Take a deep breath, count to ten, and tackle each task one step at a time. ~Linda Shalaway
There is one thing I do for my daughter's birthdays, usually: I make and decorate a cake. I am no expert but you can see that I have made significant improvements throughout the years, even though I rarely make more than one cake a year. (I would not want to do this for a living.) For the sake of privacy, I am showing the cakes without her name on them, but most of them had her name and age on them.
1
Note to self: Do not place icing in freezer to cool it because it can change color, hence the color difference in the bear's fur. But seeing blue icing smeared on a one-year-old's lips is precious!2
Outlining in a nice unbroken line is definitely NOT my thing, especially with black!3
Wooly lambs are far easier to do! 4
We had so much stress that year that we did not take many pictures, not even for her birthday. I remember making a rocking horse cake but sometimes I get too busy living life to document it. The picture is of a furry Christmas tree cake I made for Christmas to celebrate Christ's birthday. This is a tradition we do not do anymore, because there are too many sweets to go around then as it is and it took too much time away from guests.5
The Princess wanted a castle...this did not really qualify, but at least it was pink!6
We spent her sixth birthday with her God-parents and my aunt and uncle. Her God-mother wanted to get a heart-shaped cake with pink roses, so I did not make a cake this time.7
I was pleased she chose the Bob and Larry cake shape knowing that it might be the last time and I wanted to make it special...without black outlining. I found a recipe for a butter cream fondant and this was my first attempt with it. I loved that my back was not hurting the next day. It was actually fun working with something like a oily play dough and I was done in record time. I vowed to do more fondant cakes in the future.8
You can read about Sammy Lamby with Hunny Bunny (why they mean so much to us) at Sammy Lamby Cake. I did part in fondant, but the swirls of wool are of a tastier butter cream icing. 9
Last year was the first time we invited friends over for the Princess' birthday. We made it very special as you can read at Our Victorian Princess Tea Party. This cake was entirely fondant, but a different recipe so that it would have the matte finish. I enjoyed making this one so much and was quite pleased with how it looked and tasted. 10
The rocking horse shape was used to make this chocolate, fondant-iced cake, but the Princess wanted something more real life as she is into horses so it was to be a grass pasture rather than rockers. It looks like a rather fat pony to me, but she loved it. Although I love chocolate, I usually am not fond of chocolate cake, but this recipe was pretty good. You are a welcome to come by for a sample, if you would like....
~ Thank you, my Lord, for this young life that has enriched my own so much. Thank you that I can bring her a bit of pleasure and teach her that a person can be creative with anything, if they are willing to try and learn. One day, I suspect that she will be making one of her cake creations for me. ~
