Sandbox Cake

A three-tiered sandbox cake decorated by my niece Sylvia.

My family just returned from a four day trip to visit my parents at their home in Ellensburg, Washington.

My husband calls their house "the spa" because it's the only place for us to truly relax and recharge. My dad prepares delicious and healthy meals for us and my mom takes care of all our accommodations while we nap, go for walks and work on crossword puzzles. It's the best.

While there, I did take the time to bake a quick and easy sandbox cake with my niece Sylvia.

My mom made the small sandbox by simply filling a shallow container with a lid with play sand she purchased at the toy store. When the grandkids want to play, she puts the sandbox on a plastic sheet to catch any sand that will inevitably fall over the sides. When the kids are done, she picks up the sheet, pours back the loose sand and puts on the lid.

Here's the recipe:

Sandbox Cake
1 bucket sand
1 pitcher water
flexible containers of different sizes (cottage cheese, sour cream and yogurt containers work well)
fresh flowers for decoration

Pour the water into the sand, a little at a time, until it is very moist and holds its shape when pressed together in your hand.

Fill the containers with sand. Pat the sand down firmly with your hand.

Invert the containers one at a time and carefully and gently lift them up to release the sand cake. Decorate with flowers before serving.

My niece Sylvia and my mom with her just baked sandbox cake. She gathered the flowers and decorated the cake herself.

Sandboxes are always more fun with a friend. Avaieya helped us scoop sand and even baked a cake of her own.