*Warning: this is going to have lots of photos lol)*
Back at the end of October (yep, slack!) we celebrated our little man’s first birthday. It was a simple affair with a BBQ, balloons, and a Thomas cake. The boy LOVES Thomas. We had Thomas plates and cups for the kids, Thomas servietts, Thomas table cloth…but the cake, oh my, the cake. I had a blast.
Once again, I had a browse online, specifically on Pinterest and Google, to get some ideas. Then it hit me. Why not just use the train in my beloved Women’s Weekly book, and ice it blue? Hoorah! Simple solution 🙂
So that’s what I did. The train went from any old train, to Thomas thanks to some blue icing; licorice; yellow, blue and red writing icing; some Oreos; and a face that hubby printed and laminated for me.
But I wasn’t satisfied by that, I also needed to have a number 1. The girls both had a number 1, so no way was my little boy missing out! I decided the 1 had to be yellow, and it needed train tracks and a train on it. I used some of those choc coated finger biscuit thingos (very descriptive hey? lol), some licorice, and a wooden “James” toy that I fund at Big W.
I must say, I was pretty chuffed with the result, and really couldn’t help but be proud of my efforts.
The cakes were baked 2 days ahead, and iced 1 day ahead. I do this with all the cakes I make for birthdays. I keep them refrigerated at all times that I am not working on them. This helps with a few things. Firstly, the cakes cut/shape easier, and crumble less if you cut them while they are chilled. Secondly, I find them easier to ice when they are chilled. I dust off any crumbs before applying the icing. Finally, keeping them in the fridge helps the icing stay nice looking. Just be sure to take the cake out of the fridge a little bit before serving if you don’t like cold cake. I use Coles Butter Cake packet mix (the cheapest one…it used to be 69c, but has gone up a bit) and I really like the texture of it when it is still slightly chilled.
Come Party day, all the little dude could say was “oooohhh”, and I am pretty sure he enjoyed his cake 🙂
Just as a side, I am slightly obsessed with making kids cakes from the Women’s Weekly books. I got the reprint of the original when it came out last year, but prior to that I had been using the newer version.
I will even admit I was a bit miffed when our eldest daughter requested and ice cream cake from Hungry Jacks last year, instead of one of my creations. I always have a LOT of fun making their cakes, and I really hope when they grow up, they will always remember them as something special, just like I remember some of the cakes my mum made me. Here are just some that I have made them in the past:
Do you make special cakes for your kids’ birthdays?
A Multifarious Me 