Disclaimer: This post is not a complete collection of “All the Cakes I’ve Loved Before” and it also includes some cakes that I’ve hated.

……

Julia Child was quoted as saying “A party without cake is just a meeting.” In my world, we have a lot of parties, and lately I’m the one in charge of bringing the cake.

2026 has been a busy year for cake.

My cake creating this year began with LB’s birthday in January…

followed by Mama’s birthday a few days after.

Rory’s birthday was in February and her cake was one of the most elaborate I’ve ever worked on.

But she really liked it!

Then Gina asked me to make a cake for Sydney’s bridal shower.Which looked a lot nicer before I nearly dropped it and crushed the front.

In May I made an early birthday cake for Adrian.

Then in June the cakes were coming weekly.

First, my big birthday… I did not make this cake. Biscotti’s did. But I had to include it because I said the cakes were coming weekly.

Next Emily’s birthday cake which was a delicious lemon blueberry with cream cheese frosting.

Zeke turned 3 on the 24th and I ventured way outside of the comfort zone with this HOT WHEELS cake…

And, bless his heart, Stuart wanted a pound cake which is easy [as pie] to make…

I’m not sure how it all began.

I was trying to remember when the birthday cake creating started, so I asked my girls recently. Stephanie said, “no idea” and Amanda said, “I thought you always did it”. It is possible that I always “did it” with a box cake mix and a can of ready made frosting, but at some point I started trying to get creative. Probably because I was asked or challenged to do so. The first photo I can find is this cake from 2014…

It was for LB’s birthday.

Then there are no birthday cake photos until 2018…

Stephanie is the one who started challenging me to make cakes she would find on Pinterest.

Amanda climbed on the bandwagon later, but in 2018, she asked for a pie.

Then in 2019 Emily asked me to make this cake for Rory’s first birthday…

I’ve enjoyed making my grandchildren’s birthday cakes and I believe I’ve made all of Rory’s and Zeke’s birthday cakes, but I was “late to the party” with Lydia. I didn’t make her first cake, but here are some of the cakes I’ve made to celebrate her special day…

And here are Rory’s…

~

In November 2019, Stephanie challenged me to make this Frosted Animal Cookie Cake that she found on Pinterest.

And Amanda asked for a chocolate soufflé which was dusted with powdered sugar

and went everywhere when she blew out the candles 🤣

After this, Amanda picked up the birthday cake challenge. In 2022 she asked for a Smörgåstårta

“a savory Swedish sandwich cake made of layers of bread filled with various ingredients like egg salad, salmon, and cream cheese, and is typically served cold at festive occasions” (from DuckDuckGo search assist).

Then in 2025 she asked for a baked Alaska

Which Richard helped me finish

I haven’t included every cake creation in this post, because I haven’t been able to find every photo. A few are included in the “recipes” section of this blog website. Many of my cakes are recreated from Pinterest posts or based on someone’s imaginative request. Sometimes they are a plain vanilla or chocolate cake covered in buttercream and an edible cake topper sheet that I order from Amazon. Sometimes they are an elaborate recipe from The Southern Cake Book

All are made with love and occasional swearing. But no matter how much I complain, I’ll keep making them because, as Stephanie explained “its cute seeing everyone so happy with cake” 😄