Life As Mom » Cakes

Easy Cakes You Can Decorate Yourself

Jessica Fisher — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:18:45 +0000

Decorating a cake you’ve baked at home is not difficult. In fact, it’s a great way to customize it for taste and birthday party theme — without paying a high price. You CAN have your cake and eat it, too!

If I can decorate a home baked cake, so can you! I am not all that gifted in this area, but my kids are always happy. And that is what counts!

Here are some ideas to get you started.

(I once wrote a couple ebooks full of cake decorating ideas. But, these are no longer for sale. My apologies in advance — there may be dead links in some of these posts.)

Here are some cool themes, anyway!

Sports Cakes

LA Kings Cake

Disc Golf

Surfer Cake

Movie Cakes

Indiana Jones

and another Indiana Jones

Cars 2 Cake

Captain Jack, Pirates of the Caribbean

Death Star, Star Wars

Rapunzel, Tangled Cake

Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story

A Drive-in Movie Theatre

Book Cakes

Narnia – Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Fancy Nancy

Character Cakes

Dora the Explorer

Bob the Builder

Sonic the Hedgehog

Lego Bionicle Thornax

Pokeball and Pikachu

Shamu

Cakes for Grownups

Dave Ramsey

What’s your favorite out of all your birthday cakes, past or present?

LA Kings Hockey Birthday Cake (& a Birthday Cake Round-Up)

Jessica Fisher — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:11:58 +0000

A Kings birthday cake, whether for an LA Kings Hockey fan or other special guest of honor, is super easy to make with a layer cake and a cardboard crown.

I am not a big fan of purple. I’ll admit it. But, I couldn’t very well serve a black cake to my LA KINGS hockey fan of a husband. So, even though I am not a fan of purple, I took one for the team, as they say.

I actually shopped in three different stores trying to find the right inspiration for this cake: Party City, Target, and Michaels. Hockey paraphernalia is hard to come by as are paper crowns, believe it or not. (At least those that match the color scheme I was going for.)

I cheated this year. Yes, I kinda did. I chose a very simple cake to serve my husband on his birthday. I guess that’s becoming my MO. The last year’s worth of birthday cakes have not been some of my best work. They’ve been uber-simple, not that fancy.

I think part of that has been that my bigger kids aren’t all that jazzed about themed birthday cakes. The older two no longer request Bionicle Thornax or Roman Gladiator birthday cakes. Instead, both requested cheesecake on their birthdays.

I definitely pulled out all the stops when they were little guys. The younger ones are easily pleased. And I’m getting old.

I’m not sure how I did it, back in those days when I stayed up into the wee hours of the night sewing capes for 2 dozen knights in shining armor. I don’t think I could — or would — do it today.

But, I’m a firm believer in making birthdays special nonetheless.

Good Meals

On FishPapa’s birthday on Sunday, he requested a full breakfast. This is by far his favorite meal. Typically, we go out to breakfast, but it is often very expensive and not that great. So, I stocked up on everything I needed to make ham and eggs, bacon, biscuits, pancakes, and hashbrowns and we feasted at home. My kids adore a full breakfast.

Good Cake

Later in the day we sang to him and ate cake. LA Kings Hockey Cake. Here’s where the cheating part comes in. In retrospect, the cake would have looked cooler if it had been fondant for a crown instead of cardboard. But, we don’t like the taste of fondant. Nor the taste of cardboard, either, for that matter. But, it seemed less wasteful to recycle a paper crown than to chuck one made of fondant.

And hubs didn’t mind. Though he did miss the chocolate frosting. I think he’ll be requesting cheesecake next time, too.

A Kings cake, whether for a hockey fan or some other royal dignitary, is super easy to make, especially with a paper crown. Frost a round layer cake and place the crown around it on the platter. I made sure that the crown would allow you to peek at the purple frosting. And I added a touch of silver sprinkles across the top. The purple kisses also added a little sparkle to the other wise plain Jane cake.

And there you have it: super simple cake for a King.

Baked any fun cakes lately?

You can view the upcoming topics on the URS Calendar. Next week: Valentine’s Recipes

A Cars 2 Birthday Cake & Easy Party Ideas

Jessica Fisher — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:40:12 +0000

Hey race car fans, are ya ready? Cars 2 opens today in theaters all over. I’m excited about the adventure.

The original Cars movie opened on the day of FishBoy9′s 4th birthday. We made a day of it and took the whole fam to the movies — something we rarely do or did — now or then. Afterwards we came home for a Cars cake and a fun Gas Can pinata.

Cars has held a special place in our hearts since then. We’ve watched it multiple times over the last five years. And somewhere along the way, I have no idea how, hubs because a NASCAR fan. I don’t think there’s a connection, but there it is. Go, Jimmie Johnson!

And if your kid’s got the need for speed, he or she just might love to have a Cars 2 Birthday Cake. And there couldn’t be an easier cake than the cake I have for you today. Well, of course, unless it was this:

Be still, my heart. That was my boy five years ago. Time goes by quickly. Sigh….

And so it does in the Cars saga. Now good buddies Mater and McQueen are off for Europe and the World Grand Prix. The story is full of espionage, romance, and of course, a little fast driving. I can’t wait!

A Cars 2 birthday cake can be just as cool and easy, if not moreso.

What you’ll need:

printable Cars 2 posters: London, Corso, Tokyo (courtesy of Pixar/Disney)
black foam board
exacto knife and scissors
tape or glue stick
ruler
a frosted 9 x 13 sheet cake (feel free to bake it all from scratch, uses mixes and cans, or buy it at the bakery)
a dozen or so Oreos, blended into crumbs
a couple of yellow Dots candies for road thingys (can’t remember what they’re called)
two Cars 2 cars, pictured here: McQueen and Mater, of course (I bought mine at Target. If I were a better mother, they’d be the original cars from 5 years ago, but no, these are new.)

What to do:

Once you’ve printed out the Cars 2 movie posters, trim them with a straightedge or simply cut with scissors.
Paste your movie posters onto the board.
Place your cake in front of the movie display board.
Cover the surface of the cake with Oreo crumbs, the ideal edible asphalt.
Place your Cars 2 action figures on the cake.
Have a Happy Birthday!

Could that have been easier?

Kids love themes, but they don’t really care about perfect fondant and carefully sculpted marzipan decor. They want the theme and the toy.

Easy Party Fun

What to Do

:: Check out this HUGE collection of activities and printables from Family Fun.

:: Download this printable activity pack from the official site.

:: Head to the movies! Yes, it’s pricey — but it’s an easy party activity.

What to eat:

Tokyo :: While it may not be “traditional Japanese fare,” Asian take-out is easy to procure. And most kids I know would prefer noodles over sushi. If you buy large containers of the entrees, a little can go a long way.

Italy :: Serve up lots of pasta, meatballs, garlic bread, and a big salad. Pour up Italian sodas with straws.

London :: Dish up fish and chips — and chicken strips for good measure. Serve root beer and ginger ale in mugs to replicate the British pub experience at home.

We don’t have anymore birthdays for a couple of months, but I’m thinking a trip to the cinema and some fish and chips sounds like an excellent summer evening — and a Cars memory in the making

What’s your favorite Cars memory?

A Tale of Two Easy & Fun Themed Birthday Cakes for Kids (Ultimate Recipe Swap)

Jessica Fisher — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:27:02 +0000

Birthday cakes are a big deal is these here parts. It’s been interesting to watch them evolve over the years. We’ve traveled the world with our family’s birthday cakes to Egypt to Rome to the beach to the golf disc course. We sung Happy Birthday with Bob, Dora, and Rapunzel. We’ve explored the deep blue sea as well as the Death Star. Heck! We’ve been to Infinity and Beyond.

So, it surprised me this last couple months that my kids were a little mellower with their birthday cake choices. They chose easy. Real easy. God bless them, they chose really, really easy. And I think you’re gonna like them because you could so pull this off — with ZERO cake decorating skill. Observe.

Easy Cake Decorating Technique #1: Let the Kid Do It

My nine year old awoke on his birthday in a tent in the mountains, camping with FishPapa and the other boys. They came home a day early in order to celebrate with me and the girls. Early also translates into “I didn’t know you were coming home, so I haven’t really done anything for your birthday.” But, I didn’t let on. I just set about baking a cake — from a mix — because that’s how I roll.

I made Homemade Buttercream with some cocoa tossed in for good measure and then said, “What would you like to put on your cake?”

Can I have a dragon cake?

“Absolutely,” says I, “go find the toys.”

FishBoy9 is all over the artist thing, so he searched about the house for the cake-appropriate Playmobil and decorated the cake himself.

That was easy.

He loved his cake — and he did a great job positioning the toys to look just right. I couldn’t have done better myself.

Easy Cake Decorating Technique #2:

Print out paper cake toppers

Now the next technique takes a little more effort on the parent’s part, but not much. When FishBoy7 had his birthday in May he specifically requested paper cake toppers in the shape of his favorite video game characters, Sonic the Hedgehog and Company. Experience tells us that there is no way in the world that we will find Sonic character toys to put on the cake, so we search the internet instead and print out three dudes in color on cardstock.

Obviously, you can do this with whatever characters your kid is interested in. Simply cut the shapes out and tape them to toothpicks, thusly,

He really is happy, he just doesn’t know quite how to act naturally in front of the camera.

Then stick your paper guys in the cake. Don’t forget the number candle!

Both these cakes were incredibly easy. I can’t tell you how easy.

I used a cake mix and homemade frosting, but you could certainly use canned frosting as well. You could do even make both these kind of cakes with store-bought cakes, like Meredith did here. (Meredith rocks. Someday she’ll come back to regular blogging and we’ll all sing the Hallelujah chorus. Until then, go read her archives.)

My kids were as happy as could be. I didn’t have to jump hoops — and they were completely satisfied.

Now, that‘s a happy birthday!

Got a great cake?

Link up! Today’s the birthday cake round-up. And there’s a giveaway!

Three participants from today’s round-up, either through link or comment, will receive both of my cake ebooks: Pretty Cool Cakes and More Cool Cakes, giving them 26 cake ideas for making fun birthday cakes at home.

The giveaway portion will close on Friday, July 1st at 8 pm, PST. Winners will be chosen at random and notified via email or their blog post, if linked. Please respond within 48 hours to claim your prize. This giveaway is now closed. The winners have been sent their emails.

Captain Jack – Pirates of the Caribbean Cake

Jessica Fisher — Fri, 20 May 2011 01:12:16 +0000

As you know, I’m into cake. Not so much the baking of it. I’m a total flop where from-scratch cakes are concerned. But, I love using cake as a canvas for fun, birthday themes.

Maybe it hearkens back to my first birthcake in memory — two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese…. yes, it was in the shape of a Big Mac — a party at McDonald’s, and the cake really did look like one ginormous hamburger.

Once I became a mom, I wanted to make birthdays special. But, on a fixed budget it was kinda tricky. It seemed that all the trappings were so expensive. I remember looking through the book of themed cakes, ready to sigh over the high price, only to realize that they were really only cheap toys thrown on a stack of frosting.

“I can do that!” says she.

And the rest, as they say, is history. My kids, and even FishPapa, have had themed cakes for the last dozen or more years. And over time, I’ve put together two cake ebooks, Pretty Cool Cakes and More Cool Cakes, full of creative cake themes your kids are guaranteed to love.

You can do it, too. It’s not hard at all! Normal people can decorate fun, cool cakes.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Today’s cake is in honor of tonight’s opening of the fourth installment of The Pirates of the Caribbean, On Stranger Tides. If you’ve got swashbucklers in your midst, they will love this cake!

And this Pirate cake is easier than pie. Seriously. You only need four things:

A Frosted Cake
Candy
Jewelry
Captain Jack

1. Frosted Cake

This can be an elaborate, from-scratch creation, a boxed cake + canned frosting, a combination of the two, or even a storebought cake. Yes, really. Buy a simple layer cake and throw away the packaging. No one will know. The best part is what you throw on top.

2. Jewelry

It’s easy to find some cheap party favor jewelry. These necklaces were 4 for a buck and add the necessary sparkle to catch a pirate’s eye.

3. Candy

If you can find chocolate coins and rock candy, cool. If not, you may have to settle for Roll-Os for gold and Dots for jewels. So be it. Candy rings will knock their socks off.

4. Captain Jack

There are plenty of pirate toys to choose from. If you want a true Pirates of the Caribbean cake, you need Jack. But, if you’re going for the simple pirate motif, any pirate toy will do. If he’s brand new, so much the better. You’ve got a cake and a present all wrapped up in one.

Put them all together, and what do you get?

One pretty cool cake.

You can totally do this! For more cake inspiration, check out my cake ebooks! Use the coupon code, CAPTAINJACK to get $2 off either book.

Pretty Cool Cakes

More Cool Cakes

What’s YOUR birthday cake tradition?

Disc Golf Birthday Cake

Jessica Fisher — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 18:30:00 +0000

That’s FishPapa. Well, sort of. You see, that’s the only Playmobil guy we could find in the depths of the toybox that even remotely resembled my husband. Apparently, knights, vikings, and pirates are a dime a dozen.

Good, responsible, normal guys are hard to come by.

But, this guy does look a little like our real guy. FishPapa has dark hair, though not quite so mullet like, and he wears a blue jacket. And he enjoys playing disc golf.

For my husband’s last birthday, I decided to surprise him with a themed cake to reflect one of his hobbies: disc golf. It took a little finagling to find the right candies and toys to represent this sport, er, leisure activity. Apparently, the employees at Toys ‘R Us are not familiar with disc golf, nor do they sell any disc golf action figures. Who knew?

But I think we pulled it off.

This is not a difficult cake to make. In fact, all you disc golf enthusiasts will be surprised at how easy it is. Now that I’ve canvased the Toys ‘R Us scene on your behalf.

You will need:

a 1/4 sheet cake, baked and cooled
chocolate and green buttercream frosting
green sprinkles
a square piece of fruit leather (for the pad)
graham cracker crumbs (for the gravel that is always on the pad)
candy rocks
Spree candies (for discs)
a City Playmobil guy
Playmobil trees, bag/basket, and boulders
and this:

Know what that is? You do, don’t ya? Come on… think.

It’s the birdie from a badminton set. Minus the ball doodah attached to the bottom. How’s that for success after rambling around Toys ‘R Us for an hour?!

It’s not exactly like a disc golf basket, but it works! Just remove the ball doodah and insert a toothpick.

So, frost your cake. Sprinkle green sprinkles over the grass frosting. Sprinkle on some candy rocks. Position your trees and boulders. Place your disc basket. Place your fruit leather pad. Sprinkle on some graham cracker crumb gravel. Place your guy. And toss some Spree candy disks around.

You’re good to go!

How far will YOU go for the perfect themed birthday cake?

Use Clearance Baking Items Creatively (Frugal Friday)

Jessica Fisher — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:30:00 +0000

Yesterday’s Birthday Cake Round Up was a testimony to the creativity of moms and home bakers. Wow! What fun stuff! Go check out all the cakes and be inspired to make your own.

Baking and decorating your families celebratory cakes can be a wonderful way to eat your cake and save money, too. Not only do you get to choose the decor and the ingredients, but you can also do it for less than half what a fancy — or not so fancy — bakery charges.

If you paid full price for baking ingredients at the store for a boxed cake mix and a can of frosting, you would pay, at most, $5. With sales and coupons, you can cut that price in half.

Now here’s a little trick to saving even more:

Use Clearance Bakery Items Creatively

Allow me to explain. After Christmas I strolled the clearance aisle of my local Ralphs several times. And each time I found amazing deals. One day it was organic pumpkin for 5o cents a can. Another day it was fresh cranberries for 69 cents a bag. Another day, I found frosting and cake mixes for super cheap!

Canned frosting was 40 cents a can. Cake mixes were 30 cents. Now, obviously at first glance, these are very Christmasy items, right?

Wrong.

You don’t have to use the sprinkles. The red, white, and green sprinkles are what scream holiday season at you, but underneath, this is simply green frosting and white cake. Leave out the sprinkles and you’ve got a very inexpensive birthday cake. Use coupons and the store will be paying you to take it from them.

You will find these holiday items after Christmas, Valentines, Easter, Fourth of July, and Halloween, and the store is motivated to sell them quickly. Often the expiration dates are months, if not years away. So, check the dates and then stock up. You can save them for next year, or just tuck the sprinkles away for a later date — and eat all the cake you want today!

Still not convinced?

I created this Narnia birthday cake, using the above mentioned holiday clearance items. In fact, those “flowers” on the cake are actually snowflake sprinkles. Who would have thought that this was a cake baked with Christmas baking items?

Clearly, holiday clearance baking items can be put to good non-holiday use and save you a bundle of cash.

‘Nuf said.

How do YOU save money?

Tell us in the comments or leave a link to a recent money-saving post.

Next week on URS: SuperBowl Food

A Narnia Cake – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Jessica Fisher — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:15:15 +0000

About six times a year, I field cake decorating requests from my children. So far, I’ve always been able to pull off the crazy theme that they’ve concocted. There have been whale cakes and Lego cakes and more than one Indiana Jones Birthday Cake.

And about once or twice a year, I field cake decorating requests from you, my readers. And boy! Have there been some doozies! I learned about Fancy Nancy before my first girl knew what pink was. And I found out how to construct the parking lot of a drive-in movie theater. Vital information.

A Narnia Birthday Cake

For this Birthday Cake Round-Up, readers chose a cake theme for me: Narnia. Thankfully, the initial suggestion didn’t get more detailed than that. But, somewhere in the discussion was mention of the latest film and the book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. So that is what stuck in my brain as I was thinking about cake decorating.

I love the Narnia books. I read them for the first time as an adult and was immediately enraptured with the saga of Aslan, the Christ-figure that CS Lewis created and the adventures of the Pevensie children whose lives are transformed by the Great Lion. We’ve read them many times as a family read aloud.

So, as I was thinking about the Dawn Treader book — I’ve not seen the movie — I was struck by the memory one of my favorite scenes.

And while it may not be as swashbucklingly exciting as a pirate ship or as moving as a boy being transformed into a dragon and back again, I chose to put Reepicheep’s final scene on a cake.

All his life, Reepicheep the mouse, has pined for Aslan’s country and that is the reason he sets foot aboard the Dawn Treader. At the end of the adventure, upon the Silver Sea, the mouse sets off on an adventure of his own in a little coracle.

So, while this cake may not be as awe-inspiring as other adventurer cakes, it is true to the book, and true Narnia fans will understand the details involved. Plus, if you have a heart for Reepicheep and his love for the Great Lion, you’ll enjoy it.

Here’s how to make it:

Bake a cake.

I like to use a boxed cake mix, but you can use your favorite recipe. I used a single layer round since I wasn’t feeding a large crowd. You can make this whatever size you’d like. If you use a larger sheet cake, you could make larger waves and even place a toy ship in the distance.

Mix some frosting.

I used a can of green frosting that I swirled with some blue gel food coloring. I wanted ocean. And the swirls turned out really pretty.

Frost a crumb coat.

First I laid strips of waxed paper around the edges of the cake to keep frosting drips off my serving plate. Then I spread a thin layer of frosting all over the cake. By placing the cake in the freezer for a few minutes, I solidified the frosting and trapped the crumbs, preventing them from marring the surface of the cake.

Create an ocean of frosting.

I love ocean cakes because they are so forgiving with the frosting. Don’t worry about making it smooth. You want waves. In addition to the frosting, I sprinkled silver sprinkles across the top. This adds texture, sparkle, and a nod to Lewis’ Silver Sea.

Add the lilies, the coracle, and Reepicheep.

The novel depicts that the Sea is covered with lilies. I used snowflake sprinkles for lilies. As I love to do, I also used Playmobil to embellish the cake. A Playmobil mouse and the top of a catapult served as Reepicheep and his little boat.

As you can see, creating a themed birthday cake does not need to be complicated. Normal people can make cool cakes.

Want more ideas for cool cakes? Check out my latest ebook, More Cool Cakes: Creative Cake Ideas for Birthdays and Special Occasions.

Coming up shortly: A Birthday Cake Round-Up!

Share your creative birthday cake ideas tonight!

Decorating Cakes with Playmobil

Jessica Fisher — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:00:00 +0000

As the new year gets under way and all the pages of the calendar lay out before us, certain people in my family are already thinking about their birthdays. It’s been a few months since we celebrated one. But FishPapa’s is at the end of the month, so the scheming has begun.

One of the tricks I use to make birthday cakes special is to decorate them with Playmobil toys. They make the cake fun, festive, and fit the theme of whatever your kid is interested in at the moment.

Super Cool Toys

As far as toys go, we love Playmobil. The boys’ interest in their collection has been greatly renewed since I downsized their toys and they received some new pieces for Christmas.

Playmobil fit a myriad of themes that kids love as well as historical moments that we are studying in school. My kids have always been history buffs, so it’s been fun to find toys that supported their interests.

And yes, someone really did request a Playmobil Ancient Rome birthday cake!

Super Simple Cake Decorating

Playmobil make great cake toppers. I can’t remember when I first started using them for such, but they’re a perfect fit. One friend of ours buys a new set for the Birthday Kid and surprises him with it on his cake.

At our house, I usually send one of my minions to go scrounging in the Playmobil box.

“I need a palm tree and a swimmer. Go find those for me.”

“I don’t know where those are.”

“That doesn’t matter. Go look in the box.”

And then I use my Jedi mind tricks to get them to actually find the items in question.

Frost your cake and then let your child assemble the Playmobil however he wants. Sprinkle on some candy, and you’re good to go. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to make great cakes.

Want more instruction?

I’m stunned that our family has eaten as many birthday cakes as we have. Since I’ve had so much fun making cool cakes, I’ve compiled them into two ebooks. It really is not hard. I can say this because I’m really not that talented at cake decorating. But, my kids are always pleased.

And that’s what matters most.

Pretty Cool Cakes is available for purchase now.
More Cool Cakes is coming soon. Final edits are happening as we speak. Be looking for it next week!

FishMama’s Birthday Cake Challenge

As if Ancient Rome wasn’t difficult to depict on a birthday cake, I allowed you to challenge me to a new cake theme. Gotta practice my chops before birthday season hits at our house.

You can see in the graph below, survey says, “Narnia.”

So I’ll be working on a Narnia-inspired birthday cake and sharing it at the Birthday Cake Round-Up next week. Mark your calendars for the 27th so that you can come and share the cool cakes you’ve made for your family — and be inspired to make new and unique designs.

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Want to sign up to receive a free daily digest and subscriber perks? Go here to sign up and make sure you verify your subscription shortly afterward. Every day in January, there will be a download link in the footer of the email or feed.

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What do YOU do to make cool cakes at YOUR house?

An Easy Way to Make A Buche de Noel or Yule Log Cake for Christmas

Jessica Fisher — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Many years ago, almost twenty, I spent a year in France as an exchange student. I adopted a family — or they adopted me — to call my own. I lived in a different French city, but thanks to mutual acquaintances, we connected and my life was changed.

I don’t think I would have experienced France in the same way if it had not been for the Durieux. Michele and Jean-Marc took me everywhere, even vacationing in the Alps. I visited them in Toulouse, at their vacation home in Collioure, and they came to see me in Bordeaux.

My French brother and sister, Delphine and Greg, treated me like a big sister and patiently corrected my terrible mispronunciations. They treated me to a beautiful 21st Birthday party, too.

It was only natural that I spend Christmas with them that year. And since my boyfriend Fish (aka FishPapa) had come to visit me in France, we celebrated Christmas together chez Durieux.

I was astounded by the two meals Michele prepared– Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Both were huge feasts, featuring caviar, raw oysters, boudin blanc, and foie gras. We feted the holiday in a very French way. One of the meals concluded with a buche de noel, or yule log cake.

Our Buche de Noel

For many years since then, I’ve made a Buche de Noel at home. It’s not as fancy or as nicely done as those a French pastry shop might prepare, but it has become a family tradition at our house. My kids don’t notice the imperfections.

And, yes, I cheat by using a boxed cake mix. Yes, yes, I do.

Last year, I tried to get fancy with a cream cheese filling and my kids scraped it out and just ate the cake. Ah…. pearls before swine.

This year, I’ll use a whipped cream filling and chocolate frosting.

If you’d like to make a Buche de Noel at your house, it’s not that difficult — if you don’t mind some imperfections.

Buche de Noel, Yule Log Cake

1 boxed cake mix, prepared according to package directions
2 cups filling of choice, such as cream cheese whipped with sugar, packaged cool whip, or Buttercream frosting
1 can chocolate frosting or 1 batch Buttercream frosting
Playmobil elves, woodsmen, animals and plants

Grease a jelly roll pan and line it with waxed paper or parchment. Bake the cake in the prepared jelly roll pan according to package directions.

Meanwhile, sift cocoa or powdered sugar over a clean tea towel. Invert warm cake onto towel. Remove parchment paper. Roll cake up in the towel. Yes, really. You want it to cool with a curve to it otherwise the cake will break.

Gently unroll cake and spread your filling. Reroll, minus the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Remove plastic wrap and cut off 2-3 inches off each end, at an angle. Place large piece of cake, seam side down, on a serving platter. Position smaller pieces on the side of the main log. These are like “branches” to the cake.

Frost cake with chocolate frosting, filling in the gaps between the main log and its branches. Do not frost the ends. Scrape frosting with a fork to resemble bark. Add Playmobil figures. If you want to get really fancy and Martha-like, you can make meringue mushrooms to add to the cake.

Alternatively, you could simply add toy greenery and call it a Stump of Jesse cake. Which isn’t such a bad idea, now that I think of it. Not quite traditional, but definitely in keeping with making Jesus the center of our celebrations.