For each person's birthday, we create a birthday cake to the specifications that the person wants--whether it be a grand piano, sports car, castle, or a computer, we spend the afternoon baking, cutting, shaping, and icing the creation.
The complex art we form requires a sturdy medium so that it doesn't fall apart, so after some experimenting, my parents came up with two recipes that fit the bill--a wonderful Black Walnut Banana cake and a delectable carrot cake. Each of provide the moist sweetness that has me eating cake as my main meal for days afterward!
After making two or three 9x13 pans of the cake, we get to sculpting. Usually we go by a picture or drawing of what we want, but more recently technology has been incorporated into designing. My most recent birthday cake was of the Love building, which is mapped in 3d on Google Earth, allowing us to pan and zoom around the building to get the right dimensions. If the creation requires stacking the cakes, peanut butter helps it all stick together. Slicing and cutting, we put everything together until it resembles what we want.
Finally, it's time for icing. Usually we try to go for the most realistic colors, but this April, all that was thrown out with the Love building--we started with making the craziest colors possible, and then put them on. It ended up looking like a mexican version of the Love building, with lots of pastel colors!
What's best about this is that everyone gets to participate. Each birthday we all look forward to seeing what will be created. It's a tradition that provides my family and friends with hours of healthy fun.
This is so cool! I wish my family did that. We always had birthday cakes but never anything this awesome. It kind of reminds me of my favorite show, Ace of Cakes! So cool.
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