HELLO Kitty

So, I am officially done with Riley's Hello Kitty birthday cake. I started on the cake last night and finished baking and shaping it by bed time. To do this, I baked a strawberry cake according to the box in a round pan (10 in). After letting it cool for about an hour I tipped it upside down against my base and gently tapped the bottom of the pan for it to release. After the cake was released I used a template I had made out of paper and cut out the shape of Hello Kitty.

After refrigerating the cake for the night I did a crumb coat over the whole cake. This is a very light layer of frosting over the entire cake to hold crumbs in place. After the crumb coat hardens a bit, the final layering of frosting can be done. I used cream cheese frosting I had made (yummmm). After frosting I drew with a knife very lightly in the frosting where kitty's bow would go.

Every couple of minutes I would place the cake in the freezer for several minutes to let the frosting harden a bit again (this made it easier to work with). Once I had my outlines ready it was time for the fun part...or the tedious part...decorating! You would think it would be fun and exciting since I was nearing the end. The outlining was the tedious, difficult part. The black icing in a bottle would take a while to start coming out, then it came out too fast, then too slow, then too fast...you get my point. Anyways, I finally finished and placed black licorice cut into thirds on for whiskers.

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So, that's it, let me know what you think. HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY RILEY!