Ashlyn's Belated Birthday Post...Part 2

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Picking up from the end of my last post...

Saturday morning the girls that spent the night with her spent all morning playing dressup and hanging out!  That was GREAT for me as I was on to making Ashlyn's birthday cake... and it was my first time using my new "toy" for making cakes...

I was siked! 

And a little nervous...

but mostly anxious to start working on the cake!!

I had no idea what I was going to end up with.  And, let's just say it didn't start off well.

In addition to using the "Cricut Cake" for the first time, it was also my first time working with fondant.

I had heard that store bought fondant was not very tasty, so I found a recipe for Marshmallow Fondant and used that instead. 

It was very good... and relativey easy to make... and to color...but it didn't cut well in the machine. 

So, after trying several different things and searching for answers on the Internet with others that have used the machine... I determined the best way when cutting fondant is laying it out on the cutting sheet and then putting it in the freezer for 20 minutes before cutting.  Then you have to freeze it again after cutting before taking it off the sheet.  That worked the best.  However, I think I will be trying gum paste next time as I have heard it is the best for using with the machine.

Anyways, there were other problems throughout the cake making process that day...

It first started when I noticed that my yellow fondant was missing. 

I had unwrapped it and set it on the counter to start rolling out when one of the girls asked me for something and when I returned to my fondant, I couldn't find it.  I retraced my steps thinking I had set it down somewhere else, but after thinking about it... I called Charlie over to see if my suspicions were true.  I opened his mouth wide open...and determined that I was correct!  Yellow...attached to all of his teeth. 

That was the only fondant that Charlie ended up getting a hold of, but he did eat one of my small cakes before the day was over.  Needless to say, he slept in his crate that night!  I wasn't going to deal with a mess if he ended up getting sick.

I did finally finish the cake.  And, I think it turned out okay for my very first one! 

On Sunday, we celebrated with family, which is what I was making the cake for in the first place.

Ashlyn received lots of cool stuff...especially stuff for her new bedroom!

And, then after lunch and opening presents... we had to serve cake!

I think this was the hardest cake for me to cut since I knew how much effort it took for me to put it together.  But, it was worth it!

But, after Ashlyn blew out her candles, we cut it open and gobbled it right up!  And, it was yummy!

 It was a GOOD day, a GREAT weekend and an AWESOME birthday for Ashlyn!