Evolution of the Birthday Cake

As mentioned in my last post, Emmaline's birthday cakes have been a real struggle for me. I hate baking anyway (love to cook, hate to bake!) so add in the complicated side of cooking a cake without milk or egg, and you have a disaster on your hands! Every year it gets a little bit better though!

1st Birthday:

I intended to make a really cute ladybug cake I saw in a magazine. I ordered a special cake mix but when I baked it - it was a huge crumbly mess. It wasn't even in a state that we could frost it. We dug out some chunks of it for Emmaline to enjoy but there wasn't even anything worth really taking a picture of.

2nd Birthday:

I had a safe brownie mix. I decided that I could just cook up the brownie mix and use Ener-G egg replacer in it. Turns out it didn't work. Brownie Mix + Ener-G Egg replacer = BRICK. I know this is a true fact because I tried it again another time and it was still a brick. At the last minute I mixed up a batch of safe muffin mix that turned out "so-so" and I frosted that I served it as cake.

3rd Birthday:

I discovered the joy of safe cake mix + 10 oz Sprite = YAY! This trick really does work well. But works *best* on cupcakes and the cake is still kind of dry and crumbly. At least there was something worth taking a picture of!

4th Birthday:

This year I googled around for a vegan cake recipe and found a chocolate one. I was skeptical but I gave it a try. It actually turned out well!!!

Rating: 4 birthday cakes (plus a brownie mix and a muffin mix)