I received my first lesson on Cinco de Mayo back in high school when my brother and I skipped school to celebrate the holiday. After a day of no school and Mexican filled fun we returned home to angry parents who answered an automated phone call from the school saying we had unexcused absences that day. We logically argued, “It’s Cinco de Mayo, and we’re Mexican so it should be a day off!” Upon hearing this excuse my dad retorted, “I don’t care if it’s cinco, seis, or siete de Mayo!” We quickly learned that my dad did not consider Cinco de Mayo a holiday. It turns out that Cinco de Mayo was more of an American holiday and it was not typically celebrated in the city of our Mexican born parents—so we were definitely not off the hook.

Since then, I have continued to celebrate the holiday. Instead of skipping school, it now typically means drinking Mexican beer and eating Mexican food (things not necessarily reserved for Cinco de Mayo). I have learned that Cinco de Mayo is about the Battle of Puebla and not Mexican Independence Day, which is a big holiday in Mexico. That said, I do appreciate a day when Mexican culture is remembered and enjoyed so I will always be a big fan of Cinco de Mayo.

This year, a few weeks before the holiday I encountered an article in Food Network Magazine for a piñata cake. It looked like the perfect addition to a Mexican meal for Cinco de Mayo. A few years ago I took a cake decorating class and figured that I could take on this challenge. I purchased the ingredients below, which admittedly included boxed cake mix because I took a cake decorating class not a baking class. I did add a few ingredients to try to make it taste more homemade.

I was armed with ingredients, a recipe, and the will to make it work. Unfortunately, I did not read the full instructions before starting and had a few mishaps, one that literally included me having to remove the cake from the oven minutes after putting it in to bake. Batter starts changing in consistency minutes after it is put in the oven! Another mishap involved me rushing back to Publix for a missing ingredient. Always read everything before starting! Finally, after the mistakes I baked the cakes in two loaf pans, let them cool, did some cutting of the cake, added the waffle cones with frosting, and then put them in the freezer. Here they are after being in the freezer for about two hours.

I dyed some coconut and then added it to the cake after it was completely frosted with cream cheese frosting.

I took the finished cake with us to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Mr. Tequila restaurant. Our server thought it was an actual piñata! It tasted delicious and added felicidad to an evening of dinner with friends.