At the end of November, my youngest niecelet turned one. The whole family had been together for Thanksgiving in Southern California, and the next weekend, we turned around and drove up north to celebrate A's big day. Lucky me, I got to make the cake! (Cupcakes, too... more on that in a minute.)
The party did not have a particular theme, but I thought it would be fun to make an aquarium: fondant fish and kelp; blue, swirly frosting to look like water; and Rainbow Nerds around the bottom of the cake for the pebbles. With a little extra fondant, I made a fondant initial "A" on the top. Very simple and fun!
I liked this big, fat fish the best. The one on the far right was yellow with purple stripes, which was pretty cool, too. (I laid strips of purple fondant on top of the yellow, then rolled them flat with a rolling pin, incorporating the colors and creating stripes. Then I cut out the fish freehand.) I actually thought the kelp was really fun, too. I made all the fondant pieces ahead and brought them to northern CA with me, so I wasn't exactly sure how big to make everything (since I baked the cake there). I approximated, and it worked out fine.
I also kept the cupcakes simple. Purple frosting, and half had confetti sprinkles and the other half had fondant A's in a variety of colors with contrasting-colored fondant polka dots. I liked the continuation of the theme with the polka dots and confetti sprinkles. Coincidentally, the party decorations had dots, too!
The party did not have a particular theme, but I thought it would be fun to make an aquarium: fondant fish and kelp; blue, swirly frosting to look like water; and Rainbow Nerds around the bottom of the cake for the pebbles. With a little extra fondant, I made a fondant initial "A" on the top. Very simple and fun!
I liked this big, fat fish the best. The one on the far right was yellow with purple stripes, which was pretty cool, too. (I laid strips of purple fondant on top of the yellow, then rolled them flat with a rolling pin, incorporating the colors and creating stripes. Then I cut out the fish freehand.) I actually thought the kelp was really fun, too. I made all the fondant pieces ahead and brought them to northern CA with me, so I wasn't exactly sure how big to make everything (since I baked the cake there). I approximated, and it worked out fine.
I also kept the cupcakes simple. Purple frosting, and half had confetti sprinkles and the other half had fondant A's in a variety of colors with contrasting-colored fondant polka dots. I liked the continuation of the theme with the polka dots and confetti sprinkles. Coincidentally, the party decorations had dots, too!
Cupcakes and cake were both chocolate (naturally - my sister's and my favorite, so we have to introduce A early on!), and we used vanilla frosting so we could tint it as needed.
The birthday girl did not dive face first into the cake, but she ate some, led by her big sister. Not only that, we had cake at her naming ceremony the night before the party (chocolate, as well!) so it was a sweet, delicious weekend of treats and family fun.
Happy first birthday, A!
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