From the archives: Harper’s 2nd B’day Cake

Today in amongst a whole lot of to-do’s I will be tackling the creation of a Peppa Pig cake for Harper’s 4th Birthday which is tomorrow! Got me thinking about the cake that may just be the pinnacle of all my cakes – the rainbow cake that I made for her 2nd Birthday.

This post was originally published on the blog in October 2011, but I thought you might like a look at it again. I need all the cake inspiration I can get today..

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It deserves it’s own post. You know it does. I wanted to do this cake the very first time I saw it on a blog in 2009. Since then it has been on many a Birthday table sometimes with smarties, sometimes plain, sometimes with little bitty bunting hanging on it. I started making it during the week because I knew I didn’t have time to bake all day Saturday or Sunday as I had too much going on. I also found out that a frozen cake is an easier cake to ice – who knew? So I looked even more organised and skilled without even knowing it!

So. How did I do it? I probably should have looked up how other people had done it before (because I am sure there are a gazillion posts out there showing you how to) but I just figured it out in my head how it made sense to me and went for it. I bought 4 packets of Aldi butter cake mix. Fancy, I know. I figured for $1.69 a pack I could screw up as many batches as I wanted. I made them up, halved them (my brain couldn’t work out the weighing to exactly divide the mix with the taking the bowl weight out) so I just guessed, added in the food colouring and baked. I baked them in my Grandma Dot’s cake tin who used to make all her grandchildren a rainbow cake when we were little, so I think I had a bit of Dot luck on my side! I chose the colours from the rainbow song {DER} Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue – baked, wrapped, froze over a few days.

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Then on Saturday afternoon with a house full of guests and a couple of champagnes under my belt {and my trusty chef brother in law and rainbow baby watching on} I began to ice. And ice. And ice. It took A LOT of icing to bring it all together. My cakes were wonky too (because of the non accurate weighing) so there was quite some spak filling to be done in some sections! You will also notice how I ripped some baking paper into 3 sections and places them under (just a little bit) of the cake so I could make a mess and then at the end just slip them out. How very Beverley of me!

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How focused and pumped can one Mum be?

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Can you hear me saying “Oh SHIT that bit of cake just came off!”

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And the mounting enthusiasm and gusto as each layer went on. I was a little cocky here…

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This was when Rob worked out that he was indeed married to a {hot} domestic Goddess!

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The top layer of icing went on and then I slowly iced the sides, moving it around as I went. My butter icing was not perfect but it was tasty. My icing was made up of a shitload of butter, mixed with a shitload of icing mixture. It was that technical.

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In the end I decided not to go with anything else on the top except a little rainbow spotted candle.

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I was slightly pissed and a little proud of myself when it came to serving…and why wouldn’t I be? I’ve lost weight! I baked a Rainbow cake! I have a hot husband!

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t’s not the prettiest, or perfect of Rainbow cakes you will find on the web, but it’s my crack at the title and I can assure you one little 2 year Birthday girl was very impressed. And that’s about all that matters.

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So there you go! Not bad was it? I am still proud of it…and I do believe it’s about time to do another one. In FACT, I think that Peppa’s cake might just be pink inside AND out! You can never have too much food colouring when it comes to Birthday parties.

Tell me, do you make the birthday cakes in your house, or are you an outsourcer?
Made a Peppa Pig cake? Got any hot tips?

Comments

  1. I made a version of this for my niece’s baby shower. Since she didn’t know what she was having I made the layers alternating pink and blue. I iced it in white and put a question mark on the top. It was kinda cool … even if I do say so myself ;0)
    xx

  2. I made a friggin’ 3D Thomas Cake for H’s 2nd B Day and It was ridiculous to ice.. yes I went for royal icing on a train with whistles, coal truck and a stupid smiley face..
    I thought it looked awful but everyone else was amazed. Well all I can say is never again!

  3. Bree Di Mattina says

    We love big cake affairs. Little Guy has had a Scoop from Bob the Builder, a 3d fire engine, a rocket ship and an iron man mask. Amelie last year had a rainbow. Love a good challenge. Especially 2 days after Christmas in 30+ heat where the icing runs down the side of the cake.

  4. We do cakes here!! I’ve done a dolly cake, a butterfly or two, a phone, a castle, dinosaur, penguin, a train – and the kids are only 6 and 4! Al has got in the act as he has the patience to decorate when I’m still running around trying to get things ready for the party!

  5. outsource every time. I have never made a birthday cake for my kids. call DOCS. I feel like I may have failed as a mother because of it… maybe my own 4 year old in a couple of weeks might be my first one…. but then again, I might just get an ice cream cake. always a winner!

  6. Little Munch says

    Mmmmm drinking and decorating spells disaster for me, learnt a lesson the hard way with a complete fail 1st birthday cake. Hence I outsource every time!

  7. Lisa Mckenzie says

    I think it is cool and no I have never made a Peppa pig cake I have made every single cake in the Womans weekly birthday cake book though,some were great and others well a bit shite but kids don’t really care though my daughter did yell at me a bit,copy a pic of Peppa cut around they cake ice the shit out of it make eys etc and your done,your welcome Beth lol

  8. I wanted to share a quick story with you: I found your blog through Fat Mum Slim. I fell in love with the Baked Chorizo recipe of yours she posted. It’s now a fortnightly dish of ours. A staple. HURRAH! And thanks!

  9. Beth, I read this post and was inspired to bake a rainbow cake way back then. Now I am on the cusp of baking something similar (shades of pink) so it is timely for me too!

  10. Margaret Elvis says

    I can’t believe the amount of work, and patience, that went into that cake. Fantastic. I do envy people who are artistic.

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