Cake!

Guess what I did last night...I baked a cake!

It all started with this jar of sprinkles. (Or "sprinks", as they're known in our house.) I got it as an anniversary gift for Kate. Along with it came the promise of a cake.

Although we love a good boxed Funfetti, I wanted to bake her something special. I pulled out this Magnolia Bakery cookbook, which Laura got for me a couple of years ago. I decided on a 3 layer traditional yellow birthday cake with vanilla buttercream frosting (which I dyed pink). Go big or go home, right?!

This is kind of a big deal for me. I'm a very nervous baker. Since you can't really taste as you go, I have to trust the recipe as it's written. Which means I am overly diligent. I read the instructions at least 20 times. I set everything out and go over my game plan beforehand.

I followed all of the tips and tricks from the book, including greasing, flouring, and lining the pans with parchment.

(Yeah, I totally had to go out and buy 3 cake pans. Who doesn't own cake pans?! Apparently, me. Until now.)

I mixed and whipped and beat, as instructed. Lookin' pretty legit!

Good luck, baby cakes!

They came out looking and smelling delicious.

While they cooled, I made the frosting.

Pretty in pink.

I remember hearing the tip to frost your cake on the plate you want to serve it on (because transferring it would be impossible.) In order to keep the plate looking clean, slip strips of parchment paper under the cake's edges to catch extra frosting and sprinkles. Then slide them out when finished!

Another tip from the book was to frost the top of each layer separately, and then stack them.

Yuuuuuuuuuup.

Next up came the messy part of frosting the sides.

And adding the sprinks!

Removing the parchment was the last step...just 3 hours after I started.

I had it waiting for Kate when she got off work this morning. She said she saw it immediately and thought, "Is this some kind of test?!"

Nope! I just wanted to make her a big ol' cake.

We practiced for the "big day".

We promised each other long, long ago that we will NOT smash cake into one another's face on our wedding day. Phew!

Mama mia, look at all that frosting.

Breakfast of champions.

I'd say this was a layer cake success! Now, anyone wanna come over and help us finish this thing??