A Very Special Luau

Contributed by: Amy L-M (Hastings, MI)

 

For my youngest daughter's 1st birthday party, we had a luau.  That may seem a bit strange, but she loves to hula dance, so it seemed appropriate.  My daughters both have food allergies to wheat, milk and eggs, baking at our house is a real adventure!  I decided to make the birthday cake allergen free and decorate it myself.  I took cake making classes as a teenager, but that was 2 babies and many YEARS ago.  So I ordered some milk-free chocolate, and got busy.  The palm trees are made of wheat-free pretzel sticks, I dipped one end in chocolate, then stuck it into the middle of a round wheat-free cracker.  When they were set up I dipped the other end into the chocolate and stuck them down into the cake.  Once I got them all roughly straight, I used a leaf tip to make the palm leaves.  The cake is made with two 8" rounds, the sides are decorated with a grass skirt made with a grass tip and multi colored flowers made with a star tip.  I covered the top with brown sugar to look like the beach.  There were enough palm trees to give one to each child, and they ate them well in advance of the cake being cut.  It was great fun. 

 

For my oldest daughter's 3rd birthday we had a hay-ride, pony-ride, Sponge Bob party.  The theme was Lindsay's idea.  So I made a wheat-free, egg-free, milk-free Sponge Bob cake.  I just used a regular 9x13 pan, and decorated it with yellow stars, black piping and sugar decorations I bought at the grocery store.  It was a big success, everyone thought I had gotten a professionally decorated cake  <see cake details>.  

I would like to submit these pictures for your gallery.  The red checked cake is done in a homemade chocolate wrap using a stencil. The second cake is a sculpted chain saw, using chocolate for the handles and accents.  It is covered in fondant.  The log section is iced in buttercream. Thank you. Becky Rink  Editors Note: Check out Becky's Web Site> http://www.aboutthecake.com/  About the Cake specializes in creating delicious and delightful treats to compliment your event.

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Cakes and More Cakes!

Contributed by: Nancy Jo T. (Anderson, SC)

Here are some cakes I have done since really getting into the decorating hobby. The first one I did was The Ladybug. I copied an idea I saw for some cupcakes. I did red icing and cut out black fondant circles for the spots. The trouble was the antennae which I finally made with pipe cleaners. It is hard to find black licorice.

 

The SpongeBob cupcakes were in the Wilton Yearbook. The Tennis Cake I made up myself. I just made an oval on the computer and printed it out and traced it onto the iced cake. I used a Wilton ball pan to add the tennis ball on top.

 

 The snake cake was fun to make but boy did it take some time!!! This one was for my secretary's son who only wanted a "bugs and snakes cake." I got the instructions for the snake from a book and then added the other stuff. To make the snake cake, I made one circle layer and then cut it in half and moved the halves to look like an "S" then I cut out the centers and put those two pieces together at the end to make the head. I then covered in fondant. I put the snake cake on a cake board and then trimmed it and put it on top of the sheet cake. I then used brown sugar to make it look like dirt and then I added the gummy bugs that I made from a Wilton kit.

 

The violet cake is a pound cake made in a molded pan. I used a mixture of powdered sugar and water to make thin icing that I colored and then "painted" on the flowers.

 

I hope this gives others some good ideas. I have to say that I am not very creative so I have to copy other people's ideas, so I wanted to share these.