American Flag Cake & Smash Cake

If you read my blog regularly, you may remember that last year three new grandchildren (Addy, Max and Josh) joined our family:)  Only two of our eight grandchildren live locally, so I don't often get to bake birthday cakes for any of them:(
One of the two, Max, was born on the 4th of July, but this year his family was at a family reunion in Idaho on his birthday. We celebrated his birthday on July 15, but I still wanted his  birthday cake to represent his Independence Day birth date.
I decided an American flag cake was in order, and zeroed in on Glory's (Glorious Treats) beautiful blog. She included a wonderful tutorial which helped me immensely in putting this cake together.

After the cakes were baked and prepped for construction, this is what they looked like. As I said, thank goodness Glory had photos, or who knows what my cake would have ended up looking like!?!  :)

The next step was to stack and frost.  It was rather fun as I watched this cake come together. After I frosted the entire cake and decorated it, I crossed my fingers and hoped that later when it was cut into, an American flag would appear!

It did! Woo Hoo! I was pretty excited:)  I decorated the cake simply, with sprinkles around the top and bottom borders. I topped it with a number 1, made from the icing tinted red and applied with an icing bag/decorating tip. The cake is frosted with American buttercream frosting (appropriate, don't ya think?), also from Glorious Treats.

Max couldn't believe his good fortune when his smash cake was set before him:)

He thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Max's  6-inch cake (no he didn't eat it all) was a simple, marbled red, white & blue cake, made from a white cake mix with gel food coloring added).  I filled and frosted it with Glory's vanilla cream cheese frosting, which was delicious!  His cake was decorated with a bunting.  The fabric, stencil (A-Z)  and twine were part of a kit (I can't find the label to give credit!?!), but I used my own straws that I had on hand, as well as more sprinkles.

Even though Independence Day is over, this cake would be perfect for Labor Day in September, a U.S. military event, or to support America during the Olympics.

American Flag Cake
1.  Prepare two boxes of white cake mix, each mix in a separate bowl.
2.  Add red food coloring to one of the bowls and incorporate.
3.  Divide up the other mix into two bowls and add blue coloring to one,  leaving the other one white.
4.  Bake each of the four cakes in 8-inch cake pans, each lightly greased, and lined with parchment paper.
5.  Cool cakes completely.
6.  Cut each of the red cakes in half horizontally.
7.  Cut a 4-inch circle (I used a round cutter) of cake from one of the red rounds.*
8.  Cut the white cake round in half horizontally.
9.  Cut a 4-inch circle of cake from one of the white rounds.* 
10. Cut a 4-inch circle of cake from the blue round cake.*
*Save the scraps for cake pops at a later date:)
You should end up with a set of cakes as in the second photo.
11. Starting from the bottom, stack the cakes: red, white, red, blue, with a thin layer of frosting between each layer of cake.
12. Apply a thin layer of icing around the inside of the 4-inch opening at the top. 
13. Gently, but firmly, place the 4-inch white round inside the opening, followed by the 4-inch red round.
14.  Frost the cake completely and decorate as desired.
15. Refrigerate until ready to serve, and be sure to cut slices with a sharp knife (I used a serrated bread knife) for "clean" cuts.


ENJOY!

Linked to: 
I'm Lovin' it Party
Inspiration Friday 
Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday 
Weekend Wrap Up Party 

Blog Problems!

Sorry that my blog looks all crazy and mixed up!

This morning I was trying to simply adjust my blog's parameters to accommodate larger photos and I experimented and can't seem to get it back to where it started out!?!  All the extras are at the bottom of the page.  Now, I have to run to work, so will have to try and fix it when I return!  Arrrrggghhh!

Does anyone know how to adjust blogger to allow the full size of photos?  I would REALLY appreciate the help!

Gum Ball Cookies and Bubble Gum Alley

 

 The other day (7/9) was National Sugar Cookie Day! I'm sure that every day a food is celebrated nationally, but sugar cookies are special:) Sugar cookies, especially decorated sugar cookies, make people smile.  {Wow, I just mentioned sugar cookies four times already...make that five.}

And these gumball cookies make me smile:)  The colors are so bright and cheerful!  The inspiration for the gumball machines came from the one and only, Sugarbelle (Callye), and the cute little gumball idea came from the amazing Partiologist (Kim)! I just love my versatile, little, round cookie cutter!
Thanks so much, Callye and Kim!

 

The gumball machines were made using a template that I cut out on heavy paper. The cookies were iced with royal icing, and m&m candies (gumballs) were added while the icing was still wet. Also, I don't know if you can tell, but I used some silver luster dust (mixed with clear vanilla extract and applied with a small paint brush) for the "metal" details on the gumball machine after the royal icing was dry.  Lastly, an AmeriColor  Gourmet Writer was used for the black detail.
I packaged each gumball machine cookie in a clear, cellophane bag, and tied it with a ribbon.  I included some gumball cookies in each bag and gave them as gifts.
Everyone seemed to enjoy them:)

On July 4th my husband and I ended up making our way north to our favorite local town. One of the reasons I wanted to visit that day was to take these photos of Bubble Gum Alley, solely for this post:) 

From Wikipedia:
Bubble Gum Alley is a local tourist landmark in downtown  San Luis Obispo, known for its accumulation of used bubble gum on the walls of an alley.  It is a 15-foot (4.6 m) high and 70-foot (21 m) long alley lined with chewed gum left by passers-by. The locally created, "most-talked-about landmark" covers a stretch of 20 meters between 733 and 734 Higuera Street in downtown San Luis Obispo.

The consensus is a toss-up as to whether this collective gum wall is an eyesore or a work of art.  What do you think?  Would you like to chew a wad of gum and add your own masterpiece?

Looks like this was a unique way of asking someone to the prom:)  (I accidentally cut off part of the question mark when I took the photo.)  I wonder what the answer was?!?

If you're ever in the area, be sure to take a stroll down Bubble Gum Alley, and don't forget your gum!

Linked to:

Sweet treats and Swanky Stuff 
Inspiration Friday
I'm Lovin' it Party  
Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday 
Saturday Seven Party

Mini Ice Cream Cone Cake Pops

Tomorrow will make three weeks since I've published a post, and I haven't commented on many of my favorite blogs either. Sorry about that. In that time, I've traveled to my daughter's home in Texas and had a wonderful visit with her, my son-in-law and my grandchildren, for about ten days:)
(I've also been pre-occupied with a family matter, but I will get to that at the end of this post.)*

I have been home for five days, but couldn't seem to muster up the wherewithal to bake and blog!?! Then I remembered these cute little mini cones that flew home with me from Texas:) I bought them specifically to make faux ice cream cone cake pops.  I found these cute sugar cone cake pops by Miss Candiquik awhile ago, and have been wanting to make some ever since.

I'm so glad I did! Besides being yummy, they were a lot of fun to make and not too labor intensive.  I know it might be too late to whip some up for Independence Day, but they would be a perfect treat for any summer day!

Mini Ice Cream Cone Cake Pops
 
Ingredients:
1 box of white cake mix
1 package mini ice cream cones
Sprinkles
Red m&m's
Red, white and blue gel food coloring (or any colors you'd like:))
10-16 ounces of candy melts
16 ounce tub of cream cheese frosting

Directions:
Prepare cake mix and divide evenly into three separate bowls.
Add a different color of  food coloring to each bowl and mix thoroughly.

Pour each into a separate, small cake pan and bake cakes according to package directions.

Let cakes cool for 5-10 minutes in their pans, then remove from pans and let cool completely.

Crumble each cake into fine crumbs and set aside in bowls.

Add about 1/4 cup-1/2 cup of icing to each bowl and mix thoroughly. You want to add enough frosting to make the cake crumbs stick together, but not mushy.
Take a small ball of cake mix from each bowl and mix together to form a multi-colored cake ball the size of a mini scoop of ice cream:)
Set the cake balls on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and place them in the refrigerator to chill.

According to package directions melt the candy melts in a deep dish.

Remove the cake balls from the refrigerator and place on your work surface. Have the mini cones and sprinkles nearby.
Dip each cake ball in the melted candy until completely covered.
Using a fork, lift it out of the chocolate and place on the top of the mini ice cream cone. (You may want to first dip the rim of each cone in the melted candy to help the cake ball adhere to it.)

Decorate with the sprinkles and place the red m&m on top.

Set aside to dry completely.  ENJOY!

Happy 4th of July!

 My boy with his boys

*The issue that has consumed me of late is my son Jesse. About two weeks ago, out of nowhere, my 26 year old, otherwise healthy son, experienced a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), or mini stroke. It lasted about two hours. At the onset, he immediately went to the ER, where he was given lots of tests, and was released the next night. He has no risk factors, all of the tests proved negative, and he was not given any meds.  Unfortunately, he went on to have two more TIA's within the next few days, though they were less severe, and shorter in duration.  He now has more tests scheduled.  He lives in another state so I feel sort of out of the loop.
I pray and hope that the doctors will administer the correct test(s) and discover what the problem is so that it can be remedied.

Linked to:

Inspiration Friday 
Sweet Treats Thursday 
Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday 
I'm Lovin' it Fridays

Weekend Wrap Up Party
Sweets for a Saturday

Saturday Seven Party at Positively Splendid