Celebrating Dads . . and Summer!

It's June.  Spoken as someone who was born in the Northeast, raised in the Midwest, and now continues to live here, let me just say: Thank God.  My digits are finally beginning to thaw.  And it wasn't even a bad winter!  I can just see all the real troopers out there in Iowa, Wisconson, and the Dakotas rolling their collective eyes at my fragility.  I mean, it's practically tropical out here in Ohio in comparison.  But yet -- it is June, and I am happy.  Another thing that brings me joy? The fact that I'm going to be able to spend Father's Day with my dad.  And in honor of that very special occasion, I'd like to share a cake from a Father's Day past.  A sprinkly vibrant concoction in honor of that special father-daughter bond.

This was a standard bulked up cake-mix cake.  The real fun came with decoration.  This is a great technique for any birthday or celebration cake.  And of course, for anyone who loves sprinkles.

Make sure the cake is on a cake board before frosting.  After frosted, pop another cake board on top of the cake.  Yes, on top of the icing.  Relax, it won't hurt it.

Then, depending on how messy you want to get your kitchen (and how long your countertop is) you have a couple of options.  You can either coat your countertop with sprinkles, making sure to cover a length at least as long as the circumference of the cake. (So for a six inch like mine -- 20 inches should be fine.)  Width should be equal to the height of the cake.

For those of you who are having a stroke right now at the thought of the millions of little sprinkles getting into every nook and cranny of your kitchen, here is the second way. (Which is the way I did it -- mainly because my husband also almost had a stroke when I told him how I planned to do it -- the first way.)

Fill the bottom of a large sheet pan with sprinkles.  Get the largest sheet pan that you have available. When you've coated the bottom of the pan, turn the cake on its side by gripping the cake by the two cake boards.  Then ROLL the cake from one end of the pan to the other.  Depending on how long your pan is, you may have to pick the cake up and redo whatever side hasn't been covered.

See, no muss, no fuss.  But, the other way would have been so much more fun. . .

Finally, place the cake right-side-up within the tray of sprinkles and dish them over the top.

I used some white fondant to shape 3D letters and put them on cutouts of daisies.

There you have it -- a fairly simple cake to make and enjoy with your dad.  I certainly enjoyed it with my dad!  And even though I don't have a cake ready for this Fathers Day, at least we can enjoy the memory of it together!