Mini Cakes for Market Day
Though Breese does love to bake, it is the decorating part of cakes that makes her giddy. A couple months ago she had an idea – she could make mini-cakes for our homeschool community’s Market Day. This would mean she could decorate a bunch of cakes all different ways – getting in lots of time to experiment.
For those wondering, Market Day is pretty much what you would think it is. Students sell items during lunch on our homeschool community day. My kids have sold everything from dart guns to nachos to now mini cakes.
We found a set of 6 4″ cake pans on Amazon. One cake recipe will make 6 mini cakes. Breese then stacked two cakes for each of her layered cakes. With one cake recipe she can make 3 mini cakes. Does that make sense?
She places the cake pans on a cookie sheet for baking. It makes checking them and getting them out a 100x easier.
From expert bakers online she learned she could make cakes in advance and freeze them. Since she was making so many, I encouraged her to go this route. Cakes were made, frozen, and then pulled out and decorated the day before Market Day.
The result was super cute – though things got a bit stressful the night before when she was still decorating at 10pm! Just because they are smaller doesn’t mean they take less time to decorate was a lesson she quickly learned. Next Market Day I think she’ll probably opt for just 1 or 2 designs.
For those wondering, here are a few links for you:
Sugar and Sparrow Chocolate Cake recipe
Sugar and Sparrow Vanilla Cake recipe
Sugar and Sparrow buttercream frosting
A few days after Market Day she confidently walked into Laurannae Baking Co for a cake decorating class. She is actually 4 years too young to attend, but got special permission. Before leaving the house she wrote down all the areas she struggle or had questions related to cake decorating and head to class ready to learn. It was pretty fun to see her so giddy about the chance to learn in person from bakers she admires – it was her first baking class! She’s taken advantage of learning things online, but it is just different being in the kitchen of your favorite bakery and getting to ask questions.
A common question I am asked: “Does she sell her cakes? Can I order one?”
Yes, but only if you are a close friend or family. Otherwise, nope. Baking is a fun creative outlet for her. There have been a couple times she had a few cake orders in one week and it was stressful for her and the dancing while she baked in the kitchen stopped. Now I set boundaries and act a bit like a regulator – protecting her, adjusting that protection as she grows, and making sure she keeps dancing in the kitchen.
