{Ridiculously Easy} #Lego Cake

My big boy turned eight on Saturday. He didn't want an actual party this year, instead he requested a road trip up to the Dallas area to go to Legoland for their big Star Wars weekend. I wanted to still have a small party just for us, so I put together a super easy {travel-friendly} cake to haul up there with us.

He had a blast...not sure how we'll be able to top this one!

My kids are LEGO addicts...this was perfection.

Start by making your favorite cake recipe.
{I was in a hurry and used a box mix...using this little trick to make it taste homemade}.
Pour batter into a prepared 9x13 pan and bake according to directions.

Once your cake is cool, turn it out onto a cutting board. You'll cut it into four pieces*. The end pieces are scraps...but my family noshed on them no problem.
*Truthfully, you can create any size/shape Lego piece you'd like. I just wanted a smaller cake so I wouldn't have to haul leftovers home, so that's how I came up with this shape.

Take the middle two pieces that you're actually using and freeze them overnight {wrapping separately}.

The next day, mix up your favorite icing recipe {I have always liked Wilton's Buttercream...you can find that recipe here}. I didn't even have to double it for this recipe. Canned frosting will work fine, too {maybe add a teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract to make it a bit more homemade-ish}. I tinted my frosting with yellow food coloring gel; that's my boy's favorite color.

Add a dab of frosting to the cake plate to help the cake stay in place. Pull the cake layers out of the freezer...you'll be frosting them while they're still frozen.

Place the bottom cake layer onto the cake plate on the frosting dab. Frost the top of it {keeping it frozen makes it not so crummy/crumbly while you frost it}.

Add the top layer to the cake and start frosting the sides and top of it.

Don't worry if your plate gets messy...you can clean it up later.

There's two ways to make the Lego "buttons": Double-Stuffed Oreos or jumbo marshmallows. I, personally, think the Oreos are much easier to frost, so that's the way I went. Stick a dab of frosting on the bottom of each Oreo to adhere it to the top of the cake.

Stuck like glue.

It's easier to frost the Oreos using a plain butter knife, rather than the offset spatula.
Clean up your cake plate and you're good to go.

We have a tradition of having cake for breakfast on your birthday in our family {that way you can have the fancy restaurant dessert at your birthday dinner that night}. This is Ben's "hotel birthday breakfast" the morning of his birthday! He loved the cake. And it was a very memorable weekend for sure!

{i linky-party here}