Having (and eating) Cake!

My two grandboys are 22 months apart in age, with one birthday at the end of July and one the end of September. The eldest one has a summer visitation schedule with his other family that means he will most usually always be gone for the younger one’s special day. Brad felt strongly that he didn’t want to miss Silas’s birthday, so we held off on a party until the boys could be together. Today was the day to celebrate with our families and we had a very fun time.

Jessica made her boys’ cakes and decorated them with some help from her Aunt Tonita. We were expecting around 25 guests, so she made fairly large cakes. Brad’s was a 12” double layer and Silas’s was one 12” and one 6” layer. She used one white and two chocolate cake mixes. Each chocolate mix made the 12” layer plus a 6” cake we used for “sampling”. Both cakes were delicious. Jess used a “doctored” cake mix recipe that results in cake with a lovely moist texture with a slight denseness so it holds up well to decorating. For the chocolate cake, she replaced 1/4 cup of the added flour with 1/4 cup cocoa powder. That adds a nice depth to the chocolate flavor of the cake mix.

The buttercream recipes were from Wilton’s web site. Homemade frosting is so easy to make and tastes infinitely better than any canned. I’m particularly fond of their chocolate buttercream recipe.

Since we had the party outside, we used cardboard cake boards that were stashed in a cupboard. After it sat all night, I was wishing we’d have covered the Hulk cake board with foil. It kind of absorbed some of the oil from the buttercream. If I hadn’t had those round boards, we’d have just cut some cardboard from a box stash I have, covered that with foil, and been happy.

Brad had asked for a Mario cake early in the summer, so when McDonalds had Mario toys in their Happy Meals, we just bought one of each toy and saved them to top Brad’s cake. He found a Mario candle at the store last week to add to it. Jess used alphabet cookie cutters pressed into the frosting, then traced them for Brad’s name, and put some colorful sprinkles on top. This cake was chocolate with chocolate frosting between layers and vanilla buttercream on top. Y.U.M.

Silas wanted a green Hulk cake, and he prefers vanilla, so his was white cake with vanilla buttercream. They left the top layer color white so the Hulk wouldn’t blend in too much to see him, but sprinkled some green sugar on it. The green frosting was colored with Americolor gel food coloring and was the perfect shade for Hulk. You can’t really see it in this photo, but Jess wrote his name and a big “3” on it with black tube frosting. I picked up a small Hulk figure from the store toy aisle to use as a topper.

These cakes were inexpensive, yet tasty, and took just a couple of hours of effort. I didn’t keep track of the cost of ingredients, but I’d ballpark each cake at less than $10. Not only did we save some money, but they were made with love and creativity not to be had from a store bakery. The fun she had making them and working with my sister to decorate doesn’t have a price tag. We know they look homemade, but for us that’s a huge part of the charm. There will never be any other cakes just like them.

 

 

 

31 Days to Happily Ever After – Days 29, 30, and 31 – The End

I forgot to do a post on Monday – it was a crazy day after a night of not-much-sleep, and blog posting never crossed my mind. I sat down last night to do two posts, and there was no memory card in my camera. I looked everywhere and still have not found it, so I gave up on posting for another day. (‘Twas another day after a night of not-much-sleep…)

Today I have a new memory card, so there are some photos, and a couple more things to tell you about as I wrap up these 31 days of blissful wedding planning and execution. Okay, so it wasn’t all blissful, but I wouldn’t give up a minute of the time spent planning and preparing and crafting. It was a labor of love that I’m glad I only have to do ONE time, though.

I was hoping to have a pic from the photographer to show you this sign that 3 year-old Bradley carried down the aisle. This was one of the first details Jess pinned on her Pinterest wedding board, so it was planned all along.

He did great carrying it by the ribbon, using two hands, during rehearsal, but when it came time for the wedding, he kind of had it behind himself. That worked out okay, though, because the guests could still read it after he’d gone by, and a quiet chuckle went through the crowd.

I used a 12” square canvas, cut the letters using my Cricut, and spray-painted over the top. The ribbon is hot-glued on the back, after I tied a bow in the center. The back is covered in burlap, but I guess I didn’t get a pic of that…

 

The other thing I wanted to show you is the napkin fold for the flatware that we set on the tables. I don’t like trying to juggle my plate, filling it with food, while hanging onto my flatware and napkin, so when we have a buffet at my house, I always put the silverware and napkins at the end of the line. It’s funny how many people will stand at the beginning, searching for the forks. Anyway, since I didn’t want a couple hundred people pawing through baskets of forks, knives, and spoons, I decided to go ahead and do individual napkins with the utensils at the tables. We had to use plastic and paper since there was no kitchen for cleaning up dishes, and why would we rent linens to use with plastic, so I thought this presentation at least “prettied” it up a bit.

The napkin fold was based on the “fancy silverware pouch” on this napkin-folding how-to site. After I tucked the flatware into the folds, I tied it with a piece of twine to keep everything together. I packed them all up in a tote and we just opened the tote, grabbed a handful of napkins, and set one at each place. Here’s what the tables looked like after they were all set up:

You’ll notice the little bells on either side of the centerpiece. There were a couple on each table, and each had a tiny tag that said “kiss” on it. Since we had plastic cups and flatware, there was nothing to signal that the crowd wanted the couple to kiss, so the bells were rung throughout the ballroom when the mood struck. They weren’t very loud, so everyone had to ring them for the head table to hear. It was fun to hear the ballroom fill with the tinkle of little bells.

One more photo before I wrap up this 31 Day endeavor – the wedding cake. The topper was the letter “R” for Robinson. It was purchased pretty inexpensively at Michael’s.

Each layer of the cake was a different flavor – raspberry cream, pink champagne, lemon, and strawberry cream cheese. Then we had chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and there was a small section of the table for candy. The top layer is frozen and safely tucked in the bottom of the couple’s new freezer.

Scott was very much the gentleman, and did not smear cake on the bride’s face.

 

When we get the photo CD from the photographer, I will share more details here. I keep thinking of things to tell you, but need the pics to go along. This month has been a fun journey and I’m so glad you went along with me!

Please come back to my little corner of the prairie. Now that the 31 Days event is concluded, the plan is to post about life, making a home, and loving my family.

 

The Nester’s 31 Days Series