The birthday season - next cake

So I was all ready to build Isabelle a castle cake for her birthday - when she tells me firmly that she wants a princess crown cake. Hmmm... ok - change of plans then. I was feeling particularly pressured to produce a stellar cake because a. she's five and b. since we just got back the day before her birthday and I forgot that many bakeries are closed on Mondays, I ended up showing up to her class with No Frills-purchased cupcakes (hang head in shame).

This was the final result: top was lemon, middle was chocolate and bottom was vanilla. The crown was fondant - this was Crown 3.0 after the first two versions didn't do very well.

Rui (the bad dog) and Barney

Have you ever read the book Marley & Me by John Grogan? If you're the owner of a bad dog (as I am), it's a good book to read. Now, I'm not talking about a dog who is bad in the sense of being mean or dangerous or even ill-tempered. I'm talking about the dogs who love too much and live in the moment... to their detriment and that of their families. Pick it up, really - the movie is ok, but the book will have you laughing out loud even if you've never even petted a dog, much less shared your couch with one.

I'm sure you've been waiting with bated breath for the outcome of Tom's purple dinosaur cake. As usual, it was a fair amount of work, but turned out pretty well... I took a couple pictures of Barney I before heading to the grocery store to pick up a little more icing sugar to finish him off.

Notice that I called him Barney I... this would imply that there are more Barneys to come. I did not know he was Barney I when I left him in the middle of the kitchen table. I also did not realize that Rui (the bad dog) was in the house free. I learned about these facts when I returned to this:

I'd like to pretend that I was all zen about it, but I wasn't. Frankly, I might have committed canicide (is that right?) had I been able to catch him. I knew there was something wrong when he didn't greet me at the door - I defy any one who says dogs don't feel guilt to explain it. And this is the look of a very guilty dog:

So, I started again, this time with no time for piping buttercream - the fondant was ok, but rushed. Here is Barney II:

He was a hit and the demise of Barney I made for a good story. Rui (the bad dog) remained contrite and I think he suffered for his dietary indiscretion. At least, we suffered the gas that came from digesting a pound of butter mixed with about 1kg of icing sugar.

The birthday season - the cake drama part I

It's birthday season at our house - starting February, one of us has a birthday every month. Tom's 2nd birthday has snuck up on me - I've been much more focussed on Isabelle's Valentine's and planning her birthday. He doesn't really have any independent friends and let's be honest, when you're two, more kids is really just more competition for toys and treats. So, we'll be doing something pretty low-key with some friends and family... which suits me fine.
The only trick is that when our godsons were born, oh, 7 years ago (!), I started a bit of tradition of making cool cakes for their first couple birthdays. The bear cakes have been very popular (see pics) as have some of the variation on bears. The complication, of course, is that when I started this, I didn't have my own kids to work around. Cake-making is a time-sensitive and detail-heavy task. Funny thing about kids, they are also very time-sensitive: "Mama, water!" is not a request, but an urgent, desperate plea (or so it seems). They are also very detail-oriented in some ways: "No, not that yogurt, that one!" They are the same yogurt, but on one package the picture is not facing out. Yet, precision is not a skill they've yet acquired, so offers to help are really offers to make a big mess and then get offended when it is cleaned up.
Sigh.
So back to my cake dilemma... My dear husband, ever the pragmatist and with none of the maternal guilt that weighs me down, kindly suggests that we buy a cake. This would be logical - the kids would be happy, I would be better rested and not sick from licking a pound of icing off my fingers. But what does he know? Instead, I've come up with a plan to build the best bear variation to date - Barney the Dinosaur!
This is foolish - it involves purple and green fondant. It also involves affixing cupcakes to a bear with toothpicks. Given that, I think you can likely expect that it will also include swearing and some tears. I'll keep you posted.

The best use for a barbie...

As promised, here's the finished product for Isabelle's 4th birthday: her mermaid princess cake (who knew I would end up with a girly girl?). I'm pretty proud of it - it turned out to be quite the centerpiece. Plus we got to hack a Barbie doll in half, so two good causes were achieved.