Mother's Day Cake

This is a great cake for Mother's Day.  It's easy, too, but looks impressive (um, maybe more so in real life... lol!)  And it's so much fun to make!!  When I've made this before, I make two at a time.  For each cake, you'll need one loaf-shaped pound cake (a regular, bundt-size recipe can make 2 loaves).  The method is for one cake- use 2 loaves for 2 cakes.  This recipe is my fave for pound cake.  To change up the flavor, try almond instead of (or with) vanilla. 

For these cakes, you'll also need chocolate frosting, crushed chocolate cookies, ladyfingers, green toothpicks, and gum drops.  The method comes from the Family Fun website. 

Mother's Day Cake (or Gumdrop Garden Cake)

from Family Fun 

Pound cake or other loaf-shaped cake

Chocolate frosting

Ladyfingers
Chocolate wafer cookies
Sugar
Gumdrops
Green toothpicks

Instructions:

1.  Ice the top and sides of the pound cake with chocolate frosting. Then trim the top of each ladyfinger into a point to resemble a fence picket. Gently press the pickets against the frosted sides of the loaf cake.

 2.  Seal a handful of chocolate wafer cookies in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Sprinkle the crumb "soil" on top of the loaf cake.

3.  Plant a row of tulips: Sprinkle sugar onto a waxed-paper-covered surface. Using a rolling pin, flatten gumdrops to a 1/4-inch thickness. With kitchen scissors, cut notches in the tops of the flattened gumdrops to create tulip shapes. Insert a toothpick stem into the base of each blossom.

4.  Make a pair of leaves for each tulip by trimming flattened green gumdrops into teardrop shapes. Spear the base of each leaf with the toothpick stem and push it halfway up the stem. Now plant the tulips in the cake.

5.  For a fun finishing touch, sprinkle coconut tinted with green food coloring around the garden to resemble grass.

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