Celebrations, Cake & Click Yellow for Bri

Click! Yellow for Bri

I have been back a week now but have hardly had time to breathe. My daughter's 3rd birthday on the weekend gave me only a week to scramble and get everything done in time. There were only six children this time so I decided to do everything at home , including the cake and of course it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be!

I should have expected the madness, considering the fact that I haven't ever iced a cake before. I'm not a great fan of butter sugar icing and don't know the first thing about fresh cream icing. But Birthday baby wanted a "Pink butterfly Cake" so the theme of the party was chosen automatically though I didnt have a theme for even her first and second birthdays! - there were Butterfly invitation cards, butterfly games and even a butterfly cake
- I drew the line at Pink icing for the cake though; instead I made pink marzipan butterfly and flower decorations to put on the icing.

Her best friend's mother got her a pair of pink wings and she was thrilled to bits. This was her first birthday party she really enjoyed; the highlight of the evening was the cutting of the cake of course and she beamed as everyone sang for her!! All that slaving at above 40C temps and 80% humidity was so worth it for that bug eyed look on her face when she saw her cake!

I thought I would never be able to get the marzipan right nor the cookies, the butter and sugar were simply melting and oozing out of everything. I somehow managed to get them both done but I was a puddle of sweat myself by the end of it.

The next day I got a bit smarter, when it was time for the icing I put on the air conditioning in my bedroom and did it all there!! And helping me through it all was Deeba of Passionate about Baking on the phone! - Thanks so much D, I really managed because you kept telling me it would work!

The menu in fact was like a Blog Patrol event I was conducting!!
The basic sponge cake was adapted from this recipe of Deeba's and then I made a butter and sugar icing tinted yellow. The marzipan I adapted, again, from Deeba's recipe, I cut out the flowers and leaves and shaped the butterfly by hand. The stained glass cookies are from her recipe and were much appreciated.

I made these chocolate cupcakes from Cooker's recipe and made some marzipan flowers and leaves to put on them.

I adapted this recipe from Farmgirl Fare to make some delicious carrot and herb rolls. And there was salami and cheese sandwiches, mini idlis and macaroni and cheese.
And then for me to relax after all the sugar fuelled hyperactivity, we had dinner with a few close friends at home - some chilled minty caipiroska, grilled chicken with mango salsa, pesto pasta, dinner rolls and a roasted salad and good company - it was a perfect evening.

ETA: I have just come back and catching up, came across the fund raising for Bri - I am entering this cake in the Click! Yellow for Bri event being hosted at Jugalbandi. I have participated in Click just once before this, frankly my photography skills leave a lot to be desired.
BUT this event is special and is being organised as a fund raiser for Bri of the blog Figs with Bri .
She is waging a second battle against cancer and we are all hoping that she wins this time too. In the meanwhile she needs to pursue all options including alternative therapy which is not covered by health insurance.
Been there, done that and still recovering from the financial effects of battling a major illness, though mine was not cancer. Its amazing to see the outpouring of support and I hope it helps her in as many ways as possible.

If you want to help the fundraiser, you can participate in Click Yellow for Bri at Jugalbandi till the 30th of June. OR you can Make a Donation OR Publicise the fund raiser by writing about it on your blog or website. You can use the HTML at this page.