Baking with my niece!

 My beautiful niece turned 13 this year!

She was excited to be a teenager and

she was also excited to make

her own birthday cake for her party!

So we started by figuring out the design for her

13th birthday cake.

And then we decided to sneak a surprise inside

the cake, which is always fun when you slice the

first piece of cake!

We will have to wait and see if our little surprise works!

So then it was off to the oven, while it baked and cooled

 there was a movie to watch and lasagna to eat!

Icing the cake using a turn table makes the job so much easier.

  She is a natural at decorating!

We then made homemade marshmallow fondant.

There was a lot gong on and so much sugar!

Rolling out the fondant the next morning to cover the cake!

And the decorating begins with these two!

The amount of laughter could

be contributed to the amout of sugar these

two girls consumed.

 I loved watching them work

 together as the vison of

 the cake came to be a beautiful work of art!

Oh, the personalities of these two,

it's just so fun!

And now that she is 13 1/2 its time I get this posted!

A very fun, sweet day!

And the inside...

Our daughter turns 12...

My favorite cakes to make are sweet girlie ones.

And so when we decided to have a party

to celebrate our daughter on her 12th birthday,

I had so many ideas and so little time.

Like many of my ideas,

the cake does not always turn out just

the way I pictured it.

But when it comes down to making a cake

and planning a party,

and making cupcakes,

and getting food  for the party,

and being a mom,

and doing laundry,

and making meals,

and packing lunches,

and cleaning,

and having two hour school delays

when I was planning on making a cake,

The cake looks like this...

Originally, I thought that a roller skate cake

would be super cute, since her party was

at a roller rink. 

But in the end I went with what was easier

and GIRLIE!

Even though I had baked and decorated over 80 cupcakes and a cake,

We surprised her!!

My dear husband always takes his

daughters out on a date

for their birthday.

(We could probably skip presents, because the highlight of their birthday is their date with Dad.)

So after a nice meal and a quick stop

at the store,

they headed for the surprise.

SURPRISE!!!

It didn't take her long to get her skates on

and join her friends on the rink.

Skating with her Dad while

I set up the food table.

It is a family friendly rink with

hardwood floors and so much fun.

After skating awhile we

sang "Happy Birthday" and

had a "snack".

A purse cake with zebra print.

The dessert table!

Happy 12th Birthday, dear Daughter,

We love you!!

For a tutorial for the flower on this cake, go here.

It was a birthday cake kind of week.