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Coolest First Birthday Gift Box Cake 49
by Sabrina
(Lyons, IL)
Homemade First Birthday Gift Box Cake
This First Birthday Gift Box Cake was surprisingly easy to make. This was also the first time I decorated with fondant. It was however, somewhat time consuming. The fondant decorations can be made a day in advance, but since I never seem to remember to be that prepared it took about 4 hours.
For the cake itself I used two square 8" cake pans (each pan took 1 box of cake mix). Once cooled, I trimmed the tops of the cakes to make them level. I then placed the cakes in the fridge to let them firm up a bit before frosting.
Once cooled and firm, I used buttercream frosting for the center and frosted the rest of the cake with a crumb layer. Put it back in the fridge for about half hour to let the frosting firm up again and then frosted with another layer of buttercream. This layer I made as smooth as possible and made sure the corners were rounded so the fondant wouldn't catch and rip.
While baking the cakes, I prepared the loops for the bow. I used Wilton pre-made fondant and used the instructions enclosed for the bow and ribbon strips. I suggest warming the fondant in the microwave on high for 10 seconds to make it easier to work with before coloring it. I took a toothpick to apply color to several places before kneading the fondant. Use powdered sugar or cornstarch to keep the fondant from sticking to your fingers. I also suggest making an additional four loops about 2" smaller than directed in the Wilton instructions and a round loop for the center of the bow.
For the curlys I cut thin strips of fondant and twisted them like you would a streamer. For the tag I just cut a rectangle about 2" x 4" and punched a hole into the corner with a decorator tip. Once the tag was firm, I thread a thin piece of fondant through the hole to make the tag look like it was attached. For the dots, I used the tops of the Wilton coloring gel to trace and cut out. Once the fondant had firmed up enough, I used scissors to cut off any loose fondant pieces and give the dots a cleaner look.
For the pearls on the bottom of the cake I used buttercream frosting, but didn't like the way it came out. I would suggest making small fondant pearls for the bottom of the cake, much easier to apply and more uniform in appearance. To apply to fondant itself I rolled a white sheet (about 18oz) until 1/8 of an inch thick (slightly see through) and centered over the cake. I suggest viewing several YouTube videos before attempting, they were extremely helpful. I just used my hands to smooth the fondant, I don't have any fancy tools yet. I did prop the cake on an upside down Tupperware container that was slightly smaller than the cake itself to get a clean look around the bottom of the cake.
That was it!
