Bryce's Creeper Cake

Another year, another crazy cake for the boy.  He always has the most interesting ideas.  This year, we did a "Creeper" cake.  Creepers, if you aren't a big Minecraft fan, are these creatures that hang out in the game and come around to destroy the stuff you build.  At least, that's my understanding.  I really have no clue.  I just know what Bryce tells me.

This rendering is admittedly a bit more organic than the pixelated dudes that you see in the game.  He looks like a shiny Creeper plushy or something.  I somehow managed to give my Creeper a club foot, which Louis very much wanted to eat (and did).Still, I think it does capture the essence of Creeper-ness.  And the color palette isn't too far off either.

Happy Birthday, Bryce!

Creeper on Fire!

Club Foot Creeper

Dr. Cake

Let me just begin by saying, cake is not the most structurally sound material in the world.  Given that, I'm sure most will cut me some slack on my wobbly TARDIS.  For though it is wobbly, it is also edible.

TARDIS?  What's a TARDIS, you ask?  Why, a time machine, of course!  Don't feel bad if you're not a British Sci-fi nerd.  We understand.  Louis, however, is our family's huge Dr. Who fan, and the Doctor is the guy who tools around in the TARDIS, while trampling all over any preconceived notions about time and space.  Lately, Dr. Who has seen a resurgence in interest with several new seasons on BBC.  I have to admit, the show is pretty fun and the production budget is a bit better than the shows I watched with my mom in the 70's.  (The aliens frequently looked like they'd just raided the local hardware store for their outfits and the special effects were always so very not-special)

Louis' birthday called for a Dr. Who themed cake, and I figured the TARDIS would be the most recognizable structural object from the series.  Oddly enough, the TARDIS looks like an old Police Box--the early British version of 911.

Here are some photos of cake construction.

 Rainbow cake is really the most appropriate choice, and it can be appropriate for so many other fun applications as well!  Aleta Meadowlark of Omnomicon explains thoroughly at her blog.  We did a little rainbow cake dance when this came out of the oven.  You just can't help but smile when you see cake that looks like a rainbow!

Construction.

Aflame.

Deconstruction.

The rainbow is a bit in the shadow, but take my word for it, the color was so lovely and so fun to cut into!  I'm not sure why, but Louis wanted a street scene.  I suppose because so many Dr. Who episodes take place in London.  Though the cake is only part of what goes into one of our kids birthdays, I always go all out.  I want them to feel special.  I hope Louis felt special.  Turning 14 is not for the faint of heart.  I know I never want to go through any year that has a -teen appended to it ever again.  I have my own worries with 40 just around the corner!

Louis' Totoro Cake

Ugh.  I am like 5 lbs heavier today.  I spent all day Saturday making this cake and *sampling* the frosting at various critical junctures.  Yeah, I was just eating the heck out of the stuff.  I couldn't stop.  It was sooo good.  And now I feel sick.  If I'd just known when to quit, I would have been fine, but there was all this delicious chocolate ganache and marshmallow fondant and...oh, God it was good.

Look.  Totoro can hardly bear to look at me...I'm that miserable.

You might be able to see from this photo just a hint of the deeeluscious ganache frosting that I poured all over this guy.  You might even be able to see where I repositioned the nose.  You have to get the nose position just right or it won't look exactly like Totoro.  I based the cake loosely on the below image.

Isn't he cute?  He's cute and the movie is cute, but watch the hell out for chocolate Totoro, he's deadly.  Deceptively sweet.  Rich and chocolatey.  Spell check says chocolatey is not a word, but I beg to differ.  Oh, Totoro, how you have destroyed my digestive peace!  How you churn away in my stomach for an eternity!  Why?!  Why did I have to eat so much of your delectable outer coating?  UUUURGH!  UUUUNG!  The pleasure!  The pain!

Oh well, happy birthday, Louis.  13 may be your lucky number, but it hasn't been mine so far.  Still, I think I may have captured the essence of the Totoro character here.  I at least can say that.  Even if I have no common sense and ate too much of the frosting while decorating, at least I have photos to prove that I'm a mean (though not so lean) cake-making Mamma.

In the pink

Guess who's five? Well, almost five. Yesterday, we had a rip-roarin' awesomely awesome birthday party for little Miss O. I'm rather pleased with the cake end of things, as I'm the one who stayed awake for nearly 24 hours straight before I got a chance to decorate. I used my mother's frosting recipe this time. I also made Nick Malgieri's chocolate plastic and used a candy mold to create butterflies and flowers. Here is the cake:

And let's not forget the clever formation of pink cupcakes...

At one point while we were decorating, Louis looked around and said "gee, this looks like a breast cancer awareness party!"
Thanks, Lou.

Mom's frosting
1/2 stick butter
1 cup shortening
2 lbs powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp butter flavoring or other preferred flavoring (I substituted strawberry)
gel food coloring in desired color (yep, I used pink!)

Blend butter and shortening in mixer. Alternate addition of powdered sugar and milk--a few spoonfuls of sugar, a few drizzles of milk, until all combined. Add flavorings. Add a few extra drops of milk until at desired consistency. Add food coloring.

This is a great all-purpose frosting. It's never failed my mom for going on 30 years.