A birthday cake for one of the sweetest little girls I know

.

Ian’s friend Hope turned 4 this weekend, and greeted us at the door wearing a princess gown and sparkly tiara. So cute!

I’ve been thinking about Hope since the beginning of my cake adventure. Being allergic to wheat, eggs, soy, nuts, and dairy, you can imagine she doesn’t get to eat birthday cake (or any other cake) very often. This makes me a little sad. Birthday cake seems an important part of childhood, and I was determined that Hope would have a pretty one.

This particular cake started as a boxed mix, but I am this close to developing an allergy-friendly cake recipe of my own.