It took us three days to get back from Hawaii, because we decided to take military air. So I ended up spending my birthday in Miramar, California, which isn’t really a bad thing… except that we didn’t know we were staying there overnight before we got off the plane. I wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant, so we borrowed a car from the woman at the front desk of the Marine lodge… and drove to a Mexican restaurant that was closed. We ended up eating at an Italian restaurant nearby.

After all those shenanigans, I wanted to bake myself a coconut cake when we got home. And I wanted it to be pink. Very, very pink.

I couldn’t find my tiara to put on top.

Anyway, if you ever need to make a cake for a 5-year-old girl — or someone celebrating the 10th anniversary of their 21st birthday — I would recommend this decorating method. I would not recommend this recipe, which is why I’m not going to give it to you.

First, put as much sweetened flake coconut as you need in a bowl (I used not quite half of a 14-ounce bag, or about 2 loosely packed cups). Add a very small amount of food coloring.

I used a glob of Duff Goldman brand electric pink gel food coloring (from Michael’s). You probably don’t even need as much as this, but that’s how much came out of the bottle. If you’re using liquid food coloring, start with a few small drops.

Use a fork to smoosh, spread and distribute the food coloring. That’s it! Then, just prepare your cake, cupcakes or other baked good and decorate with the colored coconut. You can do this with whatever color you wish — green would be great for grass on a football field or Easter basket cake, for example. And I would recommend tinting the frosting underneath with a bit of the same color. That way, any gaps won’t be as noticeable. Enjoy!