First Birthday Cake

Hudson's 1st Birthday Cake

Tomorrow is Hudson's first birthday party, and instead of buying a cake, I decided to attempt to make one.  I am what you call a cake novice, as I have baked and decorated very few kids' birthday cakes.  Despite that, I do think this one turned out pretty cute.

For my other two kids I pretty much have just picked a theme and had a bakery take on the cake baking project. For Hudson's party (which is really just a family gathering of lunch and cake), I decided to go with a cupcake theme.  I have cupcake plates, tablecloth, etc. and for the birthday cake, I decided to buy one of those huge cupcake cake pans made by Wilton. I baked three round layers for the cake in addition to the cupcake.  I decorated the cupcake separate from the three layers, and then before I set the cupcake on top, I inserted about five wooden skewers to help balance the weight of the cupcake.

I have learned a few things while working with the cupcake pan.  The cupcake cake works better if you use a more dense cake recipe, such as a pound cake.  For this cake, I used a pound cake for the cupcake portion, and then I used a chocolate cake mix for the three layers.  You can't bake your layers at the same time as your cupcake, so it does take a good hour and a half to get it all baked.  Plus, when you bake the cupcake, you need to watch the temperature.  I have used the pan several times before making this cake, and each time I have had to turn the temp down to about 275 degrees and continue baking for an additional 5-10 minutes. 



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