Tag Archives: birthday cake

Mar 11 2012
100

Angry Birds Themed Birthday Party

The big 5th birthday party was this weekend.  My son Sean has been a big fan of Angry Birds for a while so it was easy to pick a theme for the party.

I was originally going to do a large red bird cake or a pig castle structure with my 16″ cake pan, but Paul suggested creating a smaller cake with the structure and some cupcakes. That sounded like a good plan to me.

I looked at a lot of Angry Birds cake ideas on Pinterest and on the web. On App Cakes, there is a great compilation of Angry Birds cakes and cupcakes, including a video of a “playable” cake similar the Knock on Wood game.

I decided to make the cake decorations out of fondant, cookies and candies. I had never used fondant before, so it was a little bit of a learning process. It went well and I know I will have even better results the next time I use it.

Here is the finished cake:

For the cupcakes I started with boxed mixes. Yes, I totally chickened-out on making them from scratch. I was nervous about working with the fondant and doing all the decorating on the cupcakes so I just couldn’t handle making the cake from scratch too. I’ve never made cake batter and the day before a birthday party is no time to be trying out new recipes!

I decided to make four kinds of cupcakes: Red Bird (strawberry cake), Yellow Bird (lemon cake) Blue Bird (blue-tinted vanilla cake) and Pigs (chocolate cake).

After the cupcakes were completely cooled I tinted vanilla frosting to the colors of the birds. I used gel food coloring to get deeper colors.

I topped the frosted cupcakes with colored sprinkles.

I tinted small amounts of vanilla frosting for the face details and piped on the beaks, eyes and other details.

For the piggy snouts I snipped a large marshmallow into thirds with kitchen shears. I tinted the frosting a little more yellow and covered the marshmallow before placing on the cupcake.

So, you may be thinking “Gosh, that looks like a lot of work!” and you would be correct. I spent most of the day working on the cake and cupcakes. At least eight hours.  But it was SO worth it for the excitement the next morning when Sean woke up and saw all of his Angry Birds cupcakes and cake.

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Mar 29 2011

Pirate Party Success!

This is "Pirate Island" from Jake and the Neverland Pirates

After a lot of time and effort, the big birthday bash for Paul came together on time and was so much fun!  The cake, oh the cake! It was a big hit and it was huge by the time I finished it.  Paul helped me with some ideas and even made little palm trees out of toothpicks and frosting.  The kids loved it!

Here are some photos of the construction:

14" round cake plus two 9" rounds for the base of the main island.

A dome of rice krispie treats for the peak of the big island.

I decorated the big island while the small island was baking.

The finished cake!

 

For food I did a appetizers: meats/cheeses, veggies, fruit, egg rolls, orange chicken and pot stickers.  We also had fun with the margarita machine. Paul mixed up margaritas and daiquiris,  and also served up some shots!  He even got our moms to have a shot! 

This was the first party we’ve ever had with a bunch of kids.  It was raining so we were all stuck in the house and it was loud!  The kids made a mess of Sean and Audrey’s bedroom.  The bed sheets were pulled off, all the toys were dumped out on the floor and a few things got broken.  I learned a lot, and will do some things differently next time. 

I was a really fun party overall.  Good company, good food and Paul had a great time!

Blow out the candles Daddy! Let's cut the cake!

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Mar 24 2011

Planning a Tiki / Pirate Party

I’m preparing for Paul’s birthday party this weekend.  I decided on a Tiki theme when I sent out the invitations.  We have a lot of Hawaiian/Luau/Tiki type decorations from past parties, plus it’s a good excuse to get out the Margaritaville blender!

Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating for this theme.  It’s been cold and raining for the past few days.  I expect that it will still be raining on Saturday, so all of our guests will be crammed into our little house.  To compensate for this, Paul suggested that I make appetizers instead of a sit-down lunch.  This is good because we won’t need tables and chairs for everyone, and also because several people had scheduling conflicts and will be stopping by later in the day.

I hit Costco to pick up frozen potstickers, orange chicken and mini vegetable egg rolls.  I will also be serving a veggie platter, fruit platter, and assorted meats and cheeses with King’s Hawiian rolls to make little sandwiches.  And of course, birthday cake.

cartoon pirate islandThe cake…when I asked Paul what kind of cake he wanted last week his response was “I want a Pirate Island cake”.  I was looking for “chocolate” or “carrot cake” for an answer.  He continued to tease me that he wanted a cake shaped like Pirate Island from Jake and The Neverland Pirates.  The kids are obsessed with that show and all things pirate at the moment.  He was only kidding, but I decided that an island cake would work well with our theme and took it as a dare.  So now I am planning just how I’m going to creat a big, three-dimensional island cake.  I contacted a friend who makes cakes as a side business to get some pointers.  After reading her response I decided to alter my plans bit.  I think I have it all worked out.  I hope I can pull it off!

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Mar 14 2011

Birthday Party Menu

It took me a long time to decide on what to make for Sean’s party.  We’ve been exceptionally busy all week.  When Thursday came I was finally able to focus on cleaning up and planning the party menu.

I decided on a Vegetarian Chili, assorted sandwiches, a salad and chips.  I had something else planned but then realized that my parents, who have been very faithful to the South Beach Diet, couldn’t eat any of what I had planned.  It was also a reminder that I need to get serious about South Beach cooking again.  So I opted for the chili which I made once before to be the center of the meal.  The non-South Beachers had sandwiches and tortilla chips with their chili. 

And I made a birthday cake, of course.  Chocolate with chocolate frosting (and SPRINKLES!!!) as requested by Sean.  I decided to go with a theme for his party this year – Toy Story.  It’s one of his favoite things and I found cute small figures on sale at Target for around $12.  I used them as cake toppers and they really made the cake fun.

The party was fun, low-key and easy for me to prepare – just as I had planned.  I baked the cakes (four 8″ round cakes) the night before and assembled the cake first thing in the morning.  Then I threw together the super easy chili, set out some chips and salsa and made an assortment of sandwiches.  I had sourdough and wheat bread, and made several combinations using turkey, ham, bologna, cheddar and Swiss cheeses with crispy leaf lettuce.  I cut them in half so guests could have more than one kind.

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Feb 20 2011

Preparing for the Fourth Birthday

Sean’s fourth birthday is coming up in March and we will have a small party here at the house.  That means a whole lot of cleaning, yard work and planning to be done before the big day.

The cake I made for Audrey's 2nd Birthday

What it doesn’t mean is spending a lot of money.  Birthday parties for little kids should be small and inexpensive, especially when they are under 5 years old.  I will make the cake myself, put up a few simple decorations, and make a great meal for my guests.  Sean will have a great time playing with his cousins and all of the family will be happy to spend the afternoon together.

All too often parents get carried away with children’s parties.  Here are some of the things we won’t be doing:

  1. Inviting the entire preschool class.  I barely know the other parents, with the exception of one relative who has a child in the class and one family who were are friends with. I have no interest in socializing with these people, or being responsible for their children who are dropped off for a party.
  2. Hiring entertainment.  My child is 4 years old.  He finds things like cardboard boxes, pens and paper, and pretending to be Buzz Lightyear entertaining.  Running around with his four cousins for the afternoon will be plenty of fun.  There will be no petting zoo or bounce house.
  3. Paying other people to make food.  I like to bake and cook, I have some talent at it and I have the time.  Why would I pay someone $25 for a birthday cake when I can make a 4-layer cake with frosting and sprinkles for about $6?  Past party foods I’ve make include: Soups & Sandwiches; homemade party subs, spaghetti with meatballs, BBQ hot dogs & burgers and pizza on the grill.

Less is more when it comes to childrens’ parties.  Some good food, friends and a few balloons will make a perfect afternoon!

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