Reid's 2nd birthday is Friday. We are having a birthday party for her on Saturday with family traveling to AZ from CO and TX. I need to start thinking about the cake, but work has been crazy.

I don't want to order a cake from the grocery store for financial and nutritional reasons. I would like to bake a sheet cake and cut it to resemble a hot air balloon. I have no experience with cake decorating.

I am hoping for a good (from scratch) recipe for moist yellow cake and then any advice on icing. What, how, how long...that kind of thing.

(ahem, Kathy & MNM...any ideas?)

Do you want it to be whole grain? I have the King Arthur Whole Grain cookbook, and the recipes in it are pretty yummy and healthy. I could wander downstairs and see what they suggest.

I dunno, Ylime, I really think you should splurge on this one:
http://tinyurl.com/6yo896

If you're going to actually decorate the cake, you're probably better off buying the icing from the grocery store bakery and tinting it with paste color. Typically, homemade icing doesn't hold up well when piped into patterns and such. You can get Wilton icing mixes at craft stores, along with flavoring and coloring.

McG, last year I made Reid her own "healthy" cake and the adults had Cuban Opera cake. Her cake was dry and gross. I am fine with any recipe as long as the cake is moist and yummy...we are all eating the same cake this year.

I would love any recipe. Tried and true is good, but I have nothing here and little time. I am also not on a mission to avoid sugar, I just want to know what we are eating. Grocery store cakes have their time and place, I just prefer "home grown" to enriched flour and high fructose corn syrup.

Another alternative is to go to a baker at a stand alone bakery shop (as opposed to the Grocery Store bakery) and see if they can do for you what you want. You're going to have so much going on as it is.

Ylime - a friend of mine makes her own cakes since her son is allergic to eggs, and found a grocery store bakery to do the icing for her for only $12. You may want to call around and try that.

I sent you a message with a recipe.

Wow, HBD, maybe I need to rethink my angle....

MW, I didn't know you could buy icing from the grocery store...just icing. A friend suggested that I ice the cake with a very thin layer of icing and then get it really cold...then the other icing will go on without crumbs.

I might be in over my head. Glad it is just family and a 2 year-old...everyone should be able to roll with a wonky cake.

Thanks MNM.

Michael, I am having trouble finding a stand alone bakery. I thought that was strange in Flagstaff.

Ummmmm...my talent is all in the decorating. I don't do cakes from scratch. So as long as you don't care too much about the sugar content, get yourself a boxed mix, follow the directions on the back, and spend your time and energy on the decorating part, which takes way longer than you'd imagine. Seriously - it took me most of a day just to cut, frost and decorate that dragon cake.

I make light markings with a sharp knife on top of the cake ahead of time to make sure the shape is right. (Sometimes I even cut a pattern, but that's only if it's a really complicated or unusual shape.) Then cut the basic shape, frost (I love the idea of frosting a thin layer, then chilling, then another layer over that - I'll have to try it next time!) and use candy and cookies to "fill in" the details of the balloon. Google "hot air balloon cake" and click on "Images" to find some models to copy.

A few more tips:
1) Let the cake cool completely, preferably overnight, before you frost it.
2) Turn the cake over so the flat bottom becomes the decorating top. That way the icing and decorations won't slide off.
3) Just do one layer, and make some simple cuts to create the shape of a hot air balloon. Layered cakes tend to slide unless the icing is just perfect.
4) The reason it's a great idea to do a thin layer of frosting, and then chill it before the real round, is because when you're frosting the cut sides (and even sometimes the not-cut parts), the crumbs get caught in the frosting and (a) look bad and (b) force you to eat a lot of frosting off your fingertips.
5) Don't wait too long after frosting the last round before putting any candy or other decorations on the top. If you do, the frosting will be too hard to press the decor into.
6) On the other hand, don't put it on *right* away or the color of the candy will bleed off into the frosting and look weepy.
7) If you decide to use string licorice for the tethers, open the package the night before (at least), uncurl the strings and put a (clean) dictionary or something on them. They don't straighten out easily straight from the package, and there's nothing sillier looking than a hot air balloon with bent tethers.
8) I usually use the powdered sugar-and-butter frosting recipe on the sugar box, then flavor it with almond, lemon or whatever other extract goes with the cake. Then I purchase frosting in tubes for the "finer" decorating work. The tube frosting doesn't taste very good, but it's not the overriding flavor anyway.

Good luck! I want to see pictures!

You know, it just now occurred to me that maybe even better than the dictionary trick (which I admittedly haven't attempted) would be to try and microwave a piece of string licorice to see if that helps straighten it out quickly.

Yay! A legitimate reason for me to buy licorice!

Kathy - try a hair dryer! Also, give the finished cake a quick burst with a hair dryer- -it gives it a nice sheen. Really.

Ooooohhhh! Me likey! I can't wait now! We're doing a monkey cake for the Dragon in a few weeks... Now if only I could find my hair dryer...

I have no idea what yellow cake is. My mother was a-mazing with cake decorating. Not with soft-icing, but with handmade homemade icing, lollies, marzipan, food colouring, melted chocolate... she's a freaking genius at it. I once made a cake that was done up to be a Roland 101 for my brother's friend from his band, was so proud of myself. My mother could do way better though. One time she covered a cake in smooth white icing, like soft icing, sort of like a xmas cake, then she used food colouring as water colour, painted a scene on it with a brush - copied one of Turner's or someone's landscapes. Did a Van Gogh one time too, that one of the guy playing the guitar. Kids' cakes were often gingerbread houses, lollies galore. She made one to look like my aunt's garden complete with marzipan cat gazing into blue jelly pond with lilly pad and goldfish. She made a Model-T cake once too. it was awesome.

Or you can just go see this guy: http://mikesamazingcakes.com/

I made Girl Grey carrot cake cupcakes (could be a cake instead) for her first birthday and they were a big hit. I always leave out the nuts and you can use egg substitute if you are trying avoid allergens. Recipe below:

Ingredients

Cake:
2 C. all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp gr. Cinnamon
2 C. sugar
1.25 C. canola oil
4 large eggs
3 C. grated, peeled carrots
1.25 C. coarsely chopped walnuts
2 tbsp minced, peeled ginger

Icing:
10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
5 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2.5 C. powdered sugar (you can leave out 1 C. and substitute it with ~ .25 C. cornstarch for an icing that isn’t as sweet—it’s very good this way)
.25 C. pure maple syrup

12 walnut halves (for garnish)

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease two 9-inch-diameter cake pans and line bottom of pans with wax paper. Butter and flour paper, tapping out excess flour
2. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend
3. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended mixture and stir until well blended
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time
5. Add flour mixture and stir until blended
6. Add carrots, walnuts, and ginger
7. Divide batter between the two prepared cake pans
8. Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean, about 40 minutes
9. Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes and then turn onto racks. Peel off the wax paper and cool the cakes completely
10. Meanwhile, use a mixer to beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy
11. Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed until well blended
12. Beat in maple syrup
13. Chill until just firm enough to spread, about 30 minutes
14. Place one cake layer on platter and spread with .75 C. icing. Top with second layer and spread remaining icing over entire cakes
15. Arrange walnut halves around top edge
16. Cake can be made one day ahead and refrigerated
17. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving
**Note: one can replace 1 C. of the oil with 1 C. applesauce, as well as cut down the sugar to 1.5 C.
***Additionally, don’t leave the cake out too long, as the frosting is a bit runny

I would make cupcakes, ice them, and then form them into the shape of a hot air balloon. Then decorate them when they are all assembled. You could do a small square cake for the gondola. That way the kids get cupcakes, which I think they prefer.

The licorice sounds like a good idea for the tethers.

Good luck!

Ylime, Google helped me find a few stand-alones for you:
http://www.desertflour.com/cakes.html
Copper Coyote Cafe

I always do the boys' birthday cakes. Mostly because I really enjoy the whole baking/decorating thing, but I almost never have an excuse to do it.

As far as the cake goes, Cook's Illustrated has some really good recipes for plain yellow cakes. Get their Baking Illustrated book from a library--there are at least two or three in there.

And for icing, I like a stiff cream cheese icing. Whip full fat cream cheese with butter until smooth (I usually use two packages of cream cheese to two stick of butter), then add flavorings and enough powdered sugar to make it stiff. Also, I like the Wilton gel food colorings for this, as it doesn't mess with the texture of the icing and also doesn't have any odd flavors.

Another good icing recipe is as follows, it makes a nice meringue buttercream: Whisk 4 egg whites with 1 c. of sugar over a double boiler until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are very hot to the touch. You need to be careful to whisk constantly here, so that it doesn't get bits of cooked egg white in it. Once it's hot and opaque, transfer it to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer) and whip until stiff peaks form. It won't increase much in volume here the way that raw egg whites do, but it should get stiff. Add any flavorings you want, then add 1 lb. of softened butter, 1 TB at a time, until all the butter is incorporated and the icing is smooth. If you want to add colors, do this at the end so that the extra butter won't throw off your color. You can also add a few oz. of melted chocolate in here, which is pretty tasty.

And for decorating, definitely do a thin layer of frosting over the cake and then refrigerate to set. It will make the rest of the frosting/decorating so much easier. If you want to do any borders or whatever, get a few decorating tips, but there's no need for pastry bags--just use a large ziploc and cut one corner for the decorating tip. A large offset spatula is your best friend and Mamawho's hairdryer tip really does work. Not only does it give the cake a nice sheen, it also helps to smooth out any rough patches on the surface of the cake.

Oh my god. I'm so inspired. I want to paint a van Gogh cake!!

Ylime - I don't know what elevation you will be baking at, but I live at 5500 ft (central NM) and I find making a cake from scratch difficult. They don't rise correctly. I have had success with recipes from 'High Altitude Baking: 200 Delicious Recipes & Tips for Great Cookies, Cakes, Breads & More" by the Colorado State Extension (available at amazon, borders, and possibly your local library). Cupcakes turn out much better.

Temperature is also a consideration. The reason I always use the bakery's icing is because it is so much more stable when it's 105 degrees outside on GirlWho's birthday.

I had an idea - rather than color the icing, you can also fill in the segments of the balloon with sprinkles of various colors. I've done this on the wings of a butterfly cake - it looked kind of stained-glass ish.

If you are at all ok with cake mixes, I would suggest doctoring a cake mix. If you google that concept "cake mix doctor" you will get links that will include recipes (including links for a book that is borderline frightening.) My favorite variation on the doctored yellow cake is to use yogurt in it; you can also use buttermilk and/or sour cream to give a much better flavor and consistency. You are still getting lots of preservatives and such though. Barefoot Contessa has a really simple recipe for yellow birthday cake that I made at the beac h last week and it turned out INCREDIBLE-- and was easy enough to make that I good do it in a poorly equipped beach house kitchen. Try her web site (google) or go to Food TV's site and search her recipes. I am pretty sure it is actually called yellow birthday cake.
I do a lot of cut out/ shaped cakes and everyone above has given GREAT advice. I'd do a hot air ballon by baking an 8" or 9" round and a square cake. Then, trim the square to look basket-like and use the trimmed pieces to make the balloon shape look better. I usually find a simple line drawing of the shape I'm going for (try googling for a coloring page), print it out big, and use it as a template.

You can make frosting really simply with just softened butter, a little touch of milk/ whipping cream, vanilla and 3x sugar-- just blend til it is frosting consistency. For a two year old, decorating with candy would be awesome-- she'll be really amazed by it and it will be really easy to do. And the grown ups can pick off the candy if they want and enjoy regular cake! The wilton cake colors can get a touch pricey-- but they are definitely the best. You could also save out some of the plain icing and add cocoa to it for both color and flavor to do the basket.

Eegads! You are all geniuses. I do live at 7000 ft. and didn't consider the altitude with a from scratch cake. I've been told to add vanilla pudding to a cake mix to help it be more moist.

I am feeling pretty confident after all of your help. I googled "hot air balloon cake" and looked at other peoples' images. Seems pretty easy. I think I will do a white icing with different colored sprinkles and then the cocoa in the icing for the basket.

Thanks for all of your ideas! I *heart* Offsprung. (It's silly...just typing that brought a little tear to my eye. Must be the post-natal hormones that make me cry cause I love you guys so much...)

I know you want a balloon cake, and yellow at that. Sorry I gave you the carrot cake recipe. I just love it so much and my sleep-deprived brain saw cake and thought "Ohhhhh I love my carrot cake. I must share!!"

Enjoy whatever you decide to make!

LG, I LOVE carrot cake. I am looking for yellow cake this time around, but that didn't stop me from immediately printing your recipe and filing it away for later. I really appreciate your taking the time to suggest the recipe!

As vile as some may think they are, fruit roll-ups and the like can be great for kiddie cake decorating. Find the colors you want and cut out pieces w/ kitchen shears. All manner of canfy can be a godsend...most things from the gummie family and gum drop-type sweets flattened w/ a food mallet and cut to your specifications. More heat tolerant than icing.

You're brave. I just ask my MIL to make a cake.

sabine - I used tie-dye fruit-by-the-foot to make beach towels for Polly Pockets on GirlWho's cake last year. It really looked like little beach towels! Each cretin at the sleepover got to keep a Polly Pocket.

I hate baking, but I like decorating themed cakes.

if it's a health issue, instead of vanilla pudding to make a cake moist, use yogurt. I highly recommend yogurt in cakes - i add it to a regular cake batter most of the time for various reasons (partly cos i never measure anything except the eggs - haha.) and it helps restore it to batter if i add too much flour (much harder to put more butter in once the eggs are in.)

Also if you make a normal cake then add a cup or so of yogurt, you can then spread the batter into a greased ceramic dish and top it with any kind of cut fresh fruit, sprinkle with cinnamon and/or sugar and bake, it's a divine and fiendishly easy dessert. hot or cold. with or without accompaniments. And an awesome way to use up excess fruits, especially figs and stone fruits. I do it in small amounts sometimes if i make too much cake batter for whatever i'm making, like, don't have enough cupcake pans available or whatever.

Anyway. Go the yogurt.

I second what BoL Lvl 8 Mum said about yogurt for doctoring cake mixes. I did this for the first time while living at Snake River Ranch in Jackson, WY (approx 6200 ft) and the cake turned out well following the high altitude directions on the box. I subbed yogurt for the fat and liquid (so: it called for 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 c water-- I used 1/2 c yogurt!) Still google it in case I am actually remembering it wrong.

Laura, just call me Bol, we're all friends here. The rest of my 'name' is just crap, i don't answer to it. :D