Sunday, January 13, 2008

Shiver me timbers, it be cake!


A Pookie pirate birthday cake 1/10/08

I decided to only do half a cake for Pookie's birthday since it was just his siblings, Danny, and me. As you know, we only have friend parties on birthdays divisible by four-- 4, 8, 12, 16. I didn't see the need to make a full 9 x 13 cake (or two-layer round) for just the five of us that would be eating it. So, I made two 8" squares from a triple chocolate fudge cake mix (75 cents at the commissary) and froze one for Valentine's Day. I used half a package of cream cheese and whipped up some frosting that I flavored with almond extract instead of vanilla. And it was so yummy! The almond perfectly complimented the chocolate cake. With a teeny-tiny bit of creativity and chocolate coins and two pirate toys, I made this!

I know my sisters and my mother-in-law are expert cake decorators. But I'll be the first to admit it, I am not. Remember this cake? And this cake? This pirate cake was an improvement. It definitely impressed the birthday boy. And that's what counts.
Update: The idea to celebrate every four years came from Danny's family. That's how they celebrated growing up. And I think it's a fantastic idea because:
1. We're probably going to have 37 kids-- and that's a lot of birthdays. This gives us time to prepare for a special themed birthday party. And something for the kids to plan and look forward to in between.
2. We're still celebrating their other birthdays-- usually with family activities of the birthday child's choice.
3. Under the age of four, too many tantrums and melt-downs, and sometimes not potty-trained.
4. Age 8 is when they get baptized.
5. Age 12 is when the girls and boys leave the primary program and enter the Young Women/Young Men program at church. Worthy 12 year old boys also receive the priesthood at this age.
6. Age 16 they can drive, get a job, and also start to double date. I remember looking forward to this age very much.
One difference we make from the way Danny's family did this, is incorporating a rule my parents had for our birthdays. The birthday child can invite as many children to their friend party as the age they're turning, ie. 4 friends at 4 years, 8 friends at 8 years, 12 friends at 12 years, and 16 friends at 16 years.
Yes you can freeze cake Cristtin. I ate my wedding cake a year later and it was good. The frosting was a bit smooshed. I didn't frost the cake for Valentine's Day because it's going to be Death by Chocolate-- super easy, very rich, very yummy. Under my mother-in-law's wise instruction, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer. A day later when it was frozen through, I wrapped aluminum foil over the plastic wrapped cake and labeled it.

11 comments:

Laura said...

I love it! Very cute... I have a very wise older sister who showed me on Michael's first birthday the miracle of Wilton Coloring Gels, and life has been much better since then. :-) Now I actually ENJOY making their cakes, since I can actually get the colors right.
(Well, as much as one can actually enjoy cooking because she has to...)

Happy birthday to your little one!

Blessings!

SuperCoolMom said...

It looks great and sounds delicious (I love almond flavor)! My kids, even the big ones, would probably rather have a couple of cute toys on their cake than all the curli-cues in the world.

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

Good job, Nikki. Your kids are lucky to have you for a mom, you put so much thought and effort into them.

Matt said...

Arrg, what a nice cake! Looks like you had a great party. I like how you do the parties, everything divisible by 4, sooo smart.

Unknown said...

My January birthday boys are also having a pirate party! Well, "Veggie Tales Pirates" to be exact...Wish you could be here with us! Hugs and kisses from us to Pookie!

i'm erin. said...

aye matey! that cake looks mighty fine better than me booty. i'll be given me booty up for a piece of that lady. a happy day to you captn' E.

A. said...

How fun! I think you did a great job on the cake. Even if it's not perfect, the creativity alone makes it an A+.
Pookie and Kami must have birthday's close to each other because we just had Kami's party and her birthday is today. :)
By the way, how did you come up with only having friend birthdays for years divisable by 4?

Rach said...

AAArrrrgggggg!! Shiver me timbers, that's a great cake!!

Haddorkus said...

We do the same thing with birthday parties but instead of age four we do five. But we have plans to do all the other ages though. I can't stand having that many parties, and all that expectation, and competition. Which we all know I don't do. I love the family parties.

I didn't know you could freeze cake and it would still be edible. You baked it and everything? I know the whole freeze the wedding cake but I have never met anyone who actually liked theirs. We didn't even do it.

jvjw said...

Good job! Congratulations on a successful cake experience. Your Valentines cake will be fine...at the bakery we froze all the un-frosted cake, remember? I hope Pookie had a really great time on his birthday.

Leslie said...

That's an awesome cake! The funnest cakes are the ones they'll remember, not any cute borders or perfectly smooth frosting. I love it! But why wasn't I invited over?