First Birthday Tradition Idea

I can't stand the idea of a whole cake going to waste, but I want something a little more exciting than a cupcake. Plus, I like to pull out my long-ago cake decorating skills (in high school, I took a cake-decorating class with my mom, and then I frosted some 10 million cakes for Cold Stone Creamery when I was in high school and college).

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I made Ella's tiny cake in a mug, and I can't remember what I used for Ani's (maybe a mug, too?). This time around, I didn't have any mugs with straight sides, so I emptied out a tin can of pineapple, washed it thoroughly, and then lined the bottom and sides with parchment paper, and then sprayed it like crazy. I halved this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and filled the can about 1/3 full and then did the rest in a loaf pan for us to eat.

I frosted it with a half batch of this frosting (I frosted the cake with white, then added red food coloring to the rest of it, and piped it on with my frosting gun, a purchase that seemed so ridiculous five years ago. Now I have gotten so much mileage out of that thing, it makes me happy every time I pull it out), tossed on some sprinkles, and put a single candle in the top.

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Star was quite delighted and figured out immediately what to do with it when we placed it on her tray. She dug right in and was happy to give fingers of frosting to her big sisters.

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After a few minutes, Bart cut a slice for her, and she grabbed it with both hands and put it right in her mouth.

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Amusingly, Bart also gave Hannah a very small slice, and Star's head swiveled around and gave Hannah the biggest side-eye I've ever seen. We couldn't stop laughing at her.

When we finally put the cake away, Bart asked Star if she'd liked the cake, and she nodded extremely enthusiastically.

It kind of makes me want to bake her a cake every weekend.

I won't complain about the bigger cake for the rest of us, either.

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