We have always believed that more is more, and when it comes to decorating, what could be better than having more canvas to fill? That means more candy, more snacks, and more decorating fun.
In our books Hello, Cupcake!, What’s New, Cupcake?, and Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh, My! we use candy and snacks from the grocery aisle to create ingeniously simple cupcakes. And we do it without resorting to fancy decorating tools. In Cake My Day! we use the same ideas to create one-of-a-kind cakes. At first glance, you may ask, “Is that really a cake?” But on the second look, you’ll say, “Hey, I can do that!”
Not only do cakes have the advantage of scale, but they can be baked in all sorts of containers. A round pan can create a rainbow cake or a chic handbag cake, and with a few simple cuts, you can transform a round cake into a barnyard rooster cake or even a classical guitar cake.
We’ve turned simple rectangular cakes into a retro toaster and a lawn mower. A loaf cake can become a canister vacuum or a pineapple with Pringle leaves, and a jelly-roll cake changes into a stump cake sure to please any woodsman.
Cakes baked in oven-safe bowls work perfectly for the bellies of our plush-toy collection and serve up a tasty ladybug with doughnut-hole spots. Two-cup oven-safe measuring cups make heads for everything from a zebra and a pink poodle to a piñata.
There’s also a chapter with fantastic designs made from store-bought frozen pound cake. Because they are so firm, these delicious cakes are just right for decorating. We take them straight from the foil container and turn them into boots for your favorite fashionista, a rocket ship, a baseball bat, a quartet of hooty owls, and a dance-party cake that will make you want to twist and shout.
Cake My Day! has loads of new decorating techniques. “Smashed sugar” fixes all your decorating flaws. “Flavor painting” delivers vibrant color you can’t get from regular store-bought food coloring, and you can use an artist’s brush to paint intricate details like wood grain. Because we know it’s what’s on the outside and the inside that counts, we show you how to transform cake-mix batter into a cubist cake, a polka-dot cake, a leopard cake, and more. (Throughout the book, recipes labeled “Surprise Inside!” indicate these treatments.)
Now it’s time to rattle those pans and shake those pots, because we’ve baked so much decorating fun into this book that we’re pretty sure your family and friends will shout, “Go ahead, Cake My Day!”