For the past year, anytime anyone asked my son what he wanted to be when he grew up, he had one answer:  “I am going to be Jake, from Jake and the Neverland Pirates!”  Because of this, I knew I had to make a Jake cake for his birthday, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do; there were so many different options! I finally settled on doing a little bit of everything.  I carved Bucky, Jake’s ship, for the top layer, cut out a little Jake face for the middle layer, and included a “treasure map” name on the bottom layer.  I had two parties for my son: one in the morning for all of his friends, and then a few close friends and family stayed on, and we continued the party for dinner.  Because the bottom layer serves so many people (up to 40!), I was able to gently take the top two layers off, serve the bottom layer at the first party, and have a brand “new” cake for our second party.  Of course, there are also lot of other ways to modify the cake.  You can just have a carved Bucky, a smaller cake (for example, an 8/6/4 inch tiered cake) or have a simple round cake as a topper instead of a carved ship.  I do have to say, when I was done this was by far my favorite cake that I have ever made, and I would LOVE the opportunity to create it again :).

Cake Dimensions:  (1) 10-in round (1) 8-in round (1) 8-in square (carved)
Serving Size:  45 sensible servings; 70 event size servings
Type: fondant over buttercream with fondant accessory 
Event Location:  McLean, VA