A Very Simple Swimming Pool Cake

I was lying in bed half awake when a friend's son came and asked me if I could make him a cake on his birthday. I had just arrived that morning from the south of Thailand where I work. I was groggy and exhausted from the 12-hour bus ride I took the night before. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. A part of me wanted to say no. I went home to see family and to relax. The last thing I wanted to do was make a cake. I felt bad because that was the first time the little boy requested something. I didn't turn him down. Instead I asked what kind of cake he wanted. He wanted swimming pool cake. His mom, my sister, my cousin , him and I browsed the web together to look for a cake which could serve as my guide.  My schedule for 3 days was jammed. I only had a night to plan it and few hours to bake and decorate the cake. My sister suggested to buy ready made cake to lessen my load. Good for me! So here's what we came up with Jan's birthday cake.



I used four small pound cakes. I put them together and iced them with vanilla frosting. I decorated the side of the cake with chocolate-covered wafers. I tied a blue ribbon around the cake. I used chocolate rocks to shape the pool. I had to redo the pool because the first one seemed too small. I used blueberry jelly filling for the water.

I put two parasol or cocktail umbrella on the cake.

The birthday boy wanted  gummy bears on the cake. I put one under the umbrella, two beside the pool, two on the slide which my sister made, two in the pool swimming, one on the  sofa, and one beside it. If I could only find cake toppers, the decoration would have looked a lot better.

It's a very simple cake but the birthday boy was all smiles when we showed him his cake.