This past weekend my family celebrated my son’s birthday. This year he told me he wanted to decorate his own cake using candies. I don’t think it gets much easier than that! He gave me a list of 8 different candies he’d like so I could pick up 6 or so for his cake. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find them all so I figured it would be good to have a few backups.
If you are looking for a cake that your kids can have fun with then this is for you! It is really great for all ages! I would recommend using a plain flavor for the cake and frosting. Once you add all the candy you’ll appreciate the plain base. I used a buttermilk vanilla cake recipe. It’s a delicious recipe for a 9 inch double layer cake that I’ve used many times before. You can get the recipe here. The only change I made this time was to stir in a couple of tablespoons of colorful sprinkles to the batter before dividing it into the pans. This made it into a fun confetti cake.
The frosting that I use quite a bit is Swiss Meringue Buttercream. After the cake was made and cooled I simply frosted it. The buttercream doesn’t have to be perfect and smooth as it is going to be covered with candy anyway. Another tip I should give you is to write your message on the cake before the candy starts going on. This way there will definelty be room for it!
I did put some frosting into a piping bag with a large star tip. This made it easy to add swirls of frosting for cookies to stick into. I didn’t need any extra for adding the candy but it wasn’t easier to sit the cookies upright on the cake this way. My son enjoyed decorating and putting everything he could onto the cake.
Here’s my last tip. I poured out what I thought was a little extra of each candy on to a plate. Whatever you put on the plate will end up on the cake. In retrospect I should’ve thought that one through better. Anyway, it was a fun cake and I hope you enjoy making your own sometime!