My god-child is turning 1 next month and I want to make a cake for her. I know there are restrictions on what I can put in the cake (nuts, eggs, honey, etc.).
My problem is that I don't know what kind of cake to make her. I was thinking about a simple vanilla cake or a chiffon cake. Do I bake it in the shape of something? Can I build something? I remember seeing a cake that was a very three dimensional panda bear. Anyone know how these are made? I tried hunting around the web but I couldn't find anything about technique.
Additionally, what would a 1 year old girl like? I was thinking something like Blues Clues, Winnie The Pooh or Hello Kitty. Any other suggestions?
I know this will sound harsh, but you are really baking the cake for you. The one year old would be happy with Hostess Twinkie and a sippy cup of Kool Aid. Therefore, you should make a cake that pleases you, taking into consideration any dietary restrictions noted by the parents. If you want ideas for cakes, I would recommend picking up a copy of the Wilton Yearbook of Cake Decorating. This is a magazine format publication available where cake decorating supplies are sold. It will have dozens of example of cakes with instruction detailing the equipment and techniques particular to the production of each cake.
The child is turning one. Probably wouldn't care if it were a poodle or a car. Make a plain cake with lots of frosting to put their face in. Bake another cake for the adults.
Bring your camera....so you can embarrass them seventeen years from now at their high school graduation party. Have a great celebration!
I actually plan on making two cakes. One for the adults that tastes really good and one for my god-child that looks really good. I was thinking big but simple graphics like Blues Clues, Winnie The Pooh or Hello Kitty because they should be recognisible to her. I'm just not sure 1) if these are characters that a 1 year old would recognise (haven't been watching too much kids cartoons lately) and 2) how would I make it 3d.
The time with the panda bear, the kid could not care less about what the cake was made out of. The parents got some great shots of the kid trying to hug the panda bear cake. Quite the mess but these are the sort of photos my friends are looking for too.
Thanks for the recommendation for Wilton Yearbook of Cake Decorating. I looked it up on the web. I searched the Wilton site and found instructions for just what I was looking for. Looks like I'll have to buy/rent some pans for creating a stand-up bear.
Don't underestimate how much kids can sense and appreciate the difference between a good and bad cake. While it's true to say that a young child will be perfectly happy with a Twinkie, I have also seen that even very young children do notice the difference between a good cake and a Twinkie, if they've been exposed to both, and will choose the good cake preferentially over the Twinkie. The difference between them and an adult is that there is no palpable disappointment if the cake they're confronted with isn't a great one, and that, presented with a cheap cake or Twinkie, they most likely won't refuse it outright.
However, they *will* refuse outright a cake with a flavour that they don't like at all. A kid who doesn't like chocolate (my niece is one) would most likely refuse a chocolate cake, one who didn't like lemon a lemon cake, etc. Also, visuals are important. They aren't likely to be too interested in a cake that looks ugly or plain. (On that count, the Twinkie wouldn't be that successful). OTOH, the same could be said for adults. I have seen a majority of adults choose a very pretty-*looking* cake over one that might not be so perfect in appearance but which tasted great.
Cupcakes always go down well. They're easy to make, and easy to decorate so they look pretty. Kids, especially small kids, also like them because the size isn't overwhelming. I've seen most kids are obviously intimidated by large cakes - they're far too big for them.
As far as what she would like, what does she seem to be attracted to right now? Think about both the foods she likes and the activities she seems to be interested in. For instance, when my young nephew turned 1, I had the same idea you had. It didn't take long to think of what he'd like. Even at that age he gobbled down blueberries as though they were going out of style. And he was fascinated by his dad's construction projects. So, I made a blueberry cake (sort of like a very light blueberry muffin) and covered it with blueberry paste (literally, condensed, mashed blueberries). Then we set some toy tools on top. He had great fun with it. Made himself incredibly messy. Just what one would hope for.
I read the same sort of thing on the Disney World newsgroups about how people can only stay at Disney's deluxe resorts because the toddler can tell the difference between a parlor suite on the concierge floor of the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa over a standard room a value resort like Disney's Pop Century resort.
If this is actually verifiable, I wonder what the meaningful differences are for the toddler? Food plays such a direct part in a toddler's life, and the taste feedback is so immediate and undeniable, that it's easy to see how a young kid could develop taste preferences and a sense of what's good and bad.
However, when one speaks of the differences between a deluxe suite and a standard room, many of the differences are, I think, ones that don't have any direct impact on the child. Certain amenities that the child will never use would fall into this category. If the kid is sleeping in a crib, obviously the degree of luxury of the adult beds aren't going to have much importance.
OTOH, other things would, I'm sure, be immediately appreciated. A young child, crawling on the floor, would be likely to notice the differences between cheap carpet and quality carpet rather fast. But I suspect a lot of it may come down to the larger level of personal service and attention you get in a luxury suite. Young kids, especially, thrive on personal attention and with that much greater level they'd receive in a luxury suite, I'm sure they'd remember it pretty permanently. There would also be a few very shy individuals who would find more people intimidating - I wonder how many kids might show a decided preference *against* such luxury suites, for that exact reason? (Just like some adults who don't appreciate what they consider to be an intrusive, pandering staff!)
I am a mom of three kids, and here's my take...the baby will be exposed to (and probably addicted to) licensed characters soon enough. Hopefully this baby (yes, BABY...a one-year-old isn't a kid, he or she is still a baby, verging on toddlerhood) hasn't been watching cartoons, but may recognize characters from books or toys. If you want something that your god-child will recognize, call the parents and ask. Some kids like characters, but some are just attached to their stuffed green elephant, or purple cat, or brown bear. In a pinch, most kids like Pooh Bear, though.
Family Fun magazine (familyfun.com) has lots of cool birthday cake ideas. Or just use your imagination and figure out what you can make out of circles, squares and rectangles. I made a really cute kitty cat cake for my daughter's 2nd bday. Just baked a round cake, frosted it pink (her favorite color), added tortilla chips for ears (covered w/ frosting), and used gel icings (from the supermarket) to draw whiskers, eyes, and mouth. Then I baked some cupcakes to go along with it, frosted and decorated to look like the mama cat.
A friend's daughter is wild for elephants, so the mom baked squares and rectangles, cut small parts off for legs and tail, and frosted all the parts, then put them together to resemble an elephant in profile. A gumdrop eye, some icing for ear and mouth, and it was done. Simple, but really cute.
As for making something so cute and lifelike that the child wants to hug the cake,...no matter what cake you offer, that might happen, or it might not. Just let the baby be himself or herself, and don't worry if you don't get the same photo op as your friend's baby with the panda cake. Every child has his or her shining moments, the unpredictability of which is part of the charm.
Well first, why the restriction on eggs? Is she allergic? You're going to be hard pressed to find a cake recipe with no eggs, I'm afraid.
If she's not allergic, I would make a simple cake, white, yellow or chocolate, and maybe do a carousel (tiered layers decorated with bright colors, and you can either make animals from icing or use animal crackers). At her age, characters won't matter as much as bright colors.
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