Homemade Birdseed Cakes with You Do It Suet
The birds and squirrels know I’m pretty dependable. During the winter months my bird feeder is filled with seed and suet cakes and I love watching all the different types of birds that come stopping by. Cardinals, sparrows, juncos, woodpeckers, and blue jays are common visitors and the squirrels try their best to steal some of the goodies too. It’s fun to watch all the activity during the cold snowy days. Sometimes I even like watching the squirrels. 🙂
Every year I make some homemade birdseed cakes for the feeder too. This year I made several new recipes using a fun new product called the You Do It Suet that let’s you make your own birdseed suet cakes one at a time AND let’s you be resourceful and use the drippings from that pound of ground beef or bacon you may have been cooking up. Because it’s a silicone mold, it can withstand the hot grease and you can mix everything up directly in the mold if you choose to for convenience. You then stick it in the freezer and once it’s set, you just pop the cake out of the mold. If you like to make your own birdseed cakes, then you will definitely find this product helpful!
I found three things in particular that made me love this product:
#1 Resourceful
As mentioned above, this mold is designed for using the drippings from cooking meat for your “suet”. Those drippings (which otherwise you most likely would just eventually throw out) are just the right amount to make one birdseed cake. The You Do It Suet mold let’s you be resourceful and put that grease to good use for your homemade birdseed cakes.
The silicone mold gives you the ability to pour the hot grease directly in the mold if you wish. I usually stirred things together in a small bowl first (just because it felt like I was getting things mixed together more thoroughly in the bowl) and then patted the mixture into the mold. Either way works. Here’s a recipe for one of the resourceful birdseed cakes that I made:
Peanut Butter and Raisin Birdseed Cake
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Birdseed
- 1/4 cup Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
- 3 tablespoons Cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon Raisins
- 3 tablespoons Peanut Butter
- Grease drippings from one pound of 80/20 Ground Beef (about 6 tablespoons)
Combine all ingredients and spread into the You Do It Suet mold or mix together directly in the mold. Place in the freezer until set.
#2 Creative Customization and Variety
The second thing I really liked about this mold was the ability to create your own recipes. You really can’t screw it up! You can try different ingredients and combinations to attract different types of birds. Because you only make one cake at a time, it’s a great way to make a variety of cakes. You can find lots of great creative ideas on the You Do It Suet recipe page too.
Because I also wanted to have a birdseed cake that did not use meat drippings (because we’re trying to cut down on the meat and diary consumption at our house), I got creative and made this recipe using lard which I keep around for some of my other homemade birdseed cake recipes. (Here’s my tip on finding lard in the grocery store).
Creative Cranberry Birdseed Cake
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
- 1/4 cup Birdseed
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons cornmeal
- 1/3 cup Lard – melted
Combine all ingredients and spread into the You Do It Suet mold or mix together directly in the mold. Place in the freezer until set.
(This is the cake on the right side in the picture below.)
#3 Quick
And finally, one of the great things about this mold is how quickly you can mix up a birdseed cake. I was frying up some ground beef for a casserole I was going to bring to someone else and suddenly remembered, “I should use these meat drippings for a birdseed cake!” So I quick went out to the garage and got a cupful of birdseed to add to the grease I put in the mold. Viola! Done! Birdseed cake made 🙂
Quick Birdseed Cakes
Ingredients:
- About 1¼ cups Birdseed
- Drippings from one pound of 80/20 ground beef – OR – 1/3 cup melted Lard
Combine all ingredients and spread into the You Do It Suet mold or mix together directly in the mold. Place in the freezer until set.
$2.00 Off Coupon Code!
I had a very positive experience making homemade birdseed cakes with the You Do It Suet mold. It’s a great product that gives you a resourceful, creative, and quick way to feed your feathered friends. You can check it out further at their website YouDoItSuet.com and be sure to read their story too.
AND – I’m happy to offer my readers a $2.00 off coupon code if you are interested in purchasing your own You Do It Suet mold. This really is a fun product if you like to make your own birdseed cakes!
Coupon code: tmyoz
Disclosure: All opinions are my own. I did not receive any compensation other than a free mold to test which has resulted in many happy birds.
Thank You for sharing this!! Your recipes are the only ones of many I’ve tried, that our feathered friends LOVE!! I DIY anything I can, so I truly appreciate your time and effort to share with us 🙂
Bev, thanks so much for all you have shared with me. I have saved your posts on my Pinetrest…can’t wait to try them. I have two jars of peanut butter, have already bought the lard plus I have pecans that my late husband pealed and think the birds will enjoy them. I have one suet container to hang outside and need to order more.
Thanks for sharing.
Shirley
Trying to use the store bought suet cakes, but they only want to heat homemade ones.
Would love a mold to make my own cakes? I love to feed birds and my grandkids love watching birds too
You can still purchase these molds on the You Do It Suet site, but if you want to be frugal, you can always make the mixture in a mixing bowl and then mold it in a square tupperware, or save the plastic wrapper that the store bought cakes come in to re-use as a mold.
I’m gonna try this for the 🐦
The birds will be glad you did ❤️
I just love reading your newsletter…
Awww, thanks Alyson. I have fun writing it too. 🙂
can i use bacon grease?
Yes, you could use bacon grease for these birdseed cakes.
I feed my Feathered friends all year around also. But never thought to make these what a great idea thank you for sharing!!
I’ve really come to like that I can make just one square at a time with the You Do It Suet. It’s a nice way to try different combinations.