Flip Flop Cake

I'm a huge fan of anything to do with summer and the beach.  It just seems to bring happiness all around!

Recipe Ingredients

• 1 box (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix
• 1 box (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup water
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 tubs (16 oz each) white frosting
• Green and pink gel or paste food color
• 8 rainbow and 4 red sour belts candies
• You'll also need: graham cracker crumbs; shell-shaped cookies and/or chocolates; gummy fish and starfish

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. You'll need a 13 x 9-in. baking pan coated with nonstick spray, bottom lined with wax paper and sprayed. You'll also need a sturdy serving surface about 20 x 16 in.
2. Prepare cake mix as directed for yellow pound cake, using pudding, water, eggs and oil. Pour batter into pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove from pan, peel off paper and cool completely.
3. With long serrated knife, trim top of cake horizontally to make level. Cut out 2 flip-flop shapes, each about 10 1/2 x 5 in. Place on serving surface.
4. Tint 1/2 cup frosting light green. Transfer to small freezer ziptop bag with small hole snipped in one corner. Tint remaining frosting pink. Spread tops and sides of cakes with pink frosting.
5. Cut each rainbow sour belt lengthwise into two strips and arrange on cakes to make stripes, cutting as necessary to fit. Pipe decorative border of green frosting around top edges of cakes.
6. For straps, cut two 6 1/2-in. pieces from red sour belts. Pinch two ends together on diagonal to attach. Trim remaining ends to round; place on top of one cake. Repeat to make strap for remaining cake.
7. Sprinkle serving surface with graham cracker crumbs. If desired, decorate with shell-shaped cookies and chocolates, gummy fish and starfish.Each Flip-Flop measures 10 1/2 x 5 in.

Plan Ahead: You can bake cake up to 3 days ahead, wrap airtight and refrigerate. Frost and decorate up to 1 day ahead.

Tips for perfect party cakes:

1.  For large serving surfaces, you can use wax or parchment paper to cover a sheet of hard plastic foam (available at crafts and art supply stores), doubled for extra strength if necessary, or a large cutting board.
2.  Bake cakes up to 3 days ahead, cool and wrap airtight. Leave the decorating for another day.
3.  If a cake requires two of the same size pan and you only have one, divide batter in half and bake one pan, leaving remaining batter covered at room temperature. Wash, dry and prepare pan. Bake remaining batter.