I've mentioned it before, and I'll do it again. My wife is 500 times the artist than I am. Though she totally doesn't see it, she really can work magic with a box of Duncan Hines cake mix and a can or 2 (or 11 in some cases!) of Pillsbury vanilla frosting. She's got all the tips, bags, you name it to use. I've previously shown off her Elmer cake for our son Ryan's 2nd birthday. Here at the right is the cake she made for my recent 35th birthday. (It's the character Toad from all the Mario games by Nintendo. Our older son suggested it, and she more than sufficiently achieved it without any premade mold or anything.)
So for her recent birthday this past weekend, it was my turn to make her a cake. Again, our oldest son Jason was there to suggest Toad's female counterpart 
Toadette. Everyone wanted to know how I was going to pull it off. Heck, even I had no clue. But while she was out at the library with Ryan on Saturday, Jason and I got down to dirty (and delicious) business. Rather than cut out a shape or even begin to think about piping with tips and pastry bags, etc, I decided to go old-school and just frost the darn thing. So I roughly sketched out Toadette's head with a toothpick in the cake (based on a headshot I found online), then used a spoon, spatula and butter knife to spread the different colored frostings to paint her head. Jason and I improvised on other parts like gum drops for eyes, half of a jelly ring for her mouth, marshmallows to make up the white spots on her head, etc. And then Jason went sprinkle crazy and decorated the rest o' the cake with sprinkles, smartees, you name it. The result, er, speaks for itself. Heh. I think it clearly shows who has the artistic talent in this family. Yeah, I'll stick to writing for the most part.
The infamous Toadette Cake (and our model, Toadette)
Now, if you'd like to give cake decorating a shot yourself (that is, if I haven't scared you off. Way way off...), pick up some supplies cheap at Joann.com! With these 2 coupons you can either get free shipping, or save 50% on 1 item (which is great for those big Wilton cake pans)
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11 Responses to “The icing on the cake”
Your wife did a fantastic job. Your's... should I laugh with you or cry for you? AHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Sorry couldn't resist but truth be known, my cake would probably look just like yours.
Great cakes! I am sure your wife appreciated the effort either way.
I love making and decorating cakes, you get to be really creative about what different edible items you will use. I really enjoyed the story of the two Nintendo cakes produced in your home!
Hi - you've been tagged! It's an easy one: Tag You are it
Great Cakes!
Jo: Yeah didn't she do a great job? And she thinks this one came out awful that she rushed it, etc. Womens! I tells ya! And yeah, you can laugh AND cry at the cake I did. The truth of the matter is... if I didn't have my 4-year-old son helping me, it woulda looked a LOT worse!
Danielle: Oh she totally appreciated it. Though as I expected, there just wasn't enough frosting on it for her. Next time I'll double it up...
OMG that has to be the funniest thing I've ever seen. I laughed so hard, that I now have tears streaming down my face. My daughter (16 months) is sitting here cracking herself up wondering why mommy's laughing so hard.
Although it was extremely funny, it was also so thoughtful of you guys. I'm sure she loved all the effort and love that went into it. And hey, practice makes perfect... so I'm sure in about 20 years you may be a birthday cake expert!
Tiny: Sniff. My first "tag." I feel so honored and accepted. Except now I realize I have to actually do some work. Sigh. Don't worry, I'll get to it soon! Promise.
Kook (Can I call you Kook?): Glad I could elicit some good humor to ya. And yeah she did totally love and appreciate it. I'll let ya know in 20 years how I'm doing. Though I doubt it'll be much better.
I give you a lot of credit for creativity! Also, I don't know about Joann, but the Michael's near us sometimes offers inexpensive cake-decorating classes.
Hah! Thanks, Chief. A for Effort, right? Heh. And yeah, the Michael's near us offers fairly cheap classes. That's actually where my wife took the 2-part (or 3?) Wilton cake decorating class and learned how to do all this decorating stuff. It was just the intro class, and she's hoping to take the next level at some point in the near future.
okay your cake isn't that bad, more important how did it taste?
Like they say practice makes perfect
That's pretty funny! Actually it's not bad, I'm sure she appreciated all of the love and effort put into it.Still thanks for the laugh.
Toad is great. Toadette could use some editing, but it's still a valiant effort and one I am sure the wife appreciated. Great job on both. Maybe you'll open up a bakery someday......Ace of Toads?????