June | 2014 | music to your mouth

Ahhh, birthdays… not that I need an excuse to bake. But it does help to justify the extra effort and kid-free time required in the kitchen to decorate. Besides the home-based birthday parties, my children receive a special birthday celebration at snack time at their daycare. This daycare happens to be at my work, so for the most part, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to pop in to join the celebrations.

When my eldest turned 2, we had a bit of a ladybug theme going.

So on her birthday, I surprised her at the daycare with a platter of ladybug cupcakes for her and her playmates. These were super easy, but recognizable to everyone at the table. Some of the kids, however, weren’t so recognizable after tackling their treat.

The next year (age 3), I thought I’d try out these cute owl cupcakes. We were having a monkey cake for my daughter’s party at home for the second year in a row (see Where’s Piglet? (In which 3D cake-making is discovered)), so this was my opportunity to try something different.

Apparently some 3-year-olds dislike Oreo cookies. Hoo-hoo knew? Go ahead, roll your eyes – you’ll fit right in with the owls. 8)

Let’s not forget about my littlest one. She was an early talker, and one of her first words was ‘duck’ so it seemed like an obvious choice for her first taste of cake.

Rather than make a whole cake for her 1st birthday, I opted for these cupcakes. Babies like to just dig right in there and I figured this way, everyone else’s cake could stay intact until it reached their own mouths. In retrospect, a bib might have been wise.

This year, my eldest put in a request for frog cupcakes, to complement the Polkadots, Rainbows and Butterflies on the cake for her home birthday party. These cupcakes were pretty basic, as I knew I’d be putting in a lot of effort for the larger cake. I used my favourite rich chocolate cake recipe, and tried out a new cream cheese icing. I snipped marshmallows into quarters, and mini m&ms adhered to them without complaint to make the eyeballs.

Reports from the daycare indicated they were a big hit: the kids who normally just licked off the icing actually ate the cupcakes with it, and those who didn’t care for icing gobbled it down as well. The best part? She was so excited to share the party this year with her little sister, and made sure her sister had a seat beside the guest of honour, along with her very own cupcake.

For my first baby’s first birthday, I decided to attempt my first 3D cake. We settled on Piglet, as I was hoping for an inkling of recognition on her part at the big unveiling. We used to play a game we made up and called ‘Where’s Piglet?’. We would hide her Piglet stuffy, sign and say ‘Where’s Piglet?’, and take parental pride in her bubbling glee as she discovered it, poorly hidden, somewhere in the room.

Back Camera

I made a basic white round cake, and cut, carved and arranged layers and limbs until it bore some resemblance to the doll. There was no science to the process, no calculations, just some freehand hacking – art at its best. For the icing, I chose a star tip to mimic the texture of the stuffy. For the eyes, I used Runts (clearly a choking hazard, which meant for safety’s sake, I was obliged to eat them – what a sacrifice!). I may have run out of icing when it came to the feet…I was too sleep-deprived to make another batch; I’m pretty sure the birthday girl didn’t notice.

For her 2nd birthday, we opted for a monkey theme. She was quite attached to her monkey lovey (aptly named ‘Monkey’) – so much so that we wisely bought Backup Monkey(s) for instances in which it got lost, left behind or required a tumble in the washing machine. I’ll never forget the look on her face when she toddled into her room, Monkey in hand, only to discover Backup Monkey on her bed, which we’d neglected to tuck away in his secret drawer. Luckily, short-term memory is not a strength of the under-two crowd and we managed to restore order in the universe with a brief distraction.

Photo courtesy Melody Chan Photography (http://melodychan.ca)

Chocolate Monkey Cake was super chocolately and delicious. The birthday girl had her fill, but for some reason was frightened of the banana. Not a problem, there were other takers.

For birthday #3, she had the opportunity to make a request – any flavour and shape of her choosing. I was becoming a bit more confident in my 3D cake making and decorating and was ready for a new challenge. I had my spatula at the ready, to tackle whatever animal, vegetable or mineral she might request. Guess what she picked?

A monkey. Well, at least I had the opportunity to refine my technique a little. At this stage, purple and pink had emerged as strong favourites in her colour palate, and she made it clear that the cake was to be no exception.

Birthday #4 was all about Polkadots, Rainbows and Butterflies, and is addressed in another blog post.

And that is the history of my surrender to the world of 3D cake-making – a story worth savouring. Right, big sister?

music to your mouth

Sweet treats that sing to you

Month: June 2014

Birthday Cupcakes

Where’s Piglet? (In which 3D cake-making is discovered)