Taking the Cake: The Theory

So, I'm making the kiddos' fourth birthday cake for their party, something I have been hoping to do since their first birthday. Then, they couldn't have cake because of food sensitivies and so they didn't have any (this was before bakeries in the area could do vegan--no dairy and no eggs--and gluten-free and soy-free. Truthfully, I'm not sure any can do all of those right now. Well, except BabyCakes down in NYC, but I didn't know about them then. And cakes there are expensive.). They didn't care much.

I did.

For their second birthday, the ever talented and creative Miss T made a fanciful barnyard cake out of fat-free rice krispie treats with marshmallow fondant decorations and little plastic toys (still allergen free). Last year, she made special cupcakes, with the NY Yankees symbol for Bud and woodland creatures for Sis. With wheat! And eggs! And dairy! And soy! But she's down in GA now, which doesn't make it practical for her to make our cake.

And so I'm going to do it. I'm not sure why this was a goal. Perhaps because I know my mom made my first few cakes, these amazing shaped cake confections decorated with gumdrops and licorice and the like--I don't recall them specifically but I've seen the pictures. And they were special. Besides, it just seems like a mom kind of thing to do, one of those hallmark of mom-dom sitting somewhere in mymind. Anyway, I have prepped for this for awhile now, beginning with a cake-decorating lesson from Miss T more than a year ago for our Groundhog Day party, and then my cake-decorating class this summer. I'm really excited, actually, and have come up with a pretty good idea (having blown through a few), with the kiddos' help.

First, we need two cakes. Sis wants bunnies. Bud wants dinosaurs. Combining them would be . . . awkward. Or gruesome. Plus, she wants chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. He wants vanilla cake with strawberries. If they weren't twins, they could have their cake and eat it, too, so we're getting two cakes.

Secondly, I'm not making the cakes. I'm still a novice decorator and need to concentrate on that. I don't want to get distracted with baking, levelling, torting, filling, and frosting a cake. Two cakes. So I ordered to 1/4 sheet cakes from our bakery, one chocolate and one vanilla with strawberries, neither one decorated. They were surprised, but were willing enough to take my money (the same amount, I should say, as if it had been decorated). At least, regardless of how they look (and I'm worried about meltage), the cakes will taste really good.

Thirdly, the highlight of the cakes isn't the cake but the cookies. Yep, there are going to be a few cookies. Because Bud and Sis aren't just getting a picture of a dinosaur or a bunny on their cakes, they're getting 4 standing up decorated sugar cookies of dinosaurs and bunnies (I let them vote between a flat picture and a standing up decoration. Mama said it was a no-brainer). His are blue and hers are pink (Mama votes for leaving them abstract; I'm leaning towards detailing them). And so, on the cake itself, I'll pipe green frosting for grass for the bunnies (and she wants a path, too) and brown dessert with a few ferns for the dinosaurs, plus their names.

Cute, huh? In theory.

More soon . . . .