With summer here, hopefully you have been enjoying time with your little ones doing some extra fun things – like all of the creative ideas found on the Ultimate Summer Bucket List. And if not, that’s okay too. No guilt. It is NOT a to-do list. It is just an idea list so when you get bored and need to change up the routine a bit, you have plenty of options to choose from. I was looking for an excuse to try out the beach cake from the bucket list, and my husband’s June birthday was the perfect occasion. I thought I would share some pictures and some details of how we made it because it turned out to be a really fun and delicious project!
My 3 year old was very excited about making this. She even told a random lady in the grocery store that it was her daddy’s birthday and she was making a beach cake for him. I love the enthusiasm kids have over the smallest things. Now the big key to this is to relax and not be a perfectionist. And also to expect a mess. This is something I struggle with big time. It can stress me out to have my 3 year old “help” me cook or bake. {Just being honest!} But I am trying to work on being patient and not worrying about my counters being covered in crumbs. Okay, moving along…
1} Prep
Start by gathering your supplies.
Cake Mix
Icing {2 containers, with at least one being white}
Blue Food Coloring
Vanilla Oreos for sand {or graham crackers…whatever your taste buds prefer}
Gummy Fish
Drink Umbrellas
2} Bake
Once you’ve gathered all your supplies, bake your cake as directed and let it cool. I prefer to bake it the day before I decorate it. Otherwise, it becomes a really long process and the little ones lose interest.
3} Decorate
To begin decorating, I iced the outside of the cake first. I did this myself, but older kids could probably help with this part too. Next comes the fun part…
Let the kids crush up the “sand.” I put a bunch of cookies in a plastic bag and let my daughter crush them up with a soup can. I didn’t bother to remove the filling from the oreos. They didn’t crush up quite as fine with the filling still in, but they were yummy. I spread some white icing on the top of the cake where I wanted the sand to stick and let her sprinkle it on.
For the water, I just tinted some of the white frosting blue and then added that to the other side of the “sand.” Then, my daughter topped it off with fish and a couple of umbrellas. Ta-da! Super easy and very cute. Now go enjoy!
