For my little miss’s first birthday I decided to go with a homemade Hummingbird cake with buttercream frosting. Carrot cake is my all time favorite but I decided to waver outside of my comfort zone (just this once!).

I decided to go with a layered 6-inch cake for my family (really for me for late-night cake), plus 24 cupcakes for the guests, and then Ada’s little smash cake.

I evened burned the cupcakes just a wee tad. So I sawed off the tops and laced them with some delicious frosting, no one even noticed.

I used natural liners, double-lined. and bought some gold and silver sprinkles because I still have a childhood affinity for glitter and sparkles.

I won’t tell you how much frosting I made, although I did make three batches of it, and I am terribly embarrassed and completely not remorseful that me and my family pretty much brushed our teeth with frosting for an entire week.

***Tip: If you’re using homemade frosting you will want to keep the frosting in the fridge for about 10-15 mins before use. This will help the roses keep their shape and adhere better to the cake.

I also was totally not going to do the whole cliche thing of making roses on my cupcakes and smash cake. But I totally did because I am a girl and girls cannot resist pretty things.

So I used a piping bag with a 1M or 2D icing tip.

Start in the center and slowly go in a counter-clockwise direction.

You want to end where you started.

Dip lightly in sparkles and top with a cupcake topper!