Princess birthday cake

This weekend we were so blessed to celebrate Lady J's 3rd birthday!!   It was a very fun weekend for her as she caught on very quickly (not sure if its a girl thing or not) that her birthday was coming up.  She knew who she wanted to invite, what she wanted for a cake and what she wanted for presents.  We took notes and did our best to give her a princess party.  

When she told me a couple of weeks ago that she wanted a princess cake I immediately thought about the kind of cake that you stick a barbie in; when I showed her a picture and asked is this what you want she said YES.  So plans began to form about how I was going to make this thing.  Thankfully I have some GREAT mama friends who are awesome at this kind of stuff and gave me lots of advice and tools to get the job done.  

I decided for the "dress" part of the cake I would use a cake mix, I know I said it, a boxed cake mix and bake it in the pampered chef 8 cup mixing cup.   When the cake was finished cooking/cooling I did carve out a little hole in the top with an apple corer for the barbie to fit in.  I had thought at first her whole body would fit but the cake didn't turn out to be that high so I had to remove her legs, thankfully its a "newer" type barbie who's legs come on and off easily.  I did that Friday and froze the cake so on Saturday when I went to frost it it would not have crumbs. 

Saturday we got to work...Jaelyn actually entertained me with her pre-party get up.  

When I went to decorate the cake I simply wrapped the barbies bottom half with some plastic wrap and put some frosting in the hole and placed her in.  

To frost the cake I did a first coat where I just spread frosting all over the "dress" part and then let cool in the fridge. 

Then I began the decorating part using a flower tip (I think that is what its called) starting at the bottom and working my way up to the top.  I did take some breaks putting the cake in the fridge to harden the icing. 

The day of the party our house was pink pok-a-dots.  We had party hats, popcorn boxes and banners.  We did get some princess plates and napkins as well.

The cake was a hit!!  Lady J loved it so that is all that mattered.  

Happy 3rd birthday Lady J!!!  

If you need a recipe here you go.

Boxed Cake Mix
Icing (went to a bakery and got a tub of white and dyed it pink myself)


Some tips:
If cooking in a 8 cup measuring cup be sure to bake at 325 for 1 hour or until the centre of cake is set.
Cut whole in cake before freezing
Freeze cake before icing to help with crumbs
Ice cake first, let set then begin decorative work