Rainbows, hearts and a whole crowd of friends: Mariana turns 9

This one was a project, and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Two cakes, one scene

It isn't a tiered cake — it's two separate hot pink cakes standing side by side on a gold board, built to be looked at as one picture.

A big pastel rainbow arches over and behind them both, and a second smaller rainbow sits down in front between the two. That's what turns two cakes into one scene rather than two cakes that happen to be near each other.

All the little things

Hello Kitty, Kuromi, My Melody, Keroppi and Cinnamoroll are cut out and standing at different heights, some on the cakes and some down on the board.

Around them: fondant hearts stuck all over the pink, hearts on picks reaching up, gold-edged butterflies, sprinkles, clusters of balloons in pink and white and plum, and little mirrored disco balls tucked into the gaps.

Her name goes on in gold-outlined letters, with a 9 below it.

The rule with a cake this busy is that everything still has to sit at a different height. Line it all up level and it turns into clutter.

What's inside

Chocolate cake with dulce de leche filling and vanilla buttercream frosting.

Happy 9th birthday, Mariana

Rainbows, hearts and a whole crowd of friends.