By Michelle Anderson
Cake Decorating Exper, about.com
A kid's birthday cake is one cake project that anybody can undertake
no matter what your level of skill is in the kitchen. Skill is
definitely not a prerequisite for success when making a children's cake.
You need imagination and a few enthusiastic little helpers to make a
masterpiece. The tools available now to help you make something
exceptional are extensive.
It is important to start with at least
an idea, a favorite color, a party theme or even just a flavor. The
child's preference should always be the first place to start so take a
look at pictures in magazines or online to get ideas. The number of
people the cake needs to feed, whether you want cupcakes or a full cake
and what you want to spend on the ingredients is also a consideration.
Most kids are very happy with a Betty Crocker
cake mix rather than complicated homemade confections so proudly open
the box and create a masterpiece. Obviously if you have a much loved
practiced recipe from Nana that is a family favorite use it instead.
Theme cakes are often popular with kids and cake pans designed
specifically to make different characters can be found at many stores.
There are also premade kits for the decorating requirements of most cake
themes. The colors for Bob the Builder, Spiderman and Dora the Explorer are all featured in these kits. These kits include easy instructions for assembly.
Cupcakes
are a great choice for kids, especially if they want to decorate the
treats during the party as an activity. This can create a huge mess but
the results are definitely worth it. If you want to decorate the
cupcakes yourself create a pyramid of confections to delight the guests.
Just make sure the icing is chilled and firm before you stack them up!
The
decision to make a slab cake or a tiered cake should reflect the theme
of the party or the cake decorator's skill level. It can be stressful to
work outside your skill level and the results can be less than
favorable. For example, a lovely castle cake can be put together with
two square cakes stacked on each other and several inverted decorated
ice cream cones for towers. With cakes that are tall make sure your cake
density can hold up the layers and the weather is not too warm for the
icing.
Actually decorating the cake is the fun part of a
children's birthday project right after licking the cake batter off the
beaters. If you just want a quick design idea try decorating the cake
with delicious fresh fruit in the summer for sensational presentation.
Kid's cakes look wonderful accented with mini marshmallows, candy,
cookies, sprinkles and colored sugar. Plastic toy figures can provide
interesting decorating results too. For example if Bob the builder is
popular in your home you can make a cake with a construction site on
top. Use Oreo cookie crumbs as dirt mounds, wafer cookies as lumber and
plastic construction vehicles as props. The birthday child can play with
the vehicles after the guests eat the cake.
If you are a more
advanced decorator you can try a topsy turvy cake. These are wonderful
creations that look like they are falling over. Easy pre-colored fondant
is available at your local craft stores or you can make patterned fondant
which can quickly be rolled out into shapes to adorn the teetering
cake. Topsy turvey cakes are not very hard to create but do require some
skill to cut the tiers correctly. It is a good idea to try a two-tier
cake first before attempting higher or more eschew constructions. When
it comes to children's cakes the only limit is imagination and sometimes
the budget.
