LaLa Cake: Mother's Day Cake Mini's

Bird Nest Flower MINI cake

"Roses are Red

Birds chirp Tweet Tweet

I baked you a cake Mom,

Because You're sooo sweet!"

Ta da! Lala MINI cakes! Pretty 4" cakes piled high with simple or more extravegant decorating to give mom the perfect treat! All three cakes varieties are actually the same cake in various stages of the decorating process. I started with the simple white cake easily iced with a ridged swirl. Ice your cake to a smooth finish. Place cake on turn table and slowly swipe a small offset spatula around the cake while turning to achieve this look. (Cross my heart... it is a very simple technique you'll get down with little practice...really!)

Cake #2 is covered in all natural homemade sprinkles! (Not feeling very crafty? Store bought work just as well!) Feeling extra crafty?! Follow my post here on how to make all natural food coloring and make your own sprinkles. The sprinkles are made by mixing 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tsp of corn syrup and drips of water until you have a thick paste. Place in a pastry bag with a small tip and pipe out onto parchment paper. There may be an easier way but I haven't come across one yet..and yes the thick paste will give you a workout trying to pipe it out of a small tip! Leave to dry at least 15 hours. Break apart or cut into small pieces and you have sprinkles!

Before piping mix in all natural food coloring or any other coloring you like. I do some white, then a at least 2 shades of a color to get a confetti look. Here I used dried beet and... shhh.. I did mix in just a drop of blue food coloring to get a more purple shade.. so let me restart... Cake #2 is covered in 98% All natural homemade sprinkles!

Cake #3 is adorned with a chocolate fondant birds nest, leaves and flowers. All the components are 50/50 fondant and modeling chocolate. The modeling chocolate doesn't dry out like fondant and keeps the 'sticks' pliable to shape into a perfect nest. Roll the 50/50 chocolate mix as thin as you can then let sit for a few moments to harden just slightly. Rough up the sticks by rubbing them gently with a dull knife or spoon to add a more rustic look then add them is a hapharzard circle, attaching the sticks to one another with chocolate frosting. The flowers are simple calle lillies and rose colored again with ALL natural (this time I didn't cheat) beet and carrot powder. The green on the leaves is Green Tea Matcha powder ground super fine in a coffee grinder. and mixed right into the 50/50 fondant mix.