There is something about me that many people don’t know.

I love cake.

And more importantly, I love to make cake.

I took a fondant cake decorating class years ago so that I could decorate a fancy cake for B’s 30th birthday.  A great friend of ours was also turning 30 a few days after him, so we combined their events together into a big night out at a local summer camp.  This was extra special for me because we held the event at the summer camp I attended from the time I was 7 until I was 14.  We had a rocking good time, with a flier invitation and camp events scheduled for the entire 2 days we were there.  It was, in a word, AWESOME!

So the cake.  I made a 3-tier cake (chocolate, white, and strawberry tiers) and it took HOURS.  12 hours, in fact.  I had  to ask B to help me finish it the night before because we were cutting it close.  He pitched in and it was a lot of fun.  Getting the cake to camp was a BIG deal – it was very heavy and needed to be constructed on-site.  No biggie, but it added stress.  It looked pretty good… but it didn’t look as good as I wanted it to look.

It didn’t taste good.  It tasted normal, and decent enough, but not GOOD, you know?

After making at least a dozen cakes including the big birthday cake, I packed up my cake decorating kit.  I was burned out.

For Matthew’s first birthday, we had a fabulous birthday cake from a local bakery.  The design was clean and simple, but the flavor was amazing!  One tier was strawberry daiquiri (pretty good) and the top-tier was orange mimosa.  Oh my, that orange mimosa cake was a hit.  It quickly became my new favorite, so much so that B got it for me the next year for my birthday.  On my birthday, it was dry… not good.

For Matthew’s second birthday, we just got cupcakes.  I love cupcakes, but let’s be honest… they’re a cop-out for someone who loves cake.  😉

This year, for both of the boys’ birthdays, we’re getting proper cakes.  I was thinking of doing cupcakes again, but then saw my friend’s son’s cake and I was obsessed instantly.  I quickly found examples of what I’d like done and sent them to the cake maker.  The cake that she made LOOKED terrific, but it was a box cake.  Again – box cakes are great… but they’re just sort of… meh.  If I’m going to have a gorgeous cake, I want it to taste as good as it looks.  So…

I’m trying out a new cake tonight!  B is out-of-town, and I am making an orange mimosa cake from scratch.  It looks very straightforward and sounds fantastic!  If it’s good, I’ll do one for B’s 35th birthday to ensure I can do it again (because you know, the cake is actually ALL about me!) and then make it for one of the tiers of Matthew’s birthday cake.  I’ll have the cake gal decorate it, but I’m going to see if I can make and frost the cake and then deliver it to her for decorating madness!

Wish me luck!