Ready for some cake?
This week’s Ultimate Recipe Swap is designed to inspire you to decorate your own birthday and celebration cakes. Not only can you save money doing it yourself, but you can also customize the ingredients and the theme to fit your family’s interests and your food preferences.
Here are some cakes that readers sent in:
A train from Kirstine; it’s Danish tradition to use flags on birthday cakes
A Lego Castle from Mom’s Toolbox:
A rendition of the Rapunzel Tower Cake from Jennifer
A bird cake made of cupcakes from Lesley:
A race car cake from Jennifer:
A Candy Land Cake from Lynette:
And a Narnia Cake from Yours Truly:
(See a tutorial of the Narnia cake.)
Have you baked a cool cake recently?
We’d love to see it! Leave the link to your cake post, not your blog main page, below.
Everyone who participates today (through comment or cake) will be entered to win a copy of Bakerella‘s new book, Cake Pops. I was trying to think of what would be a fun, cake-ish giveaway and that book came to mind. I’ll be buying copies for three winners. I should get myself one, since I’m a cake pop fail.
Any comments and links posted before 8 pm, PST on Sunday night, January 30 will be eligible for this giveaway.
Edited to add, 1/31/11 – the giveaway portion of the round-up is now complete. Congrats to Lesley (of the Chica cake), rockyroadbar2002@, and crumbsandchaos@ who are the winners of the cake pop cookbooks.
Show us your cakes!
Want more ideas for cool cakes? Check out my latest ebook, More Cool Cakes: Creative Cake Ideas for Birthdays and Special Occasions.
{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the linky! My post has a link to the past few years worth of cakes (too many to list in the actual link) – Princess Doll Cake, Phineas & Ferb, Wiggles Big Red Car, Abby Cadabby Princess Wand, Dueling Light Sabers, Elephants, Solar System, Lightnin’ McQueen, Blue’s Clues, Airplane (more?)
http://abusymomoftwo.blogspot.com/2011/01/princess-party.html
I could be wrong but I think the bird cake is Chicka (or is it Chica) from The Sunny Side Up Show on Sprout. We’re big Chica fans here.
All the cake were great. I wish the niece and nephew were old enough to know what Narnia was all about so I could make your cake.
Woops! Sorry that I put my name instead of the cake–first time I have ever linked up to a post–anyway I made a giant cupcake for my daughter’s first birthday.
Thanks for hosting! I submitted 3 of my posts with 5 different cakes.
BTW, I tried to make cake pops and failed miserably!
Mine isn’t near as cool as the other ones! Not much of a decorator here but I just posted a pumpkin cheesecake today so I thought I’d share. I don’t post TOO many desserts! Thanks!
I read this recipe yesterday and it looks so yummy and simple. I plan to try it this weekend.
For my daughter’s first birthday, I did this cake:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tuxgirl/Food03?authkey=Gv1sRgCNnuxdXJ-PKGGA#
I figure in a few years, she’s probably going to want a princess cake, and I might as well practice while she doesn’t care about it.
I think if I do it again, I might do more frosting and a lighter cake. Or, maybe just not bake it a day in advance. The cake dried out really bad…
I linked a picture of my son’s R2D2 cake, it’s a little rough because until an hour before I started he wanted a comet outer space cake and he changed his mind last minute.
I made Deb’s Monkey Cake from Smitten Kitchen – two layers and ultra rich – for my son’s first birthday. Next time I’ll go for something less decadent, but her directions were awesome!
Mine isn’t super fancy since it was for a one-year-old, but she didn’t seem to care
Thank you for hosting. I get so inspired by everyone’s creativity!!!!
I couldn’t find a pan for a long sleeve jersey so I created my own cake and modeled it after a USA Hockey Jersey for my son.
I’m a big fan of cake pops and attempted Santa Hats this past holiday. http://blossombunkhouse.com/2010/12/26/cake-pops/
My apologizes for the duplicate link, perhaps the first one can be deleted.
Only kids’ cakes today? I linked a birthday/valentine’s cherry cheesecake with several variations. I hope it fits your theme. If not, feel free to remove it.
Thanks for hosting!
e-Mom @ Susannah’s {Kitchen}
What wonderful cakes you have highlighted in your post! They are beautiful! Thank you so much for hosting.
I love your narnia cake! We are reading the Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe at our house right now
I didn’t have a cake to link so here are cupcakes:
http://thischickcooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/rich-filled-chocolate-cupcakes.html
I entered my Anti-Birthday Cake:-) Perfect for a 40th birthay!
I have not ventured out into making fancy birthday cakes….sad, but true. I do remember my Dad making a Raggedy Ann cake. I have a picture of me with it at my 3rd birthday!
Love the cakes! I would LOVE to win the bakerella book. I love to make her cake pops!!
Hi there!
I entered my Mom’s Lemon Cupcakes. Thanks for hosting this great Linky!
My cake pops failed too! I think the chocolate was too thick and the “dough” was too crumbly. I don’t know.
And last year my son’s pirate ship shaped cake slid into the ocean (or my counter) and fell apart ….. so I ordered one. Sometimes mama’s sanity is worth the price of a cake!
I just love making cakes. I also love getting ideas from other people!
Oh…mine was the fire truck cake!
So I have 2 links on there because I didn’t have the right link the first time – sorry! Before my son was born my husband’s wrestling team (he’s the coach) started calling him Jedi. So for his 1st birthday I made 2 light saber cakes. They were fun!!
I just love seeing birthday cake creations. I linked up my Night Sky, Buzz Lightyear, and Bakugan cakes. My next endeavor is a Sonic the Hedgehog cake, looking forward to be inspired by all the links. Love the lego cake. Thanks for hosting!
My link will take you to a little post I put up with photos from my youngest’s first birthday. I was pretty proud of the monkey cake I made for him! It tasted awesome, and wasn’t too hard to make. There’s a link from my blog to the recipe, which I found at Smitten Kitchen.
I love getting new ideas for cakes for my daughters’ birthdays. They’re just now getting old enough to get excited about it and I can’t wait to make their cakes this year!
I love seeing all of these ideas for cakes to make!
The race cars on a “7″ track is my favorite! I would have never thought of that. I’m sure any child would love the candy-land cake… looks like “the more candy the better” which is definitely the consensus at our house.
Some great cake ideas!
How fun! Thanks for hosting this swap
I added my Tangled cake – thanks for the chance to win!!
http://pumpkinsboutique.com/blog/2011/01/cake-cake-cake/
It’s my son’s birthday today (and you always do this around the same time every year
) and this year the Lego cake photo was great inspirtion idea for me. His presents are homemade except for one Lego toy. I read this today and I had my older son put together the Lego pieces to go on top of the cake. Thanks for the great idea!
Every year for the first 6 years of my sons life I thought that I had to buy the expensive Publix cakes to make him happy and please his taste buds. But these last 3 birthdays he has begged that I just make a cake. I don’t mind and in fact baking excites me. So I was ecstatic every year that he asked this of me. I am, however, not on the very creative side. So thank you for these wonderful links. Now I can provide the taste that my son loves with the design that the bakery’s provide!
Cakes are so full of love it only adds to their yummy goodness! Sharing my mother’s favorite guest coming over cake that she adapted from a 1970′s new york times oil cake, and I adapted it even further to healthy it up a bit! Grandma Jane’s Apple Cake is the bomb! All the best! Alex
No recipe this week I have not made a cake in years. Hubby is not a sweet eater. Does love his casseroles . Want to see my recipe this week check it out at
http://couponloversunite.blogspot.com/2011/01/whats-for-dinner-kickin-it-up-penne.html
I love making sunflower cupcakes — for the middle i use mini chocolate chips and then pipe two rows of petals around them. My girls love to take them to school for special occasions!
This is my first Ultimate Recipe Swap. Thanks for hosting…Mine is a ‘cake’ of cornbread–Five Alarm Cornbread–b/c it set off the smoke alarm at my house!
Opsies, I also put my name instead of cake. It is a snowmobile cake I made for my son. Thanks.
We have been doing a lot of cupcakes lately. STEELER themed, of course. However, yesterday we cheated and had walmart make us a cupcake steeler jersey with our friends name and a 30 as the number since it was his birthday. Next time, I will definitely make my own. My daughter plans to make Hamburger cupcakes next week for a dessert auction!
Oh my goodness! Such fun and tasty inspirtaion – can’t wait to my little ones dive into the world of Narnia. We’ll have to give that cake a try when the time comes!
@Nicole, Sorry, I meant “inspiration!”
Spent today making a Power Ranger’s Cake for my 27 yr old brother’s birthday! And a Champagne cake (strawberries on the outside!). I love making cakes, and love this theme, and the idea’s you have posted! Love getting cake idea’s from everywhere! Great Job on the Narnia cake!
So much fun!!! I just started being serious about cake decorating last year for my little one’s first birthday. Now I am hooked!!! Here are a few of the cakes I have made.
Hello Kitty
http://mikeandamandascott.blogspot.com/2010/08/birthday-girl.html
Butterfly
http://mikeandamandascott.blogspot.com/2010/10/growing-by-leaps.html
Soccer
http://mikeandamandascott.blogspot.com/2010/10/soccer-anyone.html
And…the most recent SKULL creation
http://mikeandamandascott.blogspot.com/2011/01/birthday-girl.html
My children were practically drooling on my keyboard over the Candy Land cake. It is incredible!
I don’t have a picture to show yet, but I am planning on making my daughter’s first birthday cake next month. I’m nervous about it, but I really want to start making my own cakes and decorating as well, and I figure it will be a start. Such fun ideas here!
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