Simple M&M Cake Decoration

Finally, I had made my first layered cake.

I spent the morning fighting with the frosting.  It reaffirmed that I am not a frosting person.  Not only do I dislike decorating a cake with it, I don't like to eat it!  I know...unusual!

Decorating the cake was made easier with my new off-set spatula.  However, I didn't have quite enough frosting leftover to decorate the (ugly) cake with some colored frosting, too.
I didn't have the time or desire to make more frosting.  Our five year old suggested sprinkles.  My husband isn't such a big fan, and the cake was for him...so I used M&M's. 

It worked.  I outlined the top of the cake with a circle of M&M's and at Big Sis's suggestion, I put a W on the top.  (Our last name begins with W.)  

I give the children full credit for the not-so-straight line of M&M's around the cake.  And I take full credit for the messy frosting job.   Smoothing it seemed an impossible task!

It was actually fun to design with candy.  Think of the fun you can have creating patterns and rainbows with M&M's or even Skittles.  Literally...eye candy.  

Thankfully my mother-in-law is always available for at least one of the children's birthdays in October.  She enjoys baking and decorating cakes, and even makes wedding and all-occasion cakes regularly (nearly every weekend).  Now that we have three children's birthdays all within a week of one another, I think we will have a joint cake or cupcakes.  It was hard enough to eat two cakes only a week apart, but to have a third within that same week...it does not excite me!  We have plenty of time to come up with a plan though.  

How do you decorate your cakes?   

5 comments

  1. Looks yummy! Niyah is doing cake decorating for 4-H this year and is really enjoying it. I have messed around with it a little bit but am not patient enough, I think. :)

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  2. p.s. I also love using candy to decorate. Alex actually requested a fruit pizza this year instead of cake for his birthday. I am not a big fan of cake in the first place, so it was a win-win!

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  3. I really like the M&Ms idea! I'll have to use it sometime.

    I've found spreading smooth frosting to be an impossible task, too! For Firefly's birthday I didn't even try to make it smooth, since I had spent WAY too much time(and failing) with Grasshopper's cake. Your cake looks good, though! :)

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  4. You did a fine job!! (And I bet it tastes delicious!)

    Tip and trick I learned at a cake decorating class: use a wet paper towel or lightly rinse your utensil that you are using to spread icing between the acts of spreading. Some water will smooth down the icing and get rid of the lumps and lines. It works! (I'm NOT a cake decorator by ANY stretch of the imagination. That's the best and most useful tip I walked away with.)

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  5. That's a great idea! I'll have to try that.

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