I’ve made lots of cakes over the years but only for my kids’ birthday parties and a few other things. I’ve never thought of myself as an expert, by any means of the word, but when my husband’s co-worker called me and told me she wanted to hire me to bake a cake for her son’s first birthday, I was blown away. Me? Someone wanted me to bake a cake for them, and pay me, what?
I wanted to make a special cake for her little boy, not that he’ll remember, but every little kid deserves a special cake for their first birthday! So when I need cake inspiration I go to my favorite cake baker, I am Baker. She’s amazing and I’ve been dying for an excuse to make one of the surprise inside cakes from her book. I made the cake pop cake for Malea’s birthday a few weeks ago but I wanted to do something a little more challenging and something a one year old would like.
When I came across the Balloon Cake tutorial in I am Baker’s book, I knew that was the right one. It seemed easy enough and what little kid doesn’t love balloons?!
When I finished the cake I showed my 6 year old and her mouth dropped. She loved the balloons and all the colorful sprinkles, she said it looked “really cool” so I knew my husband’s co-worker would love it for her little boy.
The best part though is the surprise on the inside, want to know what it is?

Sorry for the picture quality but it was taken with the mom’s iPhone.
It’s a balloon! Not a real balloon, of course, but a chocolate balloon, right through the middle of the cake! Fun, right? I thought so. Now that I’ve tackled a real surprise inside cake I’m kind of itching to do another one. Who has a birthday coming up?
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