mountain cake.

today i asked my hubby M, who is turning 29 tomorrow, if he wanted sprinkles on his cake that i was planning on making him tonight. i have an entire bottle of sprinkles waiting in the kitchen cabinet just waiting, and was thinking of making a cake stencil to make a giant 'm' of sprinkles on it for him.

he proceeds to tell me he does not like sprinkles.

what? firstly, how do you not like sprinkles? secondly, how have we been married for over 5 years and i didn't know this?

so, a little while later, i asked him if instead of sprinkles he would like the cake in the shape of something [thinking again, that i might cut it into a giant 'm.' i have a one-track mind].

so he says yes.

me: "ok great! what shape would you like?"

him: "um. pilot mountain!"

me: "pilot mountain?"

he wants a cake in the shape of a mountain, one of his favorite rock-climbing spots. which i love, because it's kind of a 6-year-old type answer, which is one of my favorite things about him. and he wants it for his 29th birthday, when you have long ago realized that grown-up birthdays are really not that fun, and a little disappointing. and if i can at all help it, i don't do disappointment on birthdays.

so, a pilot mountain cake he's gonna get.

i like to bake and decorate cakes/cupcakes. i'm not going to be asked to guest star on ace of cakes or the iron chef anytime soon for my amazing skills, but i do enjoy it. however, a pilot mountain cake pretty much tops the list of anything cake-decorating-related i have ever attempted. did you not see the picture of one of the first cakes i made for him after we were married?
hopefully not my best work. and now i'm attempting one that looks like this:
[which is actually kind of fun and sweet since it's a place we've been together several times.]

so i started with this:
and had to get a little creative. ok, a lot creative. and by creative i mean completely experimental... a little frosting mixing, and a little that comes straight out of the spray can with the fancy tips [because i don't have a fancy tip kit and usually use a ziplock baggie].
i wasn't sure if i should do the cake flat like the photo or attempt something 3d [for which i had to google 'pilot mountain from above' because i couldn't remember the word topographic.] in the end, i decided flat was best. so i flipped the cake upside down onto the tray to give myself a flat surface, and carefully cut the edges off the top and moved them to the bottom. then i used an entire can of green spray frosting to make the trees and the 29 in them. even though i thought the finished result looked a little like a leprechaun hat, he was really happy with it and that's all that matters to me!
speaking of my man, i have to brag on him a little and show you a picture of him on pilot mountain in person:
he's still the coolest boy i've ever met. happy birthday to my love!