Birthday Cake Construction

One of the things I like to do is bake. I've been lucky enough to do some showers, birthdays, and even some weddings. This weekend I got to make the birthday cake for my nephew's first birthday and thought some of you might find it interesting what goes into make a cake.

Step 1: Bake the individual layers and let them cool overnight.


Step 2: Cut off the tops to make them level. (This can be tricky!)


I try to clean up along the way.

Otherwise, I'd probably STILL be doing dishes!

Step 3: Apply a crumb coating. Just a thin layer of icing and then put in the fridge to let harden. It's not very pretty at this point.

As you can tell it takes quite a bit of room in the fridge, so I'm always shoving food in every drawer, nook and cranny to make room!!

Step 4: Apply a second layer of icing that's thicker and will be the final layer.


That final layer of icing is the HARDEST thing to do. I just DON'T get how the pros get it soooooo smooth! It almost doesn't look real!

Step 5: Prepare cake for stacked construction. Put dowel rods in each layer so the layer above it is supported.


Step 6: Stack layers. This is pretty self explanatory!


Step 7: Begin decorating! This is the fun part!


Step 8: Finished product!


Now, the challenge is transporting the cake! I wish you could have seen the transportation of this cake! A lot of times, I have to transport these by myself and basically it entails a lot of very slow driving, but thankfully, my sis and bro-in-law were going to drive me. I held the cake in my lap. It was hilarious!!