When I went to buy the candle for Kesara’s birthday I wrote on my list, number 3 candle. When I got to the grocery store and was looking down the aisle with the birthday candles I realized she’s not turning three, she’s turning four!

Time is just flying on by every day, especially since I have three children now around me 24/7. I think part of my brain doesn’t work properly anymore. In fact, I know it doesn’t. I just can’t keep up with time or remember things clearly.

Baby Kesa

That is a big part of the reason why I need this blog, to chronicle our life and keep track of the memories that we make so that I have them to look back on.

Like this cake!

I think I am getting better and better at these cakes because it really wasn’t as hard and didn’t take as long as I thought that it would. I guess that is because it is my 6th one now. I think it is also the best one so far. Nice and bright and colorful! 🙂

I didn’t exactly have an idea how I was going to decorate the cake until the night before when I drew up this quick sketch. I kind of made it up as I went along.

The bottom layer is two 9 inch Chocolate Banana Cakes and the top layer is two 6 inch Vanilla Cakes, a new recipe that I will be posting here today. I frosted the Chocolate Banana Cakes with Sugar-Free Chocolate Frosting and made a Vanilla frosting for the Vanilla Cakes. The icing over the entire cake is the Vegan Marshmallow Fondant that I have shared in previous posts, which is pretty sugar-loaded! The cakes themselves and the frostings on them are all sugar-free, sweetened with pure maple syrup.

Craig and I prefer not to eat the fondant (or at least too much of it) but the girls LOVE it. They kept sneaking tastes of it all the time we were decorating the cake. Every time I turned my back, they thought that they were being sneaky licking icing sugar off of their fingers or from the bowl.

But a momma always can tell!. 😉

Here is the full cake making process!

I made the fondant icing the night before I baked the cakes, to save time and hassle (something I have learned over the years). Yesterday I did all the baking and the decorating of the cake because today is her birthday. The girls loved to watch me make the fondant. Autumn wanted to try and help knead in the color, but soon realized how sticky it was. She didn’t mind though, she had no problem licking her hands clean.

First I made the two 9 inch chocolate cakes and iced them with the Chocolate Frosting.

Then it was time to layer the fondant over top.

It took me three tries to get it rolled out and not have part of it stick to the table when I tried to lift it up and drape it over the cake.

Success!

Next I frosted the two 6 inch Vanilla Cakes with Vanilla Frosting.

I covered the vanilla layer with the blue fondant.

I then stacked the 6 inch cake on top of the 9 inch and added the fondant rainbow that I had made earlier that morning.

I also added a bit of green fondant along the bottom of the cake to cover any imperfections.

I placed the letters KESARA on the rainbow. I stuck them on with a dab of the vanilla frosting. And added some ponies.

I also bought some Wilton Pearl Dust to try out on the blue fondant. It makes the icing look a bit shimmery and adds a bit of sparkle. I sprinkled a bit of that on too. NOTE: If you are adding the pearl dust to your cake, do it before you layer it on top of the bottom layer or add any decorations. I got a bit of blue pearl dust on the yellow cake and the rainbow and had to take off the top layer and wipe off the yellow cake a bit. Live and learn.

We made flowers using some new flower fondant cutters I also bought for this cake.

I stuck them together with a dab of frosting and also used a dab of frosting to stick them to the cake.

And that is the My Little Pony Fondant Cake!

It was quite an adventure! At one point I had Serafina in her hippo chair while decorating the cake. I realized that she was suddenly very quiet and turned around to see this.

She was happily eating all of the frosting!!!

The sink also made a good babysitting device for a while, while I frosted the chocolate cakes beside her. She loves the kitchen sink!

Autumn also thought it would be nice to decorate a bit so she colored some pictures to hang on the bulletin board. She also found the rainbow birthday letters I made for her birthday last year and wanted to hang those. We just had to paint the letters KESA and add the 4th.

Here is the recipe for the Vanilla Cake and the Vanilla Frosting.

Whole Wheat Vanilla Cake

A basic vegan vanilla cake that is moist, light and fluffy. Sugar-free using pure maple syrup and whole wheat too!

Makes two 6 inch cakes or one 9 inch cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3/4 cup sunflower oil
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup vegan buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease your cake pan or pans. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. In a separate smaller mixing bowl whisk together the maple syrup, oil, applesauce, buttermilk and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour the batter into your cake pan. 6 inch cake takes 25-30 minutes to bake. A 9 inch may take a little longer, between 30-35 minutes. Cakes are ready when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan and frosting.

Sugar-Free Vanilla Frosting

I came up with the idea for sugar-free frosting last February when we made our valentines cupcakes. I was tired of frosting my healthy sugar-free cupcakes and cakes with sugary icing. I never feel good about giving my kids sugar. This frosting is sweetened with pure maple syrup and thickened using whole wheat flour. A frosting you don’t need to feel guilty eating by the spoonful! 🙂

Makes enough to frost a two layer 6 inch or 9 inch cake or 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup vegan margarine (see note)
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour

Note: I have found that Earth Balance margarine is not the best to use for this recipe because it is more solid than regular margarine. If using Earth Balance margarine, allow it to soften before using in the recipe and after refrigeration, allow the frosting to soften a bit before spreading.

Directions

Whisk together the margarine, maple syrup and vanilla in a small mixing bowl. Add the flour, continuing to whisk until combined.

Finally, the moment she had been waiting for…

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY KESARA!!! 🙂