My son, Mason, just turned 13. My baby is officially a teenager and I’m still wondering where the time went! To celebrate we had his three best friends over for a backyard camp out. The only thing I did for the “party” was to create a super simple camping cake. For the most part, the boys were left to their own devices.
The boys came over early evening, set up a tent, and got a campfire going. I had a cooler full of drinks, snacks, and dinner. They cooked hot dogs over the fire, made s’mores, and ate snacks. They played in the woods, gathered more wood for their fire, and had a fun time just being outside.
Once it was dark I brought out the projector and they watched “Space Balls” and ate popcorn in our outdoor theater. They were literally outside the entire evening! They had every intention of sleeping in the tent, but it was still 80+ degrees at 11 pm, so ended up coming inside to the air conditioning, each sprawled out in the living room.
It was downpouring in the morning, so we made chocolate chip pancakes and they mostly played video games and chatted. Mid-morning we had the DIY camping birthday cake that I made and ice cream. It totally made me giggle when they started roasting the mini marshmallows over the candle. Such a kid thing to do!
Afterward, the parents came for pick up and the boys went home. It was a laid-back affair. I love having my kid’s friends over. I like seeing them interact and have their voice.
DIY CAKE
Time to bake the cake! I totally cheated and made a simple box cake mix, baked it in a well-greased 13 x 9 pan following the directions on the box.
Supplies and Ingredients:
Graham Crackers
Thick Pretzel Sticks
Green and Orange Chocolate Melts
Squeeze Bottle
White Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Sprinkles
Mini Peanut Butter Cups
Mini Marshmallows
Toothpicks
Pretzel Cake Decor
The forest trees were made using thick pretzel sticks with green chocolate melts melted down, put into a squeeze bottle, and squirted back and forth over the pretzels. Lay the pretzels flat on a piece of parchment paper on a tray or pan. Place in the fridge to harden for at least 15 minutes.
The fire was also made with the pretzel sticks. I broke them into 3rds and dipped them into the melted orange chocolate melts. These were also put in the fridge to harden.
Assembling the cake:
Remove the cake from the pan once cool.
Frost with chocolate frosting.
Using chocolate sprinkles, cover half the cake to resemble dirt.
Add trees to one corner, creating a little forest.
Place the graham cracker tent and another tree in the opposite corner to form a campsite.
For the fire use 4 “flame pretzels” in a teepee-style structure.
Using white chocolate chips or other hard candies as fire pit stones, surround the fire.
Place a sparkler candle in the center of the fire.
To finish it off add mini Peanut Butter cups as seats and mini-marshmallows on toothpicks for s’mores. If you want to take it a step further, use a lighter to lightly toast the marshmallows.
This DIY Camping Themed Cake is super simple to make, inexpensive, but still fun and totally Pinterest worthy!
What cakes have you created for your kids?
