So I have a confession to make... are you ready?
I don't like cake.
Phew! I said it and I'll say it again...
I don't like cake...
(at least I didn't before my last pregnancy, but that's another story).
At birthday parties, I normally keep passing the plate around and decline the offer to have my own piece of cake and it's not because I am on a diet... I just really do not like the taste and texture of cake.
Apparently my kids have inherited this trait of mine as well...
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PARTY TIP:
For a pool party, pool-shaped cake (easy peasy)
and for easy clean-up, just stick your kid and
his/her smash cake inside of a kiddie pool!
Hose off the pool (and your kid) = no mess! |
Despite not liking cake,
I understand that the CAKE is sort of like the keystone of the party. It's almost as if it's not a real party unless there is cake. I mean, you can't really sing the "Happy Birthday" song without sticking a candle inside of what? Oh yeah,
a cake. So, I get it. I really do.
Now, I am not a baker (perhaps my not liking cake and not liking to bake is related), so if my child's cake is not store-bought it means my sister-in-law made it... and she makes gooood cakes, or so I hear ;-)
(She made both of the boys' smash cakes for their first birthdays shown above).
So here is my one and only attempt at baking my kid's birthday cake... wait... no... my HUSBAND baked these cupcakes (from a box) and I decorated them... but it was my first attempt at decorating with icing. ::sigh:: I am much better with a paint brush. Anywho, when choosing (or decorating) a birthday cake, I always have my child in mind (and I sometimes ask for their opinion, though that can sometimes ruin the whole look of the perfect food display table)...
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Me: "What do you want your cupcakes to say? 'Happy Birthday?'"
James: "No, I want them to say, 'Hello.'" |
At this Toy Story themed party, I let the kids decorate their own cupcakes because I figured they could do a better job than me...
And of course, because he's my child, he only ate the icing and sprinkles, but not the cake.
Ok, ok... perhaps letting my kids decorate their own cakes may be a little bit overboard for party guests.
My younger son always asks for cake and just kind of stares at it, so for his birthday parties, he always gets powdered doughnut towers instead of cake. Cupcake toppers sit nicely inside of the doughnut holes.
Well, now I've decided to start putting a little more effort into this key element of the party...
(the bakers were so confused as to why we would want GREEN pigs),
and we ordered a cookie from The Great American Cookie Company
(they, too, were confused as to why they were only decorating the bottom half of the cake).
We then added nutter butters and green gumballs to build the piggy towers on the giant cookie.
So we there was at least a little effort on our part here!
Then we actually attempted to make cake balls
which were BY FAR the most effort we have ever put into a cake-like treat.
See the link above for the how-to on how to make these.
Since cakes aren't my forte', I reached out to friends to share their brilliant birthday cakes from parties past. Here are some of my favs...
CONSTRUCTION PARTY:
The cake is a chocolate cake/pudding mixture with chocolate rocks purchased from a cake decorating store on top. I LOVE that the cake is INSIDE the dump truck! Brilliant!!!
CARS/CARS II PARTY:
River Ridge, Louisiana
Oh my goodness this cake AMAZES me! And I LOVE the matching smash cake! Oh man, my boys would be so jealous if they saw this cake!
Robyn has a great tip for those of you who like to use fondant on your cakes:
"Wilton fondant is not nearly as good as Duff's but you get more for your money with the Wilton batch. I would recommend using Wilton for sculpting decorations and Duff for covering full cakes."
Thanks for the tip, Robyn!!!
WINNIE THE POOH PARTY:
Also by
CoraBells Cakes by Robyn Wimberly
River Ridge, Louisiana
Ok, so this was for a baby shower, but would be perfect for a little boy's first birthday! Don't you just LOVE the honey pot???
PIZZA PARTY:
Goldsboro, North Carolina
GENIUS! It's a pizza! It's a cake! It's a pizza cake! This sugary delight might actually shock some of the kids who are expecting to take a huge bite into a pizza. Even as a non-cake eater, this cake looks delicious to me!
MARTIAL ARTS PARTY:
By
Margo Smith's Cake Creations
Goldsboro, North Carolina
What a great idea for a young green belt! This cake would also be awesome to celebrate when your son/daughter advances to a new level of martial arts!
(PURPLE) BIG RED DOG / CLIFFORD PARTY
What do you do when your child requests a PURPLE Big Red Dog party?
You turn all of your Big Red Dogs PURPLE!
Just a few of a little boy's favorite things: fruit roll ups, chocolate chips, whoppers and purple big red dogs!
Tip from Chesnye:
"The fruit roll ups disintegrated in the refrigerator, so they should be put on at the very last [minute]."
Another great tip! See, we can learn so much from one another's trials and errors!
Have a great cake idea? Tag @kidspiredcreations in your photo on
Facebook and I will share it on this post! Also, my next post will be about other creative party ideas (i.e. favors, decorations, etc.) so if you have a great idea, tag me in those pictures as well!
My friend Cristina is about to give birth to her second baby boy any day now! Our oldest sons became best buds when they were in the same Pre-K class together last year, and now, I have the pleasure of designing her baby's nursery in her new home! I feel so honored and blessed that she asked me to help her nest because, as you can probably assume, nesting is my favorite part of pregnancy! It's such an amazing feeling to have the nursery complete right before baby comes. It makes you feel relaxed and READY! I am so happy to be a part of that experience for families.
