First, let me say that when I was helping Jill plan Mallory's party, I asked her what she was going to do for a cake. She replied that she was going to make an owl shaped cake! I was so excited, as I didn't know she was a baker! She quickly informed me that she is 'no baker at all and never cooks'. My heart skipped a few beats and I suggested that she do a practice round to make sure she could actually do it. She blew me off and told me she was just going to 'wing it'! (possible pun intended, not sure!) The "planner" in me almost shed a tear in my anxious state, but tried to have a little faith in my friend. I secretly started praying at night that she had a hidden talent that she might not know about...and please, let it be cake decorating!!! FINGERS CROSSED!
I nearly screamed out loud with JOY when I saw the AMAZING cake that my, self-proclaimed non-baker friend made! So absolutely adorable!!
And with the amount of requests from readers about this cake, I think Jill needs to "wing it" more often!!
So here is a written tutorial in Jill's own words, on how she made the super-duper-ridiculously-fantastic Owl cake!!
"To make the cake, I started with this recipe from Parenting.com:
This cake was Jill's inspiration! I think it's safe to say that her cake STOMPS this one! Sorry, it's true.
http://www.parenting.com/article/how-to-make-an-owl-birthday-cake
I followed the recipe exactly, except I just made the cake smaller. They call for you to use 2 sets of Pyrex bowls (one 1-quart set and one 12 oz. set) to make the cake and then stack them on top of each other. I only used one set of 1-quart Pyrex bowls and went from there.
I used strawberry icing (rather than chocolate) for the entire body of the cake. I piped the wings on using a Zip-Lock bag (with one of the corners cut off) filled with chocolate icing.
I followed the Parenting.com recipe and used Oreos and Junior mints for the tufts/ears and for the eyes. (See recipe for specific details.)
Instead of banana-shaped Runts, I molded Starbursts into the shapes of the beak and the heart on the owl’s head
As an add-on to the recipe, I used pieces of pretzel sticks for the “branch” the owl is sitting on.
Another add-on: the “polka dots” on the wings are white chocolate chips turned upside down.
Hope that helps!"
Thank you so much, Jill, for taking the time (twice...I lost her instructions the first time! Ugh!) to share how you make the cake!
Now, WHOOO wants to bake one???
