Ombre Beach Cake with Sand Dollars

Have you ever walked on the beach at sunset?

It is one of my absolute favorite things to do.

I love the sound of the waves, the sand under my feet, the seagulls swooping by.

I love picking up shells and occasionally spotting a dolphin in the water.
  

Being a Florida girl, I have spent most of my life a short distance from the ocean.

The years that I spent living in a landlocked state, I missed the beach SO much!

  

This beach cake would be perfect for a summer party!

It combines an ombre frosting design, brown sugar sand

and white chocolate sand dollars.

To make the sand dollars, print out this template:
 

Tape your template on to a piece of cardboard or the back of a cookie sheet.
Tape wax paper over the template.

Melt some white candy melts and put them in a decorating bag with a small round tip,
or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off.

Trace the sand dollar outline with the candy melts,
then go around each hole. Last, fill in the empty space.

Place your sand dollars in the fridge to set up.
When they are hard, pipe a little star shape on the top of each one.

Divide a batch of white frosting into 3 bowls.
Color them 3 different shades of blue (I used Wilton Sky Blue coloring gel).

Using a small spatula, spread the darkest frosting on the bottom 1/3 of your cake.
Spread the medium color in the middle, and the lightest color on the top of the cake.
Use an upward curving motion with your spatula to make waves.

Sprinkle brown sugar around the base of your cake to make sand.
(You could also use crushed graham crackers.)

Arrange the sand dollars around the base of your cake.

 I can just hear the ocean waves now!

 Enjoy!