Ingredients:

• 1 (13 by 9-inch) rectangular cake
• 1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
• Blue food coloring
• 1 plain bread stick
• 1 yellow marshmallow chick (Peep)
• 30 light blue jelly beans (Jelly Belly)
• 30 yellow jellybeans (Jelly Belly)
• 2 Tootsie Rolls
• 11 chocolate non-pareils
• 12 Lorna Doone shortbread cookies
• 6 orange M&M’s Minis

What you’ll need:

• A serving platter
• A bread knife
• A resealable sandwich-size plastic bag

Trimming the cake:

1. Trim the top of the cake to make level.
2. Place the cake on a work surface, trimmed side down, with the 9-inch edge closest to you.
3. Mark the cake with toothpicks as pictured to help guide the trimming of the cake.  Trim the cake into the birdhouse shape as pictured.  Place onto a serving platter.

Frosting the cake:

1. Spoon ½ cup of the vanilla frosting into a resealable plastic bag.  Set aside.
2. Add blue food coloring to the remaining vanilla frosting to tint it a light blue.
3. Spread the top and sides of cake with the blue frosting and make smooth.

To complete the decoration:

1. Trim ¼ inch from one edge of each chocolate non-pareil.  Set aside.
2. Unwrap the Tootsie Roll and microwave for no more than 3 seconds to soften. Press together and roll out to a 3-inch circle. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter or the rim of a juice glass to cut a circular piece out.  Set aside.
3. Arrange the blue jelly beans, end to end, around the bottom half of the cake as pictured.
4. Place the Tootsie Roll circle near the bottom half of cake.
5. Insert the bread stick as pictured for the bird’s perch.
6. Arrange yellow jellybeans in the shape of flowers all over the cake. Add an orange M&M Mini in the center of each flower.
7. Press the chocolate non-pareils along the roof line, cut side against the edge.
8. Top the cake with the Lorna Doone shortbread cookies, overlapping slightly to create the birdhouse’s roof tiles.
9. Snip a small corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe a decorative edge just underneath the cookie roof tiles.
10. Trim the yellow marshmallow chick and press atop perch against the chocolate taffy

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