Floral Birthday Cake
Recently my mom celebrated her birthday, so I decided that I would make her a cake. Not just any cake but a floral decorated cake. Here are the beginnings to this design. I had already baked and frosted an angel food cake that mom told me that she had wanted.
First I chopped up 1/2 of the almond bark into smaller chunks for easier melting.
Microwave for 90 secs at first then 15 secs there after till melted
All of my ingredients for this recipe, along with the melted bark.
I cut leaves off of the stems and coated the backs with the melted bark
Next I cut and coated the Lisianthus buds, setting them aside to dry.
The Lisianthus blooms were next, being careful to cover the backs of the blooms with the bark, so the flowers would not come in contact with the cake.
Now I cut apart l green hydrangea into smaller florets. Some I dipped into the bark, and then I puddled some melted bark onto the wax paper, then placed the florets into it, making a small mound.
After all my material was coated with the melted bark, it was just a matter of waiting for it to completely dry and form the protective hard shell on the back of each bloom and leaf so the floral and fauna would not come in contact with the cake.
Finally all my material is ready to be placed onto the cake.
Now the fun begins!
My frosting had hardened over night in the fridge, so I was able to place, then rearrange the flowers and leaves into a pretty design that pleased me. Trust me, I did this many times!!
More arranging and rearranging, when I found the perfect placement, I used some of the left over melted bark to secure it to the top of the cake.
Here is the finished product!
Happy Birhday Mom!!! <3
So I bet you are wondering, what happened to those raspberries??
Well I ate them!!
I will cut the stems from this plant to make my design. The milky sap coming from the cut end of the stem, needs to be sealed, so the stem will thrive in a vase. We seal the end of the stem by holding it over the candle flame. The fire seals the end. This process does not stop the stem from drinking up the water. I do not know why, but it just doesn't!! You don't have to worry about the sap coming from the sides of the stem where leaves have been removed, it will not affect the stem, so don't burn seal those. Place the cut and sealed stem of the Poinsettia into a holding vase of water. I cut a few more of the stems from the potted plant. Sealed them all with the candle flame. They look so much better now in the vase then they did in the pot, where the plant was looking a bit spindly. 
I have been reminded by a 4 year old what Christmas is all about. It's funny how a little ones point of view changes your own out look on what is really important this time of year. The conversation began while decorating the Christmas tree. Adelynn Grace informed me that it would be so cool to make cookies and deliver them to the neighbors. I asked her which neighbors she wanted to give cookies to and she replied very enthusiastically, every one on the street!! I played along with her discussing the details, really trying NOT to encourage her on this endeavor she had concocted. I came up with many excuses, telling her it would be difficult, time consuming, I even tried to change the subject a few times, but she was relentless, she even threw the love word in there. So I thought about it. She wanted to give something for the holiday season. She had the Christmas spirit and here I was trying to dissuade her. It was only cookies, they are not that difficult to make. We could wrap them up in pretty boxes or bags! I was getting excited now. We could set a limit to the amount of neighbors on the street that her little legs could walk to. So there it was, our plan now!! We would make the cookies!! They will be wrapped up with pretty ribbons and bows!! We will hand deliver them personally!! So if you live on my street you will be seeing us soon, and we will have a gift for you. It will be a sweet treat, but the sweetness will be coming from one very special little girl in my life, who I am so very proud of and who wants to share her Christmas spirit with you.
With Halloween just a few days away, It's a good time to send your special someone a special treat with a gift of fresh flowers. 
