Girls can be particularly picky when it comes to the perfect birthday cake. It can be tempting to give up and make them the usual (boring) birthday cake. Instead, think of symbols that your daughter likes, such as butterflies, princesses or flowers. Then roll up your sleeves and recreate the symbol into the shape of a cake.
A Butterfly
Butterfly cakes are simple to make. Bake a large sheet cake. Cut a butterfly shape out of the cake, and set aside the extra scraps. (Your daughter will appreciate snacking on them later.) Ice the middle of the cake with brown icing, and each wing with your daughter's favorite color.
Use other colors of icing to decorate the wings with several large circles. Add two gumdrop eyes and a thin licorice mouth, and your butterfly is ready to soar right into your daughter's heart.
A Castle
If you're willing to put in the effort to make a triple-decker cake, you can create a castle for your princess's birthday. Make three layers of cake, each one progressively smaller than the last. Stack them in descending order, and ice them with white or pink frosting. Place several sugar cones upside down on the cake to act as turrets. (If you'd like, stick princess-type flags through the pointed tops of the cones.) Decorate the rest of the cake with small gummies and other candies.
A Flower Pull-Apart Cake
Cupcake cakes are easy and fun, and nowhere near as messy as regular cakes. To make a flower pull-apart cake, ice several cupcakes in pink icing and one in yellow icing. Surround the yellow cupcake with the pink ones, and put the candles into the center cupcake. When the time comes to blow out the candle, pull the cupcakes apart and hand them to each of the guests. The birthday girl may choose to eat the yellow one, because it was the center one, or she might want a pink one instead.
