Ashley Gessler SHD {Sweaty Horse Designs}: A Duck Cake For My Bunny

Right around Skyler's second birthday, she went CRAZY for ducks! In fact, Uncle Bug gave her a dress with ducks on it, and she wore that thing with the utmost pride until she could no longer squeeze her shoulders into it! She has a soft spot in her heart for our feathered friends, so it came as no surprise when I asked her what kind of a cake she wanted for her birthday that she responded, "Duck cake!"

Okay.

Not being a "domesticated mother" as I like to call it, I don't sew, I'm not crazy about kids, and I certainly don't cook. But, I love my daughter and I'm a bit creative and crafty, so I figured I could come up with something.

I called my mother-in-law and asked her if she had any suggestions. She emailed me several pictures of duck cakes, and though many were too elaborate for what I felt like I could tackle, a few were promising. What I settled on was a cake made to look like a bathtub, and rubber ducks for decoration.

This isn't the picture of the original cake I found online, but it's similar.

For the life of me, I can't remember who actually baked the cake itself (it was probably Jason's Mom) but I began decorating by stacking the two round cakes. I iced around the sides with white icing to act as "glue" to press the pirouettes into.

Donna, my mother-in-law mixed the icing with blue die until it was a lovely water color, then I began slapping it on... literally. I didn't want the water's surface to appear too perfect, so I used a "whipping" technique I had seen in Better Homes and Gardens. It turned out beautiful! The pirouettes kept leaning and the cake didn't quite look believable, so Donna wrapped a red ribbon around the outside of the cake.

Next came the fun part! Bubbles! "Da bubbles! Da bubbles! My bubbles!" Done in my best Bubbles voice from Finding Nemo. Fantastic movie, by the way.