Birthday Re-Do

Last week I became the mother of a teenager. My oldest child Preston turned 13. We've been planning on taking him to Lagoon but have had to re-schedule three times so far. Since I was planning on the amusement park and not feeling very celebratory his birthday consisted of an Olive Garden take-out lunch. Honestly I didn't think he cared, until a few days later when he sadly told me it was the worst birthday ever. So I asked him for a do-over.

 

Now let me tell you: I don't bake. Really. In fact we were at the LQS and I mentioned I was baking a cake. The ladies were full of encouragement but I told them I'm a horrible baker. Before they could offer more words of encouragement my younger two piped up "No really, she's not" Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence kids. :o)

 

I've come to accept this fact over the years. My talents are in other area (have you seen my quilts? fabric? argyle sock collection?) Nevertheless I decided to make a cake for my first born.

I chose a Minecraft cake. Are you familiar? Being that I'm not a baker it's only fitting that I chose to bite off more than I can chew for an elaborate-for-me cake.

 

I baked four 8" rounds of Texas Sheet cake. Used my Mom's famous chocolate frosting recipe and layered the four cakes. Then I cut them down to a square (cube). At this point I almost waved the white flag and admitted defeat. Half of the cake was crumbling away. But I summoned the spirit of Cake Boss and powered through. I had middle child helping me and cheering me on. I managed to cover the whole thing in chocolate frosting - a tasty glue to hold it all together. Then I battled the fondant.

 

I'd heard that marshmallow fondant was relatively easy to use and it was, just horribly messy. Powdered sugar everywhere. Oh, and I had to divide it and make 7 different colors. GAH!

My quilting experience came in handy when cutting the tiles. Middle child helped me with color placement on the dirt block; Grass on top, dirt and rock on the sides. The tiles definitely helped cover the horrendous frosting job and helped form a block.

 

 

After all was said and done I was pretty pleased with the finished product. And I think my teenager liked it too, what do you think?

 

His birthday re-do was a success! A fun and tasty cake, several Minecraft themed presents, his own 2 liter of Dr. Pepper (like Mother, like Son) and homemade Potato salad and Gourmet sandwiches for dinner.

(side note: I spent 6 consecutive hours in the kitchen yesterday. A record for me. Today I'm sore like I worked out at the gym. Um...I think I may be a bit out of shape :o)

 

His actual birthday may have been the worst but this Birthday re-do will go down in history as the best ever! Thanks for giving me a second chance.

 Love you P-nut!