Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Birthday Cakes



I don't know why I do it. Something inside me just says I have to. My poor husband has to deal with me having tantrums, putting myself down, and finally bursting into tears. What is causing this emotional trauma? Birthday cakes. Seriously. I have this primal need to make my kids birthday cakes every year. "So what," you may think. However, I don't just make a round cake with icing. I have tried to do such things as John Deer tractors, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Gravedigger (a monster truck), and a giant flower. In fact, the last two years, I have dabbled in candy making to incorporate ideas onto the cakes. I want perfection, but of course I don't get it. I always receive wonderful compliments from the family and friends on the taste and design of the cakes, but I am very self-critical about all of them. My girls' birthdays are 11 days apart. They are 5 years different in age, but right now at ages 3 and 8, they can still share a party and a cake. Thank goodness. Then there is my son, who seems to think he needs to have monster trucks every year, and then I have to talk him out of it and do something else.

        Each year seems to pose new troubles to overcome. One year I had a Care Bear shaped pan. I do have some artistic ability, so I thought "no problem!" Maybe not on paper, but frosting is a whole different ball game. Then there was the year I did the John Deer tractor. Two words haunted me for days: black icing. I figured it out, but let me just say there should be a disclaimer on black icing about what happens to bodily waste after eating cake that has been iced with black icing. I'm sure more than one person had a panic attack in the bathroom the next day. My favorite cake so far has been the butterfly cake I did for my girls' last year. They turned 2 and 7 and it was their first birthday party in our new house. I wanted it to be special. I googled for images and ideas and ended up doing my own thing. It was the first year I worked with candy-I free handed 3-d butterflies. I don't think I can ever top it.


Another problem that always rears it's ugly head is the amount of cake I need to make. My husband and I both have large extended families and they all love our kids and try to come to the parties. So we have anywhere from 40 to 60 people. That's a lot of cake. And since my kids were all born in the fall, we have partied inside. I am grateful we don't live in our single-wide trailer anymore. I used to fear that the house would tip over with everyone in it! I usually make three cakes. I have a big double rectangular pan from Wilton, and sometimes I make the third mix into cupcakes. I also very often make cakes from scratch. This year for the girls, I made a chocolate cake from scratch and used two white mixes and separated and used food coloring to make it look like a rainbow, then added candy ponies around the edge.



I have one more birthday to go this year. My son was born on New Year's Eve six years ago. This year he wants a Toy Story cake. hhhmmmm.....time to Google that idea!

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