Terrific Toppers

So there were a few more cakes that were put together quickly, thanks to the terrific toppers that were provided by mummies for their little one's special day.

Sophia the First
Lauren (who also got a My Little Pony cake) got to celebrate her birthday in school with Sophia the First! I love that new Disney princess series, even my two boys enjoy it when it comes on Disney Junior. Since they will never request for a Princess Sophia cake, I'm glad Mummy K asked me to help her with one. She managed to get the toppers, not an easy task since the series is so new. I just had to bake the cake and set the scene for the toppers.

Happy Birthday Lauren

Chugginton
Isaac (who also got Peppa Pig) received his new Chuggington toy atop a chocolate cake. I got this idea online - I especially loved how the shrubbery was created using the scallop cutters and layering the pieces together. I did that all along one side of the cake. Then made a little railway and just one prop, a street lamp. Choo-choo-chugga-chugga!

Happy Birthday Isaac

Lion King
This request for a Lion King cake got me researching for safari-inspired cakes! There were some beautiful examples of cakes online with the African landscape, including some painted ones of Serengeti sunsets...amazing. For this cake, I made a simple rectangle cake and a rock mount that we can perch Simba on. I used floral wires for the fondant leaves so they could stand upright to break up the flat green cake surface. These toppers are some of the best I've seen anywhere, the quality is excellent. Mummy A had them ordered online from US.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn

Did you know The Lion King is 20 years old? The feature film debut in 1994...an oldie but a goodie!

My Little Pony Mania

October was the month of My Little Pony cakes! It seemed like every mummy who got in touch with me requested for the pretty ponies for their little ones. I think the rainbow coloured ponies must be enjoying some kind of resurgence in popularity because even McDonald's is packaging their Happy Meals with My Little Pony toys.

I was very happy to make these MLP cakes again as I really enjoyed my first effort for a friend's daughter some time back. I made a total of 4 MLP cakes, with one special order for sisters who were celebrating their birthdays together so I made two cakes with a connecting rainbow! A bit of fondant engineering challenge there.

Here are the 4 cakes...

1. Giselle's 1st Birthday

Simple and Sweet

This cake ordered by Mummy V is a bit of a rehash of my first MLP cake. She didn't want 3D fondant nor toppers so I went with this 2D version of 'Sweetie Belle'. I love make the My Little Pony this way as it stands out enough to make an impact on the cake. I especially love the flowing mane! This was a simple orange sponge cake for a small party.


2. Matilda's 1st Birthday

Field of ponies

A friend wanted the MLP theme for her daughter's first birthday. They had the party decorated with all things pony from the banners to the goodie bags, piñata and even labels the drink bottles! Naturally, a MLP cake would complete the celebration. Mummy M is a busy busy lady so she picked up some toppers and came by to discuss the cake with me. We decided on a rectangular cake - always good for cutting and serving up with a standing rainbow. A couple of days before the party, I went by to McDonald's to get a drink and saw the Happy Meal giving away My Little Pony figurines. It was my first Happy Meal in ages.


3. Kaira's 6th Birthday

Just add ponies

Kaira was going to have a pool party for her birthday so her mummy was a bit hesitant about a fondant cake being out in the open for some hours. Hence, they requested for a cream cake instead. Now having made fondant cakes for most orders, I was suddenly a bit lost as to how to make a standard cream cake. As you all know I don't do buttercream because I don't use shortening and butter alone won't hold in our weather, so I turned to cream cheese. This is a chocolate cake where the sides are frosted and the border piped with sweetened cream cheese that is coloured. I left the 'lane' exposed as chocolate with some green grass frosting on either side. Ask me for this if you'd like a fondant alternative.

4. Lauren and Shauna's Birthday

Little twin cakes

This cake combo is for two sisters whose birthdays are quite close so Mummy K thought to combine the celebration. Big sister Lauren gets a rainbow cake with a stream running through it, while Shauna meimei gets a elevated cloud cake. The two cakes are connected by a gum paste rainbow that straddles both cakes. The challenge here is that Mummy K had to do the assembling herself. For ease of transporting the cakes, the rainbow was not inserted and the cakes had to be assembled on site. I provided all the necessary 'tools' and here's the result of Mummy K's handiwork. Well done!

Oh Toodles!

A mummy I knew from childhood got in touch with me when she saw I was baking children's cakes. It's always so nice to hear from old acquaintances who are now mothers, all looking for cakes for their little ones. Mummy A's little boy was going to celebrate his 1st birthday with not one but two Mickey Mouse cakes!

The two cakes were going to be for two separate parties as celebration was spread out over a day - a.m. session and p.m. session. I totally get that; I did that with my boys' birthdays too because we wanted to group our guests such that we can entertain them adequately.

We discussed the design options for Mickey. As you can imagine, there are loads to choose from and every single one looked wonderful - that's the thing with Mickey Mouse, it's a design that always works; it's timeless!

In the end, Mummy A got a very cute plush and some great Mickey character toppers for the two cakes. For one, we had the Mickey plush hugging a cake. Simple enough but when you get the colours right, it's such a very happy cake!

Mickey hugs a cake

Emmanuel's First

Mickey hugs a rich and moist chocolate cake layered with chunky Oreo cream cheese frosting. I love how the red fondant cover complements the plush toy, which admittedly did all the work. All that was needed were some stars, Mickey's emblems and the No.1.

For the second cake, I borrowed from some designs Mummy A sent me - the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse design. Again, the toppers did all the work and I just set the scene for it.

Happy Birthday Emmanuel

Tayo Buses Make Cool Cakes

A former colleague who's been following my cakes saw the first Tayo cake I made and commented on how his boy loves Tayo the Little Bus too! My brood at home are fans as well, and I almost don't know any little lad who doesn't like the cheery Korean vehicular animation. It's such a hit!

So naturally when Baby A's 2nd birthday rolled around, I got the call for a Tayo cake. Daddy D was pretty cool about leaving the design to me, we both sort of figured that when you're 2, as long as you see the toy you like on a cake, it's the best birthday cake ever! With that, I recommended to get the toys to decorate the cake with.

With the previous Tayo cake, I found out you could buy Tayo toys from the website qoo10.sg. So I went on it to find the toy topper for the cake I had in mind - a set of four Tayo and friends buses
Then I crafted the 'bus terminal' with cake - a rectangular block with a red roof and four colourful garage doors from which the buses emerge!

The cake is a triple layer eggless chocolate cake; Mummy H informed me that Baby A was allergic to eggs. Luckily, I had a wonderful eggless chocolate cake recipe so the birthday boy wouldn't need to miss out on his own cake ; )

Buses and Cake

I was told the kids loved the cake, I suspect the toy buses had something to do with it. Imagine a bunch of 2-3 year olds trying to get their hands on it. The adults had a hard time keeping them away before the candles were blown out. Then it was sweet treats and fun toys for all!

Tayo and friends

Happy Birthday Akira

Constructing Cake

There's been quite a few enquiries in the last week or so and it's so wonderful to see mummies with creative ideas on cakes for their little ones. I'm so sorry that I couldn't take on any orders in June as we were spending time in Jakarta over the school holidays.

However, forward-thinking Mummy W had contacted me months in advance to create a cake for her boy's 3rd birthday. So when I got back, it was the first cake on my list! She had sent me many examples and ideas for a 'construction' theme party, it was really cool, check it out here.

We discussed over a few details and the birthday cake was to look like the scene of a construction site. Mummy W had sourced for a great-looking toy excavator that would dig the dirt (oreo cookie crumbles).

Build up to the cake

Her little boy loves strawberries so I incorporated that too, and it ended up looking like a dug-up pit of strawberries. Mummy W also wanted some kind of 'signage' like you'd see at construction sites and I made one with art paper that says "Xavier's 3". Here's the constructed cake...

Happy Birthday Xavier

The triple layer chocolate cake has oreo cream cheese filling and frosted entirely in oreo cream cheese, which looks somewhat like sand and earth. Mummy W also wanted another party candy favourite - coloured M&Ms, so we had it placed all around the base of the cake.

A creative effort that was entirely Mummy's good input! I was merely the tool.

Baby Needs a Change

When I gave birth to my second child, my dear colleagues came by to visit and brought me the cutest cake ever - a diaper cake! Made of individual diapers that are tightly wound up and decorated with newborn essentials like lotions and bath soap, the cake is such a great idea and wonderful gift! And since I'm in the business of cakes, I gave it a go!

A neighbourly friend who lives in the block across from me is expecting her second child, a baby girl! She has an elder girl who is friends with my boys (they often say hello to each other from the window - I love our little kampong). Little M always gets to see the cakes I'm working on from her window. "Mummy, what is Aunty Debbie doing?" she will ask. My neighbour also has front row seats to my fondant-moulding projects late at night (especially when she has gestational insomnia). I kinda figured I'm probably the only lighted house at 1:00am when I'm working on a delivery for the next day. So I decided to surprise her with a cake she can use!

Here are my ingredients for a diaper cake...

Doll topper, stickers, ribbons and rubber bands

You can also include travel size lotion, soap and powder that baby can use. And of course you'll need diapers!

Roll up each piece of diaper and band it up

Bind it together with a ribbon

I bought this super cute fairy doll from Lamaze, one of my favourite brands. A soft toy makes a great  topper; much like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.

This is the top tier

Two tier diaper cake

To complete the 'cake', I got some themed scrapbook art paper and made the 'Baby Girl' tags with glittery stickers and paper cutouts!

Congratulations!

I got a message this morning that the little bub has arrived! Congrats D&T! Welcome to worthwhile sleepless nights all over again.