Yellow and Green Bird Birthday Cake

My oldest gal turned three last week, and when I asked her what she wanted for her party, she said a green bird cake and yellow balloons.  I had been wanting to try a tiered cake, so I figured this was the perfect time.  It was a little bit of an ordeal, but only because my Kitchenaid stalled on me while I was making the fondant!  It's not something that should happen with a stand mixer, but mine has always been a little bit wonky.  Which is sad, since I really like it otherwise.

I had to finish kneading the fondant by hand, which wasn't my favorite.  Since my mixer was overheated and I had scheduled myself so tightly on party prep, I had my husband pick up a giant tub of decorating icing from the store.  I usually make my own frosting for my cakes, but given the situation this was a great alternative.  The frosting was surprisingly tasty and creamy, and lots of people asked about it.  I piped it on as the polka dots on the green fondant ribbons and as the nest for the green fondant bird on top.

For support, I used bamboo skewers in the bottom layer.  I didn't do cardboard under the top layer, since it was only 6" rounds, but it did sink about a half an inch.  Next time, I will do both bamboo and cardboard for extra support.  I used this recipe for a beefed-up chocolate cake from a mix, and it was a huge hit as well.  The only thing that I did differently was to leave out the chocolate chips, since this cake was for little kids.  This recipe is a real keeper, though, and next time I will add the choco chips.  With the leftover batter, I also made a bunch of cupcakes, since I just can't help myself.

I made the cupcake toppers with the print and cut feature on my Silhouette.  I love that I can create my own design, print it out, and then cut the printed page.  And no, I don't get anything for saying that I love it (although I wouldn't turn it down. . .).  I ordered the cupcake liners, thinking they were greaseproof.  They were definitely not, but I just popped another one over them and they still looked super cute.