Cake challenge! How to make small cakes look celebratory?

[christmaslatte]

DS really wants a red velvet cake for his birthday.

He's very happy with shop bought - we usually get shop bought and add extra decorations.

The only problem is, I can only find small red velvet cakes, plus red velvet cup cakes (and red velvet ice cream!)

I was thinking, maybe if I buy two or even three, maybe I could stack them and make it a giant cake, possibly with the cup cakes on top?! Or is that a bonkers idea?! 😂

I guess I can't do traditional tiers as they're all the same size.

Can you think it any creative ways to make small cakes feel properly celebratory?

With all that effort you'd be as well just making your own!
https://www.janespatisserie.com/2015/11/03/red-velvet-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

I like this one

I don't have the ingredients, time, skill or headspace to make my own just now. DP's good at cakes but he's out of action at the moment.

In case you're worrying about DS being a neglected child, DP did used to bake birthday cakes when he was a fair bit younger and I would stay up till 3am icing them. We've done some amazing creations - the castle complete with moat, drawbridge, ramparts and dragon is the one I particurlarly remember.

But we've been there, done that, DS is now a teen, he wants the shop one and I'm not going to argue!

I'd love to find an easily achievable way to make it more special though. It's a bit of fun, I'm just looking for inspiration before I give it a go.

There is a party shop down the road. I bet they have plenty of things that would help with some kind of creation - if only I knew what to ask for!

M&S and Tesco seem to advertise a larger one. When do you need it for?

https://www.patisserie-valerie.co.uk/products/red-velvet?variant=37600064241845

Theses are lovely 😍

Costco do a very large red velvet cake.

Can't go wrong with a Betty Crocker Red Velvet.

Asda are doing a Pokémon cake. Would your DC like that?

Something like this?

With picture

Nah, he's years past pokemon now! But thanks for the suggestion, very thoughtful :)

We made our own one pokemon cake one year, sort of. Cheated by getting a pre-made celebration cake and then added red and black pre-made ready-to-roll icing to turn it into a pokeball.

It looked awesome if I do say so myself! And dead simple too.

Yes!! This is the kind of thing I have in mind. They've got 12 cupcakes. I've currently got 2 small cakes and 8 cupcakes but I can get more.

I think I need to pop to the party shop in the morning and get some decoration with his age and other bits to dress it up.

Nice thought, thanks, but we don't have one in this town :(

Oh goodness, that looks lovely! I'm feeling guilty I didn't get organised earlier now as I can't get that ordered in time :(

Hmmm, actually quite tempting, looks easy!

But do they actually taste OK? I've never had one.

They taste great.

My adult DC just turned 30 and I got him a Pokémon cake. He took it to share with his mates and they all loved it. Nostalgic for them.

I’ve stacked shop bought cakes on top of each other to make a super tall cake. I’ve then ice the outside and added sprinkles to make a super tall sprinkle covered cake

Ok, it's done!

We were going to stack and buttercream but had an experiment when putting it out and found we didn't need to.

We picked a fancy oval serving dish and put the two cakes next to each other, cup cakes on top of each plus all around, then covered with sparklers and what felt like a zillion candies.

It looked grand. DS very happy as red velvet is his favourite.

That sounds like a fantastic idea! Stacking the small cakes to make a bigger one is totally doable—just add some frosting between the layers to hold them together. You could decorate the cupcakes as a topper or even arrange them around the base for a fun look. Adding colorful sprinkles, candles, or themed decorations can also make it feel extra special. DS will love it—it’s the thought and effort that counts most! 😊