Birthdays are an exciting time for children, even if it's someone else's birthday they're celebrating. Letting your child get involved in decorating the birthday cake gives him an added sense of enjoyment and lets him know that his opinions matter. Does this Spark an idea?
Birthday Cake Ideas
Making a Mickey Mouse cake is as easy as baking one large round cake, then two smaller round cakes. Use the larger cake as the head, then position the two smaller cakes as the ears. Frost in the appropriate colors, then use decorating frosting to add a face.
For a heart cake, bake a square cake and a round cake. Cut the round cake in half and, with the square cake turned so that it looks like a diamond, position the two halves of the round cake on either side of the top point. Attach the pieces with a layer of frosting, then frost the entire cake.
A ladybug cake can be made with a round or dome cake pan. Frost the cooled cake with red frosting for the body and black frosting for the head, then draw a line down the middle for the wings and make a few black spots on the back. You can even use some black licorice for antennae.
To make a fun castle cake, bake three square cakes in descending sizes. Stack the cakes from the largest on the bottom to the smallest on top, using frosting to attach them. In the same way, stack and attach three cupcakes to form a turret. Make two turrets and place them in front of the main castle. Place one cupcake at each corner of the top layer of the castle, then frost everything. Make little flags with construction paper and toothpicks and stick them in the tops of the turrets. Then just draw windows and a door with black frosting, and you have a castle fit for your own prince or princess.
Decorating Ideas for Kids
While it's fun to present your child with a beautiful cake you decorated yourself, it's just as fun to let your child help decorate his own birthday cake. Just how much help your child is able to give you will depend on his age and ability level. If he is able to safely use a butter knife, let your child smear the frosting onto the cake. It may not turn out pretty, but your child will feel a great sense of accomplishment when it's done.
Once the base layer of frosting has been applied, you can start adding decorations. Most supermarkets and craft stores sell pre-tinted decorating icing, which you can use to draw pictures or write a message on the cake. Give your child a tube and let her draw to her heart's content all over the cake.
Colored sugar, sprinkles and small candies make great additions to your child's birthday cake. Even nuts and small dried fruits can add a twist to the decorations.
Some of the greatest kid-friendly cake decorating ideas result in the funnest cakes. Have your child frost the cake, then put a pair of clean new children's sunglasses on top and draw a smiley face under the glasses with decorating frosting. A cute underwater cake can be made by frosting a cake with blue frosting, then having your child place candy gummy fish all over the top. Cut a green fruit roll-up into seaweed shapes and add them to the scene.
Make an adorable pizza cake with a round cake, red frosting, coconut chocolate clusters (for sausage), cut red and green fruit roll-ups (for the peppers) and grated white chocolate (for the cheese).
Using a dome cake pan, bake a dome-shaped cake and have your child insert a doll topper (available at most craft stores) so that the cake appears to be the doll's dress. Then let your child apply the frosting and decorations to make a beautiful ball gown.
Another great idea that kids love helping out with is individually decorated cupcakes. Make the cupcakes in individual baking papers before the birthday party. Protect your table with an old cloth or some newspapers, then set out bowls of frosting, food coloring, sprinkles and other decorations. Give guests a cupcake and let them decorate their own. You can even hold a contest to determine the most creative cupcake. Some ideas for these individual cakes are bear or dog faces using a vanilla wafer cookie for the snout and two halves of a vanilla wafer cookie for the ears, a hedgehog using slivered almonds for the spines, or a butterfly using cut up fruit roll-ups for the wings and licorice strings for the antennae.
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