First Birthdays

Celebrating a 1st anything is very special.

Especially for parents of a baby who encounters many many first time moments….first step, first words, first tooth and of course…first birthday!

Ah, first birthday, what a special time … naturally I don’t remember mine.  I don’t even know if I have any pictures of that day (must ask my parents).  I’m assuming there was singing and a cake involved somewhere amidst that day.  For my daughter, I baked up cupcakes and slathered a thick serving of icing over it to make a cupcake-cake (this was pre-elaborate cake days).  I am also about ease – if I don’t need to do simple math to figure out how many pieces to cut the cake, all the better!

For my son’s first birthday, his was the beginning of the elaborate cake era.  I baked up 3 different flavoured cakes (chocolate, vanilla and confetti) and created 3 large “square” wooden blocks  (ok, they looked far from square blocks, but rather squished up blocks), each block spelling out my son’s name.  (For his cake, yes I had to use simple math.)

My babies are no longer babies (sniff – wipe away single rolling tear).  My daughter is now 5 and my son is 3 … time flies, doesn’t it?  And now I have friends and family who are celebrating their little ones first years, and I get to be part of such a great day all over again.

My neighbour asked me to create a cake for her son’s 1st birthday.  His love for Mickey Mouse being the focus of the cake.

Without having to make the famous mouse himself (afraid I wouldn’t get his face done properly), I focused on his iconic ears in the form of the famous Mickey Mouse hat and the red shorts and white buttons on his pants.

As a special treat, I wanted to create a “smash” cake … a smaller cake in a soft icing that the birthday boy or girl gets to literally “dive into” to everyone’s delight.  Really, when else in your life can you get away with such behavior?!  LoL

In September, my husband’s cousin’s son’s first birthday (are you still following me?) requested a baseball themed cake.  Specifically one  featuring the Toronto Blue Jays – her husbands beloved team.

 

As an additional surprise, I whipped up a smash cake in the shape of half of a baseball.

 

Happy 1st birthdays baby S and baby A.  No longer babies now!

Sesame Street Cake

Sunny Day
Sweepin’ the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame Street ….

Hahaha…that song’s in your head now, isn’t it?  

It was in my head when a new client emailed me for a cake for his son’s 2nd birthday party.  He emailed me a couple ideas for a cake: bold colours, alphabets and numbers scattered around, and a few sesame street characters to finish off the piece.

That was the fun part.

I started off with my favorite character: Cookie Monster.

I started off with a rice krispie body and head.

Then covered him in blue fondant, which i scored to get his messy furry look.

And what is Cookie Monster without his own accessories?  COOKIES!!!

I then started on Big Bird.  Of course I wasn’t going to put a 7′ tall bird on this cake, but he turned out to be just as cute.

I layered on fondant feathers for a ruffled feathery look.

Elmo was done the same way as Cookie Monster – except in red fondant, of course.

And “Tah-dah”…. Sesame street couldn’t get any sweeter….

 

 

Island life

Next month is my best friends 35th birthday, but she decided to celebrate it a little early this year.  And naturally, I offered to create her cake.

A simple deserted (or is that desserted?) island. 

It’s our inside joke – a secluded destination for when times get chaotic, hectic and more specifically when our husbands are driving us crazy.  Hmmm, that seems to be more the reason than anything else.  Hehe.  I also figured it was an appropriate theme considering she has a February birthday and our party locations are usually indoors because of the weather!  (For my birthday, I’m making up my own cake … very tired of little bunnies … I’ll explain later)

So what a better place to daydream about and simply enjoy than an island…. well maybe, an island made of banana marble cake.

The Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday “C”!!!

L