The one about the Cookies N Cream cake

For nephew #3's birthday, I decided to bake a Cookies N Cream cake. It was my first time trying out a recipe in a cookbook [I usually use recipes off the internet and read the comments to adjust the recipes accordingly which has worked pretty well for me.] It appeared simple enough in theory but was really designed to frustrate a novice baker [aka me]. 

It took me 3x as long to make the cake than what was written in the recipe. Ingredients that were listed were not written in the steps. The cake batter looked nothing like the "creamy and well-incorporated" description. And of course, family members who kept asking when the cake would be ready, did not help matters. *LOL*

I had to improvise of course. I went with a two-layer cake instead of three, a less-fattening cream cheese frosting and "rustic" cake decor [Okay, I ran out of Oreos...*winks*].

Yep, my cake looked nothing like the photo in the book. But the nephews said that mine looked nicer and you know, kids don't lie, right? [hahahahaha]. Seriously though, nephew #3 could not keep his eyes off the cake!:)

I think it looks pretty decent for my first layered cake + frosting attempt. Be kind. ;) Nephew #2 now wants this cake for his birthday too. 

If you were wondering what happened to my niece...she threw a tantrum just as we were cutting the cake and was hiding under the table....yeah, drama.

Another fun layout using those infamous Basic Grey birds, some Stickles action and even a Martha Stewart punch came to the party. ;)

I was determined to use this piece of twine in my scrap pile and "attacked" it with my stapler to keep it down...hehe. And of course, buttons. I use them a lot, have you noticed?

Playing along with Stuck?! Sketches.