For weeks I asked my daughter what kind of cake she wanted for her ninth birthday.  I was ecstatic when she chose our chocolate truffle cake.  Not only because I love giving into my chocoholic cravings as I devour it, but because I know how it’s going to turn out after making it several times.

The weekend before her birthday, she had her bestie over in a pre-party playdate to make tie dye shirts. The swirl of colors inspired her for a new cake idea. She wanted a tie dye cake.  In the same colors as her shirt.  And she wanted the colors IN the cake too.  At first I flinched.  I mentally went through the reasons why it didn’t make sense.  I considered trying to convince her into sticking with the chocolate plan.  But after looking into those wondrous blue eyes glowing with creativity, there was no way I could say no.

The outside was covered in a white whipped cream frosting.  I airbrushed the color to mimic her shirt at her instruction.  She told me what color went where to make sure it was just perfect.

However, I surprised her with the inside.  The vanilla cake grabbed on to each color.  (Warning: don’t mix the colors once in the pan or you will run the risk of a grayish mess.)  The big reveal didn’t happen until she blew out the candles and we cut into the cake.

She couldn’t believe it.  She wanted me to take pieces to everyone in the neighborhood so they could her cake.  While I would’ve preferred the colors to be more evenly distributed in the cake, the designer told me she was very happy with her masterpiece.