I got into baking in 2013 when I decided to tackle my eldest son, Nathaniel’s first birthday cake, and the rest was history. Here I am about two and a half years later making my youngest son, Benji’s first birthday cake! This time I wanted to make a three-tier fondant cake, which I haven’t done before using larger pans. The top tier is a 6″, middle is an 8″, bottom tier is a 10″; total servings are 60.
Benji’s birthday is the day before Valentine’s Day, so that being a holiday week was already an extremely busy baking week for me! I ended up having to do all of the decorating the night before his party, rather than spreading out the fondant prep a couple days ahead like I usually do. I made the cake sketch based on a few inspiration “Little Man” themed cakes I liked from Pinterest, but also applied my color scheme. It seemed simple enough, but in the end, I had to pull an all-nighter! AHH! I hadn’t done such a feat since my college days cramming for finals! In the end, I made it all work by making some changes based on looks and time, and I was able to get it done! I was really happy with the final look, even though there were a few elements I would change if I had more time.
The most important thing is that everyone RAVED about the taste! I have been getting a lot of compliments on my flan cakes, so I incorporated flan into the two biggest tiers: red velvet with cream cheese & flan, and marble with Oreo buttercream & flan. I decided not to make a smash cake for Benji due to my time shortage. I knew a slice of the top tier would suffice, and he would have just as much fun eating it and rubbing it in his hair as you can see in the photo below!
February 2016, Benji’s 1st Birthday
September 2013, Nathaniel’s 1st Birthday
I can’t believe my “littlest man” Benji is already ONE! This year flew by so fast! I hope to share these memorable birthday moments singing to my boys as a family surrounding their special cakes that Mommy stayed up all night making them…and that’s okay. It doesn’t bother me, I have a great coverup for the dark circles under my eyes. I would do anything for my babies!
