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.

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?