Mickey Mouse Birthday Cake

I spent the better part of today making a first birthday cake for my nephew, Parker. The theme was Mickey Mouse, which was fun and challenging for me as I figured out how to design the cake.

Lots of parents, including Josh + Liz, decide to make a healthy first birthday cake because up to this point, most children haven't been eating much in the way of baked goods. Josh sent me the recipe they wanted to use, which I ended up quartering and slightly adapting to make Parker's cupcakes (see recipe here). However, after reading through the ingredients, I decided that the adults at the party (aka: everyone else) would probably not like to eat cake that tasted like sweetened bran muffins. I think it is a great idea to ease kids into sweets plus it could also be good for people who can't/should eat processed white flour and sugar (aka: my diabetic boss).

For the grown-ups' cake, I ended up making two different cakes and two different frostings. Happily, I was able to use leftover chocolate frosting that I'd previously frozen instead of making new, cutting down on the time I spent in the kitchen.

For Mickey's face, I halved the carrot cake recipe found here and baked the cake in two 6" pans for about 35 minutes.

For Mickey's ears, I used the almond cake recipe found here and baked the cakes six 4 1/2" pans for about 25 minutes. I only used four of them for the ears and enjoyed snacking on the other two while assembling the cake! [Aside: I actually chose to use this recipe because it is the cake I brought to the hospital for Josh + Liz the day after Parker was born.]

For the white frosting, I halved the simple cream cheese frosting recipe found here.

For the black frosting, I used ~2 cups of chocolate frosting from my freezer and added 1/4 teaspoon black food coloring.

If I could do it again, I would simplify things by making just one type of cake. However, all things considered, this was a really fun project. As I wait for my own little one's arrival, it is nice to have some distraction so that I don't just sit and wonder when she'll make her debut!