Quick And Easy Decorated Baby Shower Cake

Bake a cake (either mix or from scratch) in an 11x15 inch pan. This size requires 2 cake mixes to fill. Invert onto cardboard or plastic cake board immediately after baking.

Icing can be made by the Decorator's recipe (1 bag powdered sugar, 1 cup Crisco (do not substitute), 2 drops Butter flavoring and a very small amount of water (less than 1/4 cup) OR you can buy Ready-to-spread Vanilla icing and stiffen with powdered sugar for decorating. Spread the sides with icing leaving the top undecorated. Decide on the colors you want to use. Mix your colors in separate bowls using food colors. You're ready to decorate!

Using a ruler and a toothpick (to mark your lines), mark your cake off into 4 squares. Using cookie cutters, mark off in the center of the squares the design you choose, again outlining the design with a toothpick. Using a plastic cake decorating bag filled with tinted icing and a #21 Wilton STAR tip, fill in the square. Hold the tip to the cake, squeeze and pull up.

Follow this method until all the squares are covered except for the cookie cutter pattern. Then repeat the same procedure to fill in the pattern of the cookie cutter. Your cake should be covered. Then pipe a border around the top, using the same tip. Squeeze to the cake, pull UP and to the right side to make a ROPE effect. This makes a really cute and EASY designed cake for your next shower or party.

By Sharon from Ravenna, KY