Cupcake Birthday Cake

Last March we decided to celebrate three birthdys at once.  Because three of our fams birthdays landed in March, it seems like a great idea to get together and have triple the fun!
So with all the plans in order, we still had one detail to figure out - what to do for the cake.  Ms. Cass had been playing with the idea of doing some type of cupcake presentation instead of the typical b-day cake. So we decided to try it and also to add to the challenge we also chose to make the cupcakes gluten-free and dairy-free. 

We were determined to make them moist, soft and delicious! This is how they turned out :)

Ms. Cass bought the rotating bonbon tree at a Goodwill store for a buck. Worked out perfectly we think!   In order for the cake to look full and fun we added fresh flowers and colorful candles.

Another detail that made the cake look visually appealing was the different cupcake sizes and the icing designs.
For the cake batter we used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Cake mix.  Because Ms. Cass is lactose intolerant, we also ensured the batter was dairy-free. The recipie called for sour cream, but we substituted it with a mix of lemon juice and soy milk. (Which sat for 20 mins.) The icing was made from a combination of icing sugar, shortening, almond milk and vanilla extract. And of course turquiose Wilton food coloring :)

To give our cake a spring feel, we chose Shasta Daisies and a few varieties of Chrysanthemums.

When lit, the cake looked magical!  Using aluminum cupcake cups really helped illuminate the cake beautifully.

This year, we have a few ideas about how we want to make the birthday cake for our three birthday guys - Christian, Bob and Cory.  So check back in two weeks and see what we've come up with!