BIRTHDAY WEEK: DIY twig & tweet layered color cake

What’s a birthday without cake?! I’ve had this cake idea for so long and with the Spring weather and birthday celebrations I thought it was the perfect time to make some food art with this layered color cake. If you follow along my food experiments adventures, you know that I’m a fan of both slow, low and homemade good eats but I’m also totally an advocate of cheating. This is one of those cheating recipes. This one is more about the color, design and concept for me. Did I mention how much of a bird lover I am? Thank god the ‘put a bird on it’ trend is over because 90% of gifts I received had birds on them. Now that that whole thing has passed I feel like it’s ok for me to embrace them again in my own way.

I bought these little faux feathered friends at a dollar store ages ago not knowing what I would use them for then had a light bulb moment recently and dreamed up this spring colored cake idea with a twig & tweet topper. I had a bit of a different type of twig in my mind but Mother Nature wasn’t on the same page as me on this particular day but you get the idea.

So here’s the major cheating part – this cake uses almost all packaged goods. I 1000% get it if you’re not into that and want to make the cakes, icing & custard from scratch. I don’t blame you. I just really wanted to share this fun decor idea and this was the fastest way and even though it may not be great common practice, it tastes delish I think there’s a time & place for cheating. Here’s what I used:

• 1 white boxed cake mix
• 1 chocolate boxed cake mix (I only used half*)
• 1 package of instant vanilla pudding
• 1 container of pre-made vanilla frosting
• food coloring
• milk, oil, eggs as per mixes instructions

* I used the other half of the chocolate mix to make a batch of cupcakes & stuck them in the freezer. You could also just all another layer to the cake if you like but you’ll need more pudding.

If you’re looking to make it more handmade Martha Stewart has you covered with a recipe for Vanilla Sponge Cake (add cocoa for chocolate), custard, and buttercream frosting.

Add blue & red food coloring to the white cake mix and vanilla pudding until you get your fav shades of spring blue and pink. Carefully shave off the top of the cake layers to create a flat service then start assembling your masterpiece.

For the actual topper, I rinsed and dried the twigs then used a hot glue gun to adhere the cute birds. You can make this as simple & sweet or a total show stopper depending on how many twigs and birds you add. I added a bit of green ombre to the bottom just to add a little somthin’ somthin’.

The extra surprise is when you cut into it and find these delicious shades of spring. Blue and brown separated by some pretty pink pudding. If you’re some kind of cold hearted baker who hates blue & pink, feel free to use your palette of choice.

I think these tweets need names – Happy Birthday from Macy, Donna, & Clive!

Whether it’s a birthday or another special spring celebration, this layered color cake is sure to impress and put a smile on your guests face…when their mouths aren’t full of cake.

 

If you liked this, be sure to check back for birthday week of surprises or some of our other Good Eats.