Bah! My kids are starting school tomorrow! Where did the summer go?  

For the past couple of years, I have made a special “pencil cake” that my kids got to devour after the first day of school. I won’t lie to you, I am NOT the best cake maker or decorator. In fact, one year that I attempted to make a “Nemo” cake for my son’s birthday and when my husband saw it he asked me if I let the kids decorate it. Um no. That would be my unsteady hand that decorated it, thank you very much.

So now you know what I’ll be doing while my kids are in school tomorrow…ATTEMPTING to make a cake.  It doesn’t help that my son is allergic to eggs so I have to make eggless cakes. Eggless cakes are very moist and hard to frost.

HERE’S LAST YEAR’S ATTEMPT:

My preschooler likes to help me (lick the spoon, that is).

You can make one for your children too. Here’s the recipe from Family Fun:

PENCIL CAKE

Ingredients

8-inch square pan of brownies, uncut

1 3/4 cups white frosting

Yellow and pink food coloring

1/4 cup chocolate frosting

Sandwich bag

Instructions:

Turn the cooled pan of brownies upside down and tap on the bottom to remove the brownie square. Cut it as shown (A) and arrange the two largest pieces into a pencil shape (B).

Cover the pointed end with white frosting. Tint 1 cup of frosting yellow, then spread it over the middle of the cake.

Next, tint 1/2 cup pink for the eraser. Pipe on a chocolate frosting zigzag and pencil point using a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off.

For an added effect, set the pencil on a piece of foam core decorated to look like lined paper and pipe on a chocolate frosting message.

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DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL TREATS OR TRADITIONS THAT YOU DO FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?