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Sunday 22 February 2009

Celebrating her Fifth Birthday!

My little Princess turned 5 on the 17th of February. However, since it was a Tuesday, we only celebrated it yesterday with a small party attended by the family - the Grandparents, Uncles and their families and her Godparents. Sarah wasn't sure what cake she wanted although she had mentioned that she liked both Ben Ten as well as Dibo the Dragon. Knowing how much she also liked Lego, I gave her the option of a Lego Cake - she seemed to like that and so the decision was made!




My first thought, when deciding how to make the Lego cake, was to make just one large Lego brick. The idea here was to make a rectangular cake and then make 6 cupcakes. I would then place the cupcakes on top of the cake and ice it to make a super big Lego brick.

The more I thought about it though, the more I realised that it wouldn't have enough 'oomph' for a 5 year old. I mean, one Lego brick wouldn't get her very excited would it? That's when I decided to make a series of bricks and colour them all differently.



What I did was to make one large rectangular cake that I cut up into different sized blocks. I then baked a thin cake in a Swiss Roll (Jelly Roll) Pan and used a round cookie cutter to cut out the 'nobs'. I iced the blocks in different colours of red, white, blue and green and I have to admit that it was rather cumbersome getting the icing smooth with the nobs sticking out of the blocks.

I teased Sarah by placing some of the Toy Bricks beside the cake. I asked her to have some fun and play with all the bricks. She gave me one of her 'looks' and said "Daddy, the cake bricks are for eating and not for playing." Ahhh... sometimes I long for the days when she thought that everything I said was still Gospel!



We placed candles all over the bricks so Sarah had a hard time blowing them all out at once!



The Lovely Wife made a whole heap of Fried Noodles and also some of her Breaded Chicken strips with Lemon sauce. I made some Spicy Sausages and also some Caramel Custard. Sarah also asked for some 'Shivering Jelly' - she calls it that because the gelatinous dessert 'shivers' when its placed on a serving dish and you shake it!

Another succesful Birthday Cake and birthday Party. The kids seem to be growing up so fast and I have to admit the old bones are finding it harder to keep up with throwing these birthday parties. Still, even with the aching feet and back at the end of the day, the smile on my princess's face and the memories we will all have are definitely worth it!

Happy Birthday Sarah!


14 comments:

GFAD said...

Happy Birthday Sarah! :)

The colours on the icing is so bright and vibrant! I presume you used gel colouring?

A friend pointed out that buttercream is seldom found on cakes sold here (I don't know because I don't usually buy cakes from bakeries..) and they usually use coloured whipped cream. So I would like to make a cake with buttercream for her. Kinda like the ones Angel Cakehse used to make. Could you pls share your buttercream icing? Thanks!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Happy Birthday Sarah! Our kids do grow up so quickly. My daughter remembers all her cakes and the parties so it is well worth the memories Dharm. I remember them too:D Love the Lego cake as well, very inventive for your little Princess:D

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Happy Birthday to your little one! What a gorgeous cake! I came over here from The English Cottage and I just love the cheery, positive feel of your blog! I will keep you in mind the next time a special occasion that requires a cake or other goodies comes up!

Dharm said...

Kat...
Most shops in Malaysia actually DO use buttercream but it is a version that is very buttery but with little taste. What I use is what I call butter Icing - just a mix of butter and icing sugar in the ratio of about 1 part butter to 2-2.5 parts icing sugar, depending on the consistency I want. Hope that helps!

Val,
glad you like the cake!

Covert...
Welcome and hope to see you again!!

Recipeswap said...

Happy Birthday to Sarah....Lovely cake.

Alicia Foodycat said...

Wonderful cake as always Dharm! The rest of her birthday meal sounds very good too.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Happy Birthday Sarah! She is such a cute little girl...

That cake looks fantastic! What a great idea!

Cheers,

Rosa

Thistlemoon said...

Wow, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH! Hope it was a good one! She sure is cute!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

What a wonderful happy cake for Sarah!!
Your execution is perfect on this one Dharm!!
Happy Birthday Sarah!

Anonymous said...

i love your birthday baking dharm!

happy birthday sarah!

Anonymous said...

Thanks dharm! All my buttercream have always turned out a bit grainy and not silky smooth. Perhaps I did not beat it enough? I've seen some recipes that add a spoonful of milk. Would that help in making it more creamy y'think?

Dharm said...

Kat,
Butter icing - a mix of butter and icing sugar - will never be silky smooth, it will always have a little 'bite' to it. Adding milk or water will just thin the consistency down and not do much to the slight graininess. Sifting the sugar and beating well will reduce the graininess. leave your email address and I'll discuss this in more depth with you!

GFAD said...

Many thanks for your explanation. And yes pls, I would love to further discuss this in greater detail!

katclim[at]gmail[dot]com

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