Beachy Birthday Cakes!

Happy Fall, y'all! It seems like the closer to fall we get, the more beach themed cakes seem to pop up. However, it never really goes away here in Virginia Beach. This past weekend, I had the honor of making an 80th birthday cake for my dear friend's grandmother.

The design was based off of a wedding cake I had made this past summer:

It was a hit with the party! :)

Still in ocean mode, I switched gears for my godson, Sullivan's, first birthday cake. His mother, my bestest friend, wanted a pirate octopus holding an ice cream cone in the ocean. Well, alright!

I started with 10" Funfetti cake (uh, yum!) and iced it in loose rosettes. They were made with mixes of dark blue, teal green, sky blue, and white with a cupcake tip. Instead of making orderly "O" motions, they were more like "C" and "S" motions with the bag. It turned out really cool and ocean-y (totes a word). While that chilled in the fridge, I got to work on the octopus:

Rice cereal treats to the rescue! I pulsed the cereal in a food processor before adding it to the melted marshmallows and butter to make it smoother and easier to work with. I made the tentacles that were sticking up (and holding the ice cream cone) out of the treats as well as the head. The other tentacles that were resting were made of straight fondant. I could have also made them out of gumpaste if I had started working on them days ago so they could dry up and harden. But alas, I am a procrasticaker.

Next up: Assembly! I dug out some cake and icing where I put in my tentacles, and added an actual ice cream cone with a scoop of chilled buttercream.

I added a single layer 6" cake covered in the waves for a smash cake!

The birthday boy was quite happy with his smash cake-- and yes, he was blue-- but what first birthday would it be without a blue baby?! Happy first birthday, Sully! Love, your godmother.