Did somebody say cake? It was my daughters 2nd birthday yesterday. Two years have flown past. I know everybody says they grow up quick but gosh I didn’t realise it was this quick. My little one is now the boss of the house. From the moment we wake up it’s all go, hopping from one activity to the other. With tea parties, walks to the park and play dates, I count my blessings and wouldn’t have it any other way.

This year I decided to bake my daughter’s birthday cake myself. Yes that’s right! For those of you who know me, you know that I absolutely love to bake, but hate to decorate! Hey I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it. OK sorry.

Yes I love baking cakes, biscuits, scones, bread and anything else. But if you ask me to decorate it I will run a mile. I’ve done the odd few decorations over the years, but nothing to rave about.

I’m not really sure why I don’t like to decorate my bakes, maybe it’s because I’ve never really had the need to do it, or maybe because I simply can’t wait to indulge in whatever has come out the oven? Either way, I decided to brave it. My mum used to bake my birthday cakes when I was young and they were amazing, so maybe its time for me to learn.

I was fortunate to get some tips and tricks from my aunt who is a professional baker. She runs Preeti Delicious and makes the most incredible cakes I’ve ever seen. She also made my daughters first birthday cake and it was absolutely epic. Check out her page!

The Baking

So off I go, with packets of softened butter, sugar, flour and eggs around me, I begin to bake. I thought this would be the easy bit but nothing is ever straightforward is it? My tins were too shallow for the recipe I was given and therefore threw off the timing and temperature. Nevertheless I carried on and ended up with more cake than I needed. Not such a bad thing.

My initial plan was to decorate the cakes the next day, but I changed my mind and decided to decorate them later that same day in order to save time. I wish I didn’t because the cake was so fresh it crumbled very easily when I was trying to apply the crumb coat. Oh well!

The Decorating

Next it was time to apply the buttercream. I’ve seen so many people do this with a turntable and I’ve always wanted to try it. It was so much fun! I bought mine from Hobbycraft and it worked a charm. There I am trying to smooth the buttercream for ages, only for my husband to come along and tell me my cake wasn’t in the centre. Doh. No wonder it wasn’t super smooth! But with a bit of perseverance, I got there in the end.

With some added sprinkles and piped rainbow swirls of buttercream, the cake was done. I bought a cute cake topper from an independent seller on Etsy and it finished the cake off nicely. I wanted something elegant and simple as it was only my first time and I didn’t want to end up in tears. I was feeling very pleased with myself!

I had quite a few off cuts and leftover cake so I decided to make cake pops out of them. They turned out really well and looked so pretty. Let me know if you want to know how I made them 🙂

Now for an epic clean up!

I can safely say my daughter absolutely loved the cake and begged me over and over again if she could have some. For some reason this two year old child didn’t understand that we must have dinner first and then cake? Funny that.

Anyway I had great fun baking and it’s made me really appreciate what professional bakers can do. They are another level!

I am a food photographer and stylist based in Milton Keynes. Please subscribe to my blog below and check out my website to see more of my work at www.jbimagery.co.uk. Thank you!