DIY Valentine's Day Cakes

I love to bake and I was having a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" party for some new neighbors so I figured why not combine the two (or maybe) three things: Valentine's Day, Baking, and Welcome!

Here's how I did it.

First I baked a couple of heart shaped cakes.

Then I made some whipped cream and colored it pink and yellow with food coloring. Then I frosted the cakes and put fondant words on top.

I also made a checkerboard cake and some cupcakes...

yeah, I tend to go overboard on things.

Checkerboard Cake

I wanted to make a fun cake for a birthday. Here's how I did it. I made a banana chocolate checkerboard cake.

First I baked one layer with chocolate in the center and the outside rim and yellow cake in between the two chocolate areas.

Then I baked a layer with yellow in the center and the outside rim with chocolate in between the two. And then I baked another layer just like the first.

I stacked them with the two chocolate layers on the top and bottom and the yellow double rim layer in the middle, using cream cheese raspberry filling to glue them all together.

It created a checkerboard effect. My theory is Food should be Fun :)


Plus, I used the extra batter to make cupcakes - Mom always used to say, "never let anything go to waste" - now if I could only learn how to never let anything go to my waist - that would be a real trick