Birthday cake suggestions needed

[HGraceMom]

DD is turning 3 next week & we're having a big bash on Labor Day.

(side note, we weren't going to throw a party, but driving in the car 2 weeks ago, out of the blue, she said "On my birthday we are going to have a big party with cake, and frosting, and candles, and we will sing happy birthday to me, and party hats and presents, and we will play put the bottom on the animal (pin the tail on the donkey?!) and spin around chocolate and hit it with a stick (a pinata, I think) and all my friends will come..." After that, a party is definitely in order!)

So... I'd like to make a great cake for her - either a great shape or a great flavor (both would be great!) Any suggestions? TIA - Renee

[JLiebCamm]

Is she old enough to be enamored by a doll cake? I used to love the ones where the cake was Barbie's skirt, and now I know that it's relatively easy to make.

[egoldber]

If you go to the Wilton website, you'll find lots of great ideas. (FYI, most Wilton supplies can be found at large craft stores like Michaels.)

http://www.wilton.com/cake/index.cfm

The simplest thing to do would be to buy a shaped cake pan and decorate a cake. If you do something like Dora, Elmo, Blue, etc. those would be pretty simple to decorate and you would easily find lots of party supplies (including the all important pinata!) either at a party supply store or on-line somewhere like birthdayexpress.com (which has VERY fast shippingg BTW). We usually use a box cake mix, and I think they are fine.

If you want to do something not character based (like butterflies or trains), then there are still shaped pans that would be pretty simple to use. And lots of accessories out there to create the party magic. If you want something more unique than that, then you will have to be a but more creative in your party planning.

And we had almost the identical experience with DD this year! I was not going to have a party, and then one day, she started talking about her party and what her party was going to look like, and then how can you NOT have a party???

[jbowman]

Renee--

Here is a link to a recipe that looks really good:

http://content2.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?sid=WSECVWAAENUM2OT5EYL3POS6OKH0P 0RJ200408301806&objectid=1D433C3C%2DCE3C%2D470F%2DBA69AC7AFF15514D&ftest=1&debug=0&cache=yes&flash=off

Rebecca (rrosen) posted this recipe a few days ago.

I think that your daughter's description of her party is so precious and funny!

I hope that she has a wonderful birthday!

[cinrein]

Have you seen the book "The Cake Mix Doctor" by Anne Byrne? She also has a chocolate version. Wonderful recipes for making box cake mixes not taste like a box. She also has some recipes on her website---cakemixdoctor.com.

As for what shape cake.....what theme do you have in mind? It's much easier to decide on a cake once you've decided on the theme.

Cindy and Anna February 2003

[cma]

DD did the same thing to us. We weren't planning on a party for her since we were doing a huge birthday bash for DS' 1st birthday. (Their b-days are a week apart.) But she kept talking about when it was her birthday she was going to have cake and sing Happy Birthday and that her friends were coming, etc!

Since DS was getting a 6 inch round cookie monster cake, I ended up doing a 6 inch round big bird cake for DD.

I used the frozen buttercream transfer method for making a cookie monster face and big bird face from this site:

http://www.webmall1.com/sweetdreams/frozbutter.htm

And I got the images to do the characters from here:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/

We've also been doing the round of 3rd birthday parties and one of DD's girlfriends had this cake

http://www.parents.com/articles/food_fun/5644.jsp?page=5

Her mom used white icing and she didn't do the fruit leather flowers...just outlines the cake with licorice ropes - it was really cute!!!

HTH and Good Luck!

[miki]

Does your DD like ice cream? I'm making an ice cream only cake for my DD. I plan to use cake pans lined with plastic wrap for the molds, spreading different flavors of softened ice cream for layers, and iced with vanilla ice cream. Then I'm decorating the outside with ice cream cones all around the side (cut in half from top to bottom and pushed into the cake and topped with a scoop). Easy and yummy.