The Cake
For as long as I can remember, assuming I lived in the vicinity of my Mom or Grandma, I’ve always gotten a birthday dinner and cake. Dinner was typically my favourite meal (veal cutlets and fries when I was a kid, believe it or not) and the cake varied from elaborate princesses and unicorns to angel food cake and ice cream to store-bought. If I was extra special, and Grandma was in the mood to clean up the mess I might even get that pineapple cheesecake thing she makes that is to freaking die for.
These birthday dinners are fond memories for me and as a result I want to give my kids a special cake on their birthdays too. Sadly, for Steve, this desire doesn?t lend itself to husbands, just children. I don?t really care that much for baking and twice a year is fine by me, thanks.
This year I made Callum a tractor at his request (if you call gently suggesting to an almost 3-year old that maybe he?d like a tractor to be his request, and I do). I was really pleased with the results.
It was as simple as you can get – two loaf pans, and a square pan of store-bought Duncan-Heinz cake mix. Then I just hacked away at it until it looked like a tractor. It?s all cake, including the wheels, decorated with butter icing (the recipe on the icing sugar package) tinted with that fancy food coloring you buy at Michaels. I free-hand piped the deer onto the hood.
The trailer is holding cookies because we had two parties for the spoiled monkey this year, and I saved the cake for my Mom and Grandma (it?s been 35 years of cakes and dinners for me, I figured they can partake in Callum?s cake, you know?). The folks who came to his birthday party got a cookie. It sounds lame but his birthday party was late in the day and in the end the parents probably appreciated that I didn?t hop their kids up on sugar at 7:30 pm. Besides I thought the cookies turned out ridiculously cute. I mean, seriously, the sheep have swirls!
Of course I didn’t take a picture of all the cookies, but trust me they were super cute. There were cows with black spots, pink pigs, swirly sheep, turkeys with candied tails, roosters, geece, horses, cats and dogs. Also, how do people take such fabulous pictures of their crafts? Seriously jealous of that skill.
Making the cake was a cinch, but the cookies? Whoa-boy. The cookies were a family affair and I thought, rather naïvely, that it would be fun to let my kids help decorate them. Yea. Fun. Did you know that wet sprinkles are basically paint? No? Neither did I. And also? Callum takes cookie decorating very seriously.
Claire, does not.
You can imagine the sibling strife. It was a long afternoon.
8 Responses to “The Cake”
a little hut
a little sauciness
angry chicken
beauty that moves
blogging for two
burrito west
craftster
creative thursday
disdressed
disney princess recovery
dooce
elephants with wings
eskiegirl
how about orange
imagine childhood
knitty
meadowsweet cottage
mini mak makings
moon stitches
my plum pudding
orange you lucky
paper forest
plants and hogs
potential energy
rosy little things
sew mama sew
smartass
soule mama
suzy says
the mayfly
the stars
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two straight lines
Great cake–I’ll have to make sure my uncle never sees it or else I’ll have to make one for him!
As usual you have outdone yourself…I do wish I could see the cookies better. I know how much work cookie cutter cookies….they must have taken forever!
Sorry I didn’t call u back this afternoon, i will call u tomorrow:)
Good work on the cake and cookies! They both look delicious!
A lovely party for Callum on his third birthday-cake was so original , as were the cookies —and good eating also!!!!!!!Your Mom always made you and your sister the most beautifully decorated cakes!
Wow! That’s impressive!
They were fantastic and tasty!! How can you go wrong with all that sugar!!
It was was a very nice party, and Callum seemed suitably impressed with his tractor. He was very proud to be showing it off and especially delighted to be able to blow out candles too!!
Good times were had by all. Thank you very much!
Are you telling me that by leaving early, I missed out on getting a farm-animal-shaped cookie? MANNNNN….
You didn’t get one?! oh, I’m so sorry! You could have had one decorated by Callum with 6″ of icing and then loaded with chocolate chips, too!