Monkey 1's birthday cakes

I'm having a slow day at home with sick kids today, which gives me a little bit of time to put up some more cake photos.

Monkey 1 requested cupcakes to take to school for his birthday, specifically the crab cupcakes featured in Lily Vanilli's book A Zombie Ate My Cupcake. Which would have been an easier request to grant if the cake decorating shop that had edible glitter and all that stuff was open on the day that he asked. Which was the day before his birthday. I agreed to do my best.

I decided to make the Red Velvet cupcake base that was recommended in the book, and it was the most decadent and delicious and sensuous cupcake making experience I have ever had. The red was so red, and the batter was so smooth. Delicious. Once again, as every time I use it, I fell in love with my KitchenAid mixer. Not that I love it any less when I'm not using it, but when I am using it I love it more.

The cupcakes turned out very well, the next challenge was to crab them up. The recipe required marzipan, but of course marzipan is made with almonds, and nuts and nut products are not allowed in primary schools any more. Quandry. But the local stupidmarket stocks a kind of fake marzipan with almond flavouring, and also stocks ready made icing that behaves much like marzipan, but doesn't have the smell or the taste. This time I used one packet of each and an enormous amount of food colouring. Next time I won't bother with any kind of marzipan, I will just use the icing. Once again the KitchenAid did its thing brilliantly to mix the colour through the icing.

The Love Of My Life and I sat up until past midnight assembling the crabs, he was the Master Claw Roller, I did the cutting, assembly and finishing.

Monkey 1 was thrilled when he saw these waiting for him the next morning. His teacher was suitably impressed with the cakes, until I told her how much sugar and colouring I had used, and then she said that maybe the kids could eat them just before they go home. What a wuss.

For the family birthday dinner party cake, Monkey 1 both made me proud and broke my heart by poring over the Woman's Weekly Birthday Cake book. I felt torn because passionately studying that book for my own cakes was a very important thing in my own childhood, and also for TLOML. His mum gave me the copy of the cake book that she used for his cakes.

I feel like my kids are following a fine Australian childhood tradition. On the other hand, I felt sad because up until now, Monkey 1 has asked for certain and very specific cakes from his imagination, and I have delivered. A DNA cake? Fine. A Scorpion cake? Great, I will sculpt it using wire, gaffer tape and hand made and filled profiteroles. A Mallard A4 Pacific steam engine? No problem, even the steam train buffs will recognise it as an A4 Pacific (and they did, too). I wonder what happened that he wanted replicas of other designs from books, instead of consulting his own imagination?

Anyhow, he chose the Log Cabin cake, which I made with some alterations from the official design. I felt very retro 70's when I was colouring coconut for the grass. But colour it I did and he was really happy with the result.