Cake decorating time again

Being as how my first born baby, A, will be 8 next Monday (8 years!! What happened there ...) and has a slumber party coming up on Saturday night, it was time again for us to enlist the help of our cake-decorating, cooking extraordinaire friend @ktaines to help make a pretty flower-themed cake.

K was relieved to hear that A wasn't looking to repeat last year's Periodic Table of the Elements cupcakes extravaganza (although that was fun, and looked awesome, it was exhausting work). A didn't even want a shaped cake, like E's 6th birthday butterflies-lovehearts-and-roses effort.

A wanted a layered round butter cake, with her favourite shade of blue for the fondant icing, and an assortment of flowers to make it pretty. For K, kick-arse cook and cake maven that she is, this was easy-peasy! It made for a great afternoon / evening, as we could take time to do things slowly, enjoy dinner together, and have a nice long chat without having to work nonstop.

So we started by slathering the two cakes I'd made and frozen earlier with vanilla buttercream.


Next up was colouring the fondant for the base with K's colour gels. Both the big girls adore this phase of the process! Finished, the base looked quite understated, almost a pale violet colour.


On to decorations, which were made mostly with shaped and coloured fondant. I had no part in this stage, being engaged with bathing and entertaining the toddler, but K and A created some beautiful little roses, daisies and other flowers. Then K wrote A's name on with coloured buttercream. (How I covet K's piping set ... One day.)

The finished cake looks lovely. The big trick, so far accomplished, is to keep toddler C, and possibly 6-year-old E, from getting at it before Saturday. They're not quite as single-minded as Allie of Hyperbole and a Half (if you have not yet read this, do so now, and don't blame me if you spit tea all over your keyboard) but they are certainly eyeing it off interestedly.


Because the birthday cake was so relatively straightforward, we even had ample time for K to help E ice and decorate some baby cupcakes that she needed to take to school on Tuesdays for a class party. E was thrilled with them, and very proud of her efforts.


I would still in no way describe myself as a natural baker or cake decorator, but I am really starting to enjoy it (with K's help, natch). Many more birthdays ahead for practice!