Children's birthday cakes usually come in one of two varieties: the basic, straight-from-the-box version, or the labor-intensive, time-consuming specialty cake. Happy Birthday offers an alternative: birthday cakes that are fabulously creative and fun as well as incredibly easy to make. Cake designs from potted sunflowers and football fields
Offer these little jewels to a table full of girls, young or old, and listen to then squeal with delight. There’s nothing like a miniature cake decorated with an array of all the things girls are made of…pink bubble gum, ribbons, flowers, sugar beads, and jewels. It’s easiest to cut shapes from a thin, 1-inch cake; use graduated cookie cutters to make tiers.
Makes about 10 two-tiered cakes
1 Butter Cake or favorite flavor sheet cake (9- by 13-inch)
Refrigerate or freeze cake for at least 1 hour. This makes it easier to cut shapes.
Cut shapes from cake. Stack tiers snugly together on a bamboo skewer, with enough of the skewer sticking out on either side to let you grasp both ends securely.
In a medium bowl, combine sugar and hot water; stir until smooth. Keep icing warm by placing bowl inside another bowl of hot water.
Grasping both skewer ends, hold a cake sideways and immerse it in icing bowl, turning to coat all sides. (If the skewer is too long to fit into the bowl, trim it with a pair of scissors.) Set cake right side up on a wire rack, keeping skewer in place, for about 20 minutes. Dip cake a second time; set on rack again. (If desired, you can simply pour icing over single-layer cakes.)
Remove skewer from cake before decorating. Attach decorations while icing is still soft. Or wait for about an hour, until cakes are dry and easier to handle, then use a dab of Topcoat Frosting to attach decorations. There will be a little hole in the top of the cake from the skewer. That’s a spot for decoration.
Frostings
To avoid crumbs in the frosting, apply a base coat of a thinner Crumbcoat Frosting to 'set' the crumbs, then give it a thicker, creamier Topcoat.
Crumbcoat
1 1/2 oz (2 1/2 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 box (1 lb) confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup water
Topcoat
5 oz (10 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 box (1 lb) confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup or more water
For both frostings: In large bowl with electric mixer on high speed, beat butter until light. Reduce speed to medium; add remaining ingredients. Increase speed to high; beat 5 minutes, until fluffy.
Spread a thin layer of Crumbcoat over cake. Allow it to harden and form a crust so that the crumbs 'set.' Once set, apply Topcoat.
