Birthday Cake

Here is a cake I made for a birthday. It is just a standard chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting and some colorful piping decorations. I wanted to make a small cake, so I just used a one layer eight inch round cake. Since most cake recipes make a two-layer size and are not easy (or practical) to halve, I will be using my other cake half for tomorrow. However, there would be many other options here. Plain, undecorated cakes freeze very well when wrapped tightly, and can be kept in the freezer for a few months until a future occasion arises. It is always good to have a cake layer on hand, just thaw and decorate, or if you are in a hurry, frost before thawing. Just make sure to thaw before eating (it won't take long). If you are even shorter on time, you can just pile on some ice cream, and serve the cake still frozen as an ice cream cake. As another option, the spare cake layer may be cut up and used in a trifle or other dessert. You can either do this now, or freeze the cake for later use. Remember, cakes don't necessarily require icing. They can be decorated in many different ways, or even eaten plain. Once, when my mother was in a hurry, she just frosted a cake with chocolate pudding. It worked really well, and was delicious! Cake also works well with yogurt and fruit, even peanut butter and jelly. 

After I frosted this cake, I piped buttercream frosting to spell out "Happy Birthday Ms. Penny" in pastel blue. Then I added some ridged drop swoop lines around for a border, and added some little stars in pastel pink buttercream. I am really looking forward to spring, so I used pastel spring colors again! I did this cake fairly quickly using only two tips. It was simple, but I think it looks pretty nice. And you can never go wrong with chocolate cake and fudge icing!