Polka Dot Cake

I don’t know why I attempt to make frosted cakes. I’m horrible at it. I am never happy with how the finished product looks. The icing is never smooth & even like you see in the recipe pictures. It irritates me. 

This cake I actually think is a really cute idea and would be great for a kid’s birthday party, especially if you were going with a simple color theme. I would also like to point out that I was able to make this cake for under $5 (not including the ingredients needed to make the actual cake – I imagine most everyone has them in their fridge already)!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 box cake mix of choice ~ I used French Vanilla
1 can icing of choice ~ I used Cream Cheese
eggs, oil & water called for on box
3 premade pudding snack cups ~ I used Vanilla
1 package Fruit Roll-Ups in a variety of colors
round cookie or biscuit cutters in multiple sizes

LETS COOK:
1. Prepare and bake the cake according to package directions for the size of pans you are using. I used two 8 inch square pans. I thought the square cake would be more fun with the fruit roll-up circles.
2. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes before removing from the pans and allowing to cool completely on wire racks.
3. Spread the pudding between the layers of cake. I had a thick layer of pudding.
4. Apply your crumb coat to the cake and allow to set in the fridge for about 20 minutes.  A crumb coat is simply a very thin layer of icing applied to the cake as its almost cooled to seal in any crumbs so they don’t show up when you are frosting your cake.
5. Reserving about 1-2 tablespoons of frosting, spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Allow to set in the fridge for another 20 minutes.
6. Unroll the fruit roll-ups. Using the cookie cutters, cut out circles. I also used a decorating tip to make some smaller circles.
7. Apply a small amount of the reserved frosting onto the back of your fruit roll-up circles. Arrange the circles on the top and sides of the cake.

NOTES:
*I can’t remember where the original idea for this cake came from.  I don’t take credit for coming up with this idea