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.