The Castle Cake

For the last few weeks, I've been debating on whether or not I would a make cake myself for Leland's birthday. I finally decided that I would and there was no question in my mind on what it would be - a pink castle. If there is anything that sums up Leland's last year it is pink and anything princess.

I did lot of Internet research and talked to anyone I could about making and decorating cakes. Now this is my FIRST cake that I've ever done myself. I helped my sister make a guitar cake last fall and that was my first encounter with cake decorating.

Chuck actually did the detail work. He did a GREAT job. My Aunt gave Leland some princess Polly Pockets as a present, so we decided to add them to the top of the cake. They were a very nice addition.
So what did I learn from my first cake decorating experience?

• My cake was DELICIOUS! (Bodell Bistro p.306) Thanks Aunt Pam!
• My icing was a little too thin to use decorating tips to do piping, but still tasted good. (Bodell Bistro p.294)
• Freeze the cake for a few hours before decorating it. That was the MOST helpful piece of advice that I got and it came from a lot of people.
• I NEVER thought I would be so excited to make a pink castle cake. But Leland's excitement made my excitement escalate.

**For those of you who are not a part of the Bodell crew and would like the recipes, check out the food blog I contribute to: One More Bite. I also added detail about the construction of the cake if you are interested.