Julia turned 12 last week. I can’t believe my “baby” is this old. The time has just flown by.
For her cake, we decided to make a chocolate cake with white icing. I used Martha Stewart’s devil’s food cake recipe which made three layers. For the icing, we chose this buttercream frosting recipe.
I decided to freeze the cake layers and then thaw them out the day before my daughter’s party to decorate. This worked quite well. I simply wrapped each cooled layer of cake with plastic wrap and then put them in zippered plastic bags.
A few of my Facebook fans recommended covering the cake with a base coat of frosting while it was still frozen. This worked well and prevented lots of cake crumbs in my icing.
I found a rose cake tutorial that looked really pretty and my daughter asked if I could do that to her cake. So, I set to work and learned something very important about cake decorating.
I could not make a living at it. 
My roses didn’t look quite like the tutorial (so I tried something different on the sides), but that could have had something to do with the tip I was using. Also, am I the only person who has icing squirt out of the top of the bag and gets as much icing on my hands as the cake?
Even though my cake decorating skills are lacking, my daughter loved her cake. Plus, it tasted so good, if I do say so myself!
We made homemade ice cream a few hours before her party and froze it in a muffin tin. This made serving the ice cream a breeze. Plus, since homemade ice cream tends to melt quickly, we were able to eliminate that problem by freezing it after it was made.
I wish I could take credit for the ice cream idea, but it came from this site. I also used this idea for cutting the cake.
Making the cake and ice cream for my daughter’s birthday was a frugal way to celebrate her special day. Maybe these ideas will help make your next birthday party easier.
