Birthday Cake

My favorite art objects conservator celebrated her birthday this weekend, and we have begun a tradition of attempting to one-up each other with fancy birthday cakes, so I had my work cut out for me. Last year, Duncan Hines helped me out, but this year, I made a fancy cake, from scratch for what seems like the first time ever. And after three months of admiring it in our kitchen, I also used our kitchen aid mixer to do so.
This is Pistachio cake with marzipan, apricot preserves and chocolate ganache that I found on Smitten Kitchen. Decorated with marzipan versions of the flowers in Angie's beautiful garden. Phil made the little furry friend on the bottom of the cake... modeled after the sometimes present UNwanted living things in her garden.