That One Time I Made a Smash Cake...

Our little wildflower is turning a whole year old in just a few weeks! Since we are trying to stick to a "smallish" budget for her birthday party I decided to make her smash cake instead of saving myself a TON of stress...hehehehe (I'm not crying). Okay, okay it wasn't all that bad I guess. I'm by no means a professional cake decorator, but the trial cake didn't come out too shabby. I figured that a practice run would be wise to see if I was actually up to the challenge or if I should just present her with a cupcake. To make it more fun for you lovely people Jamie helped me make a cool video to show you how it all went down. I throw in a few tips and tricks I've learned in case you ever feel the urge to make an edible Llama head for yourself. Below the video you'll find a link to a tried and true recipe that will work great for any 3D cake or a cake that will be heavily decorated. t's still fluffy, moist, and everything you'd want a birthday cake to be, but it can also bear more weight and can be carved easier than a cake made according to the boxes directions. I've also included a recipe for the whipped frosting and a list of some of the tools I used. We had a ton of fun making the video and hope y'all enjoy this little escapade of ours. Oh, and be sure to subscribe to Jamie's YouTube channel!

Update: She loved it!

---

3D Cake

Click here for the cake recipe

1. You can use any flavor of cake mix you prefer

2. Experiment with different ways to flavor your cake by trying different flavors of pudding or adding liqueur, extracts, powdered fruit, or citrus zest

Whipped Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 large container of cool whip

• 3/4 - 1 packet of instant pudding mix

Directions

• Whip pudding into cool whip on high speed until your frosting reaches the desired consistency. Be sure to not add too much pudding if you will be piping as it will be very stiff and hard to decorate with (I may have learned this from personal experience)

Fondant Tassels

• Roll out fondant

• Cut out a long rectangular strip

• Make slits along on edge of the strip being careful to not cut all the way across the strip

• Roll up the strip

• Smooth out the unfeathered end

---

Tools I Used

(This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links.Thanks for your support!)

I used these gel colors from Wilton to color the tassels. I prefer gel to liquid color because a little goes a long way and the colors are very vibrant.

You can certainly buy better quality cake pans but these have worked really well for me and they're very affordable!

I used this black fondant for the facial features.

I used this fondant for the ears and tassels.

I really liked these disposable piping bags by Wilton! They had a better price at Wal-Mart so you may want to check their before ordering from Amazon. I only needed a star tip and these were much more affordable than buying bags and tips separately.