chief

We've added a new birthday party to the mix--C had his first 'big' one this summer, and boy was it fun to plan something during hot weather, as we could think about water games!

When planning P's monkey party, I surreptitiously had C look at some fireman ideas I had pinned to get the idea planted in his brain. Then when we started planning his party in earnest, Sandra and I could steer him towards a firefighter theme, especially because it meant I could finally use my Fire Truck Pan!

The downside of having C watch the planning of P's party is he also requested a mini cake... but this meant I could test out a new white cake recipe, making the small cake chocolate. 

This type of cake decorating is reminiscent of my childhood: my grandma often made cakes with shaped pans. Though a bit more straightforward than some of the other cakes I've made, this really tested my hand strength! Man, there are a lot of small stars on this cake...

One funny thing that I didn't count on was that though it's warm in the summer, the house is cool. I always make the cakes early in the week and freeze them. The cakes took longer to thaw than I had anticipated, so I was decorating late into the evening because of miscalculation! 

That ladder should be smooth, but I couldn't get it to behave, so I left it squiggly.

The mini cake employed a technique I learned in my one and only decorating class I've taken: a clear gel transfer! I then copied what I did for the big cake.

I think he was pleased with his cakes. He was a little bashful, and yet soaked up every minute, of all the focused attention.

It was interesting to have a one layer cake (and we still managed to have leftovers). And I admit, I'm undecided about shaped pan cakes. I was really sore two days later and felt much more pressure to have it look 'perfect'. Perhaps I just need to practice and do a few more.