best Ever Birthday Cake Recipe's & Easy DIY Decorating

When in doubt...ADD RIBBON!

recipe found at add a pinch and listed below

This was so EASY-PEASY...and I think it turned out super-duper cute. 

To be quite honest this happened by total accident. I was frosting the cake and thought it needed a little extra something. Oh yes indeed,  I do have all of the proper wilton cake decorating tubes, tips and ingredients to whip up something beautiful but... to be quite frank... I didn't want to put in the effort. Yeah, Mom of the year award here. But let me explain why before you go judging my lack of love effort here. I had been cooking up my daughter's favorite Italian Feast of bread sticks from scratch, Steak Gorgonzola and a Chicken Fettucine...ALL.DAY.LONG! This cake decorating was the final step, whew. 

So, as I was looking at this flatly frosted creation I decided to pull out that "easy" gun frosting shooter thingy (cake decorator) that can be used for making all food dishes pretty... a'hem. Yeah, right, maybe deviled eggs once a year on Easter.

My frosting was a bit soft but I was in a slam-jam hurry so, I slopped it into the tube and started shooting my cake around the rim with little star point slabby dots,  rather unsuccessfully. UGH! Okay...when in doubt ADD MORE! Lets run a little around the base of the cake. Eh...not much better. Somehow these little additions to the cake were actually drawing the eye to the imperfections and making it look even sadder. Atleast to me anyway. AND, I wanted a HAPPY cake. Yes, I said it ... a HAPPY CAKE! 

Then as if hit in the head by the most brilliant brainstorm ever I remembered the adorable bright hot pink polka dot ribbon in the the wrap drawer. Ahhh...... lovely, just lovely. That paired with the adorable long sparkler candles we picked up and the cake was complete. Pretty cute, huh?

Now for this little beauty - Toasted Coconut Layer Cake with Coconut Butter Cream

Recipe at Food Network & Listed below

This Coconut Layer Cake photo and recipe has been waiting to blog about since July but just after I made it we were off to Africa. So, it has sat waiting oh-so-patiently for it's BIG reveal. 

This is one of my favorite Chef's {Bobby Flay's}recipes from a show called Throwdown. You can't really see my layers in the photo...but they are there. I should have turned my sliced cake layer over so it would show up better when cut. Lesson learned.

Some cakes just don't need much decorating, and this is one of those. The toasted coconut on it makes it simply divine...like eye candy at it's best. I guess for those unfortunate souls who don't like coconut it may lack some luster but we LOVE us some coconut in this fam!

The recipe on this one is a bit more involved with many more steps than the chocolate cake - but it required less decorating. Can I say I could have dove in the bowl and ate each of the layers before they were even assembled? Yes, it is all THAT GOOD! 

There is something so rewarding about whipping out a homemade Birthday Cake! I can't remember the last time we purchased a birthday cake - because my kids are always excited to dig into the home made YUM-FEST created for their special day. It really doesn't take a lot - but think about what it adds to your home. Your kiddos SEE you creating something to celebrate them, they also SMELL the deliciousness wafting throughout the rooms of your home in the process, and finally they get to TASTE the yumminess of what you made on their behalf. Can you picture it - it is like a Hallmark Greeting Card or Norman Rockwell scene right? Okay, okay - well, life isn't about perfection - it is about the enjoying the process. 

Just remember you don't have to be a professional baker or cake decorator to pull this off. Ribbon and fun candles can make all the difference. Some curled chocolate or toasted coconut can add a lil' extra yum factor and eye appeal. Just relax and have fun with it. Your kids will notice your deposit of love in action.

Okay here are the recipes: 

{or you can clink on the links under the photos and print them out}

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. -Eph. 5:2

-Simply Sublime