Do This Five-Minute Hack to Turn Any Store-Bought Cake Into a Birthday Masterpiece
When you follow these simple instructions, store-bought will be just fine.
Megan Baldwin and Sarah Burns
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Fact: store-bought cakes are delicious. Also fact: it’s a whole lot easier to buy a cake than to create one from scratch. So logically, purchasing a store-bought cake from your local grocery store makes perfect sense … until the caregiver guilt kicks in. To save you from overthinking your kid’s birthday cake this year, we’ve put together a fairly foolproof guide that will transform any old (but shelf-stable) store-bought cake into a masterpiece that your kid will never forget. When in doubt, just add more candy.
Step #1: Remove Any Gaudy Grocery Store Birthday Decorations
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Grocery store decorations are a dead giveaway that your cake isn’t a from-scratch creation, so clean off the toppers. Remove any sprinkles, colored balloons, and sad “happy birthday” messages and get your cake down to bare cake.
Step #2: Add Your Own Frosting
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Now that your cake is essentially in its birthday suit, it’s time for the frosting. Luckily, frosting is pretty much the easiest one-step, four-ingredient thing you can make from scratch. Plus, kids love frosting, so it’s a win-win. If you want to go fancy, try a chocolate ganache (which is basically a gooey chocolate frosting) or go the tried-and-true route with this classic vanilla buttercream.
Products
1 cup (2 sticks)
Unsalted Butter, Softened
6 to 8 cups
Simple Truth Organic™ Powdered Sugar
1/2 cup
Homestead Creamery Whole Milk
2 tsp.
Pure Vanilla Extract
Directions:
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1.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter, four cups of sugar, milk, and vanilla.
-
2.
Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, three to five minutes.
-
3.
Gradually add remaining sugar, one cup at a time, beating for about two minutes after each addition, until the icing reaches the desired consistency; you may not need to add all the sugar.
Step #3: Cover It in All the Candy
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From super-chocolatey Kit-Kat and M&M-covered confections to a super-weird Skittles and Nerds topped cake, candy makes everything (especially store-bought cakes) so much better. Pick your kid’s favorite candy (or four) and go crazy, covering every square inch with sugary treats.
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