“Fruit Gobbler”

I was asked to organize a kindergarten Thanksgiving party a while ago.  It was my first time attempting such a thing.  So, I set out very diligently to find “fun finger foods” that 5 year olds would love to eat.  I came across this great website www.familyfun.com There, I located some very cute and fun foods for just such an occasion.  I was thrilled!  I am naturally inclined to go a bit overboard when I take on a project like this (I believe in a good and healthy way).  So, I had done my research and made a plan for the party food.  Now comes the time when I contact other moms who might want to help.  This is where it all heads south.  To put it lightly, these moms were not as “into it” as I was.  I was gently corrected by prominent mom’s who were “in the know”  that at these parties it is customary to get a meat and cheese tray from Costco so the kids can have sandwiches.    To Self;   “COSTCO?  Can you be more boring??”

Slight change of plans… I actually heard myself saying.. “Oh, that would be just great!  Anything you would like to contribute would be just wonderful.”  Of course, inside I am crushed and dying.  You see, I have a small control issue on stuff like this.  But, what are you gonna do?  One mom, who is now my dear friend was willing to “play along” with me.  She brought the cutest pilgrims hats made out of upside down Keebler cookies and chocolate dipped marshmallows.

Here was my contribution. 

       

Made with fruit and cheese skewers the kids got to “pluck”.  Totally fun to eat and healthy too! 

People, I know that we are all overworked and tired and stressed out.  But, seriously why would we pass up opportunities to make our kids holiday parties a tiny bit more festive?  Really, a sandwich tray for our little guys? Really?  Well, I guess it at least puts food in their stomachs… although, probably not a big smile of their faces.

Right now I know that some of you are cheering me on and others of you are cursing me.  Either way, I feel pretty good about just how cute this “fruit gobbler” turned out.  Thank you Family Fun.  Great ideas. Thank you Kelly for being such a great sport.

Nemo Cake

For my son’s 2nd birthday party we had a “Finding Nemo” swimming party.  The inspiration for the cake was a very large stuffed animal that looked like Nemo.  This was my very first attempt at a 3D cake.  Up till this time, I had only done one dimensional cakes.

             

For this cake I used a football cake mold to get close to the correct form.  Right now the eyes are crackin’ me up.  I don’t think I captured the correct shape.  Poor Nemo looks like he is in a trance.

    

I cut the fins out of cardboard, covered them in foil and frosted them.  For these types of elements I use wooden skewers that I attach to the object I need to connect to the cake body.

               

In retrospect, I have to wonder how traumatizing it may have been for my little guy to see his favorite Disney character hacked to pieces and eaten.  I guess we will just have to wait and see as the years progress.

This was in 2004.

R2-D2 Cake

I have to confess that this is one of my favorite cakes.  I was brainstorming a Star Wars theme birthday cake for my son’s 4th birthday.  My dad had this great idea that I should try an R2-D2 cake.  So, that is what I did.  He gets credit for the idea, I get credit for the construction.  But, it was our team work that made this cake happen.

This was in 2006 and I would call myself a “Super Novice” at that time.  I am still a novice today (2009) and I am considering taking a cake decorating class.  Wow, what a concept.  I bet they would be able to teach me all kinds of tricks to make everything look better.

The Process

 

The bottom of the cake wrapped in foil is Styrofoam to add light weight height and stability.  The top portion (dome) is from a soccer ball cake mold.

              

         The legs were made from rice crispy treats.

The cake is beginning to take shape! This might just work.

                                    

             Add the blue frosting and attach the legs.

Black frosting for the finer details.

                                                 

           Voila!  Finished product.

 

This blog post is in loving memory of my dad.  Without his confidence in me, I may never have attempted this R2-D2 cake.  I miss you dad.

Spiderman Cake / Downtown

For my son’s 5th birthday he was all about Spiderman.  I knew that I had to make something for that.  I just couldn’t come up with anything I liked for Spiderman himself.  I am not a fan of “flat” cakes.. you know, one level.  I like tall cakes… you know more than one level.  So, I had a dilemma on this one.  One day we were watching Spiderman – the movie.  I watched as Spidy swung from building to building… and BAM!  Just like that, I thought “I will do a downtown scene with Spiderman going from building to building.”  The logistics of having him swinging across the city was tougher than I thought it would be and it was going to require 2 separate cake structures, ugh.  Slight change of plans. Instead, I was lucky enough to find a great Spiderman candle that I perched atop my building as if to be watching the crime below.

The Result

We (by that, I mean my husband) made a city street around the cake with cars and emergency vehicles.  In person, this looked much more fun.  Wish you could have been there.

Here are a few more pictures.

You can see by looking here that the roof tops were on a separate board.  I put the top on when we got to the party, then piped in some filler frosting to bind the top of the buildings with the body of the buildings.

                   

 

Little known fact:  I use Styrofoam in the bottom half of these tall cakes.  It helps with stability and weight.  Also, it saves me from having to make 4-6 more box cakes to get the desired height.

                  

A little topsie turvie… I know.  But fun, which is the goal.

Star Wars At-At Walker Cake

For my son's 6th birthday party we decided on a "Jedi Training Camp" theme. So I asked Cole (my son) what he wanted his birthday cake to look like this year. He boldly asked for an AT AT walker cake.    ooooookay …Really?! Is that what you want? Are you sure? For those of you who are not captivated by the Star Wars series, here is a photo of an AT AT Walker.

 

Ok.... let's see. I need to make this thing into a cake. Right.... Let the brainstorming begin.  By golly, I think I’ve got it!

The Process

I bought 4 - 12” cake pillars because they make great legs.  In this case, I covered them in foil to make clean up easier.  I was going to be using a Crisco/powdered sugar frosting. 

            

I used an old car cake mold I had laying around for the chocolate top (which I sculpted into the correct shape) and a 12 x 12 cake pan for the yellow cake.  I ended up cutting the yellow cake in half and stacked it.  I also cut out a cardboard base for the underside of the cake (seen covered in foil down in the left corner).

Body- Lots and Lots of gray frosting…. interesting.

            

The head was carved from a Styrofoam cube.  It had to be light weight because I needed it to attach to the front of the body.

 

I glued the legs to the tray with rubber cement so they would not slip.

                 

                          I used the guns off of Cole’s at at walker.

I used bronze luster dust and a small paint brush to make the “rusty metal” appearance.

The Result

We transported the cake in 3 sections to the party. Some assembly required.

                     

I placed some of the action figures around the feet and on top of the at at walker.

                     What a great day!