How to Make a Minecraft Birthday Cake

If you have boys, there is a good chance you have heard of Minecraft.  My boys love Minecraft, so it didn't come as too big of a surprise when my 5-year-old said he wanted a Minecraft Birthday Cake.

The cake actually ended up being a lot easier than I thought, and I have to disclose now that I didn't always use the proper Minecraft squares or cubes, but even my Minecraft obsessed 10-year-old loved the cake. What I Used 2 Chocolate Box Cake Mixes Square 12x12 Cake Pan (You can use a rectangle pan since cutting the cake anyway) 5 Pre-packaged Rice Krispie Treats Butter-milk frosting (home made) Green Dye (Wilton Kelly Green) Blue Gel Frosting Grass Tip (Wilton #233) Square Disposable Cake Plate Parchment Paper  Minecraft Creatures  Some like to make homemade cake, which is great, but I have learned the secrets of making the perfect box cake mix.   After the cake was cool, I began by cutting out the base pieces.  I did level each piece for ease of stacking in the end.  I placed parchment paper over the cake plate, which ended up working out wonderfully and was easy to wipe the crumbs that fell when stacking the pieces. I honestly just sort of eyed the pieces and began cutting different cubes (and yes a few rectangles).  I stacked them to create the hills that are common in Minecraft.   After I arranged the hill pieces, I began adding the "grass". I highly recommend picking up the grass frosting tip, as I can't imagine how long it would take to try and make the grass like this without the tip. After the hills were all frosted, I wiped away the crumbs and then began adding the "sand". For the sand I cut Rice Krispie treats in half, so they were not as thick.  I also cut the ends to square them off a little.  I then added a square of water with the blue gel.  I simply outlined the square, then squeezed a bunch inside the square then used a knife to spread and smooth out the gel. I printed the Happy Birthday sign from a site on-line and simply set it next to the cake. The finishing touch was the animals.  We had actually already ordered these animals as a gift for my son's birthday and when he said he wanted a Minecraft cake, we knew it would be perfect to use them on the cake first. After we had the cake, we quickly washed the animals feet (they are plastic) and they became another birthday present.  He absolutely loved the cake and it was honestly one of the easier cakes I have made.  Have you ever made a fancy birthday cake?