Name: 1st First Birthday Party Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 12 people or more
Ingredients: 1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist YELLOW Cake Mix ((15.25 oz.)); 1 cup water; 1/2 cup vegetable oil; 3 eggs; 1 box Cheerios or generic toasted oats (cereal for round cake); 1 box Fruit Loops or generic brand (cereal for square cake); 1 cup butter, softened; 16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature; 6 cups confectioner's sugar; 2 tsp. vanilla; 2-3 drops yellow food coloring gel

1st First Birthday Party Cake

It's quite simple really. Your baby is about to turn one. Do you go all out? Have a cake shop design and make a hundred dollar cake? Or make your own cakes for less than $10? As much as we wanted a huge party to celebrate our daughter's 1st birthday...we really didn't. Yes, we wanted to see all of our friends and family but we knew the day could go up or down based on her naps and mood. We also knew that it would cost a ton of money for a party that she would never remember. At the end of the day we decided to make Italian sausages, invite our closest local family members, and put the money we would have spent on her party in a college fund for her. I made two cakes a day in advance. One for the family to enjoy and one for Madie to enjoy (smash). These were adorable, super easy and cheap! One box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix made both cakes.

Servings	Prep Time
12 people or more	30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings	Prep Time
12 people or more	30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

1st First Birthday Party Cake

Servings	Prep Time
12 people or more	30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings	Prep Time
12 people or more	30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Ingredients

Cake:

1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist YELLOW Cake Mix (15.25 oz.)
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 box Cheerios or generic toasted oats cereal for round cake
1 box Fruit Loops or generic brand cereal for square cake

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 cup butter, softened
16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2-3 drops yellow food coloring gel

Servings: people or more

Instructions

Bake Cakes:

You will need one (1) 9x9 square pan and one (1) 9" round pan. Spray both with cooking spray. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Fill both pans 1/2 way up.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes on the counter for 10 minutes. Cut the square cake into 4 even slices. Put both pans in the freezer for 2 hours.
Make your frosting. You may or may not use all of it. What you don't use, you can save for future use. I made the square cake first because it used the most frosting. Only use the yellow food coloring gel for the round Cheerio cake.

Square Cake:

Pull square cake out of the freezer. You can use all 4 cut squares or only 3. Place the first square on a plate and smear a layer of frosting onto the top of the cake. Add your second cake square, frosting, and so on. Until you have 3-4 layers of alternating cake and frosting.
On each side of the cake you can use different colored Fruit loops. We made one side with a heart, tree, letter V for our last name, and the top with the #1. Be creative! We put it in the refrigerator overnight. You will want to pull it out at least one hour prior to letting your baby smash the cake. Otherwise it will be too hard.

Round Cake:

Blend in a small amount of yellow food coloring gel or your favorite color. Smear the icing all over the cake. Use Cheerios to design your cake. We made the #1 on top and layers around the circle. Be creative! We put it in the refrigerator overnight. You will want to pull it out at least one hour prior to letting your baby smash the cake. Otherwise it will be too hard.