Categories: Cooking and RecipesDIYGeekMom

GeekSpawn Birthday Cakes

Cakerella I am not.  Duff Goldman I am not, either.  But I can dream, right?

Hopefully my stuff looks better than what CakeWrecks posts, though 🙂

After spending about $30 on my youngest son’s first birthday cake in 2006 (that didn’t even taste that good), I decreed that I needed to learn some cake decorating on my own and do it myself!

My youngest son's 1st Birthday cake. This cost us $25-30 and the icing tasted all metallic. These types of cakes typically cost $3-4 extra for the licensing fee for the name brand character. Photo: Patricia Vollmer

For my birthday in 2006, I asked my husband to give me cake decorating lessons.  This was a relatively inexpensive birthday gift, but the bigger gift was the TIME he gave me to take the 1-hour-per-week classes for 12 weeks.

I had a great time learning this new skill.  My husband enjoyed my taking the classes too, since he would take my “homework” into the office for everyone to enjoy.  I encourage anyone to give the class a shot!  I’m thrilled that I can make cakes and icing from scratch, great for when I used to invite my sister to the boys’ birthday parties when we lived closer together.  Her family doesn’t eat eggs, so I could make my own cakes with egg-replacer and keep the meringue powder out of the icing.

One of my "homework" cakes for my Wilton cake class in 2006. This one came with me to a Lutheran Women's Missionary League pot luck dinner. Photo: Patricia Vollmer

Having two sons, my cakes tend to lean towards sci-fi, transportation and sports themes, so I thought I’d share some of my geekier creations here.

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All my more-unique cakes are posted to one of my favorite websites for finding decorating ideas: Cake Central.  This is where you can see my Diet Coke can-shaped cake for one of my former commanders (who kept an IV drip of Diet Coke on drill weekends), plus a photography-inspired birthday cake for one of my dearest friends.

Enjoy!

My first homemade birthday cake for my son from 2006. I guess I could have made Thomas's face a little less grey? Photo: Patricia Vollmer
I convinced my oldest son to do something other than trains in 2007. We had recently attended an airshow and he was on an Air Force jet kick at the time. Photo: Patricia Vollmer
One of my first fourays into fondant. I don't care for the stuff, especially if it's red or black. This was to celebrate my husband earning his PhD from North Carolina State University in 2008. Photo: Patricia Vollmer
My oldest son asked for a "Battle of Geonesis" cake for his 6th birthday. Really? It couldn't be a scene more obvious (and from the REAL Trilogy) like Endor or Tattooine? I had fun with those spray cans of icing color to make this orangey-colored desert landscape. You can see Mace Windu and Jengo Fett fighting over the candles. The 4 action figures were among my son's birthday gifts. Photo: Patricia Vollmer.
This isn't a birthday cake, but I can geek things up for other events, too! This is for my local American Meteorological Society chapter annual picnic. That's based off a real weather map; that "L" in the center dumped blizzard conditions on Omaha! Photo: Patricia Vollmer

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Share your own geeky cake designs on the GeekMom Flicker page!)

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This post was last modified on December 15, 2017 9:45 pm

Patricia Vollmer

Patricia Vollmer is the proud mother of two sons, ages 16 & 18, who are as geeky as she is. She's been writing for the Geek Family Network since 2011. She is a meteorologist who works for the U.S. Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hobbies include running, despite no one chasing her, sharing her love for Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars, and exploring the world with her boys. Ask her why the sky is blue at your own risk.

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Patricia Vollmer
Tags: craftskidskitchenStar Wars
February 20, 2011 8:00 am

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