Birthday Blocks Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan.
• Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Refrigerate or freeze cake about 1 hour or until firm.
• Meanwhile, in small bowl for each color, tint 1 cup frosting red, 1 cup frosting yellow and 2/3 cup frosting blue with food colors. Leave remaining frosting white.
• Using serrated knife, cut rounded dome from top of cake to make flat surface; place cake cut side down. Cut cake crosswise into thirds. Cut one of the thirds in half crosswise to make 2 squares. Place cake pieces on tray.
• To seal in crumbs, frost top and sides of 1 square cake with thin layer of blue frosting and 1 square cake with thin layer of white frosting. Frost 1 rectangular cake with thin layer of yellow frosting and 1 rectangular cake with thin layer of red frosting. Refrigerate or freeze 30 to 60 minutes to set frosting.
• Add final coat of frosting to each cake. Frost 4 marshmallow halves with blue frosting; place in square design on blue cake. Frost 4 marshmallow halves with white frosting; place in square design on white cake. Frost 8 marshmallow halves with yellow frosting; place on yellow cake. Frost 8 marshmallow halves with red frosting; place on red cake. Store loosely covered.

Steps:

• Make or buy a minimum of 2 pound cakes (quantity depends on how big of a name you are spelling).
• Slice in half width-wise and shave sides and top accordingly to make a cube.
• Color appropriate amount of white frosting with food coloring to make pink, blue or whatever colors "blocks" you want.
• Frost all sides but the bottom of the blocks with the colored frosting.
• Using a frosting gun or a ziploc (with tip cut) filled with remaining white frosting - write the first letter on all sides, including the top of the block.
• Repeat with the additional "blocks" by finishing out the name you are using.
• Arrange blocks to spell out the name on a beautiful platter and getting ready for the compliments!
• NOTE: You could also bake 2 13x9 cakes and cut into cubes and make the "blocks" 2-layers stacked.
• You could get even fancier and pipe the contrasting color of frosting onto the edges/trim of the blocks to define them more.
• Or you could decorate the blocks with the white frosting and spell the baby's name out with the color-tinted frosting.
• The possibilities are endless!