It's the season of birthdays in our family, and since Bear and Ollie's are only a week a part, we celebrated them together. Sweet Bear turned 3 and little Ollie Doe turned 1. We invited some friends and family to join us in the park- it poured rain (thank goodness for the shelter!) and then the sun peeked out. The kids played in puddles and got soaking wet - and it was so much fun.

My family will tell you, when it comes to baking, I don't have the best track record. Ha! Experiments in vegan baking, natural food coloring and layer cakes has been fun but .. well interesting to say least. :)

With that said, I was determined to try again and because I wanted something fail proof, I turned to Immaculate Baking Company's Scratch Mix. It has no bleached flour, no artificial flavors or preservatives and no hydrogenated oils. Thank you! I used organic almond milk, earth balance butter and ener-g egg replacer to make it. It baked beautifully, was easy to layer and tasted amazing.

I went for the 'semi-naked cake' look for two reasons - because I love the layers of cake peaking through the icing, and because I didn't want to give everyone a sugar overload. Turns out, it was easy to make and had just the right amount of 'sweet' for all the cake! I call that a win win.

Resources I loved:

- Ffeabysawsen's video tutorial on making a semi-naked cake

- Whisk-kid's layer cake tutorial

- Bear and fawn figurines

- Freshly cut ferns

- Bunting banner (similar to this) and bear's crown made washi tape

- Woodgrain paper straws

Happy birthday my sweet littles. You give me so much joy!

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