Children’s Party Cake Ideas
This is not really a book about special occasion cakes, it is about everyday baking, but sometimes all you need is the inspiration of a few ideas to help you make a cake which is just that bit different. And these ideas are so easy, you might even be tempted to make them for an ordinary teatime.
The Basic Butter Cake gives a firm cake that is easy to cut and shape. For the toppings, try using Vanilla Cream Icing, Fondant Icing or even ready-roll icing. And there are lots of ideas for shaping and decoration.
This one chapter gives you everything you need. Just remember to keep it simple, add a little imagination and go for overall effect rather than perfect detail – it is going to be cut and eaten by children after all! What are you waiting for?
Basic Butter Cake
Makes one 20 cm/8 in cake
100 g/4 oz/½ cup butter or margarine, softened
100 g/4 oz/½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2.5 ml/½ tsp vanilla essence (extract)
175 g/6 oz/1½ cups self-raising (self-rising) flour
75 ml/5 tbsp milk
Blend together the butter or margarine and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and vanilla essence, then fold in the flour and enough of the milk to make a smooth mixture. Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined 20 cm/8 in cake tin (pan) and bake in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°F/ gas mark 5 for 35 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch.
Vanilla Cream Icing
Makes enough to cover one 20 cm/8 in cake
100 g/4 oz/½ cup butter or margarine, at room temperature
250 g/9 oz/1½ cups icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
5 ml/1 tsp vanilla essence (extract)
25 ml/1½ tbsp milk
A few drops of food colouring (optional)
Beat the butter or margarine until soft, then gradually add the icing sugar until the mixture begins to stiffen. Mix in the vanilla essence and milk, then continue to add the icing sugar until you have a workable icing (frosting). If you want to colour the icing, work in a few drops of food colouring and reduce the amount of milk slightly. If the icing becomes too soft, simply sift in a little more icing sugar.
Quick and Easy Decoration Ideas
You need quick and easy ideas for decoration? No problem! For simplicity and speed, you can’t beat Butter Icing – so why not try some of these instant ideas:
- chocolate butter icing (frosting) sprinkled with coconut, piped with whipped cream and sprinkled with grated chocolate
- coloured butter icing sprinkled with sugar strands and dotted with silver dragees
- coloured butter icing dotted with Smarties (M&Ms) or mini-marshmallows
- vanilla butter icing sprinkled in Dalmatian spots with chocolate vermicelli
- butter icing sprinkled with desiccated (shredded) coconut
- orange butter icing striped with thin strips of liquorice
- icing dotted with chocolate chips, icing flowers or jelly sweets
- icing piped into rosettes through a star nozzle
If you prefer to use Fondant Icing, you can either make your own, or buy ready-to-roll icing. Lightly spread the cake with sieved (strained) apricot jam, roll out the icing on a surface lightly dusted with icing (confectioners’) sugar and use to cover the cake.
And don’t forget that you can arrange your child’s favourite little plastic toy figures – space men, cowboys, teddy bears or ponies – on a cake for instant effect! Think simple and effective and you can’t go wrong.
Cut the ‘wasted’ pieces of cake into small squares or shapes, spread some icing on the top, decorate with a chocolate sweet or vermicelli and serve as little cakes.
Number Shape Cakes
You do not need to hire the special tins to bake number-shaped cakes. You can bake and shape them yourself quite simply. Use the quantities of Basic Butter Cake indicated and if you are using more than one tin, divide the mixture between the tins so that the mixture is at the same level in each. Once cooked and cut, spread the edges of the cake with sieved (strained) apricot jam or Vanilla Cream Icing so that the pieces stick together. Ice with Vanilla Cream or butter icing and decorate to suit the birthday child.
Number 1 Cake
1 quantity of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in two 450 g/1 lb loaf tins for 35 minutes golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 2 Cake
2 quantities of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in a 30 x 20 cm/ 12 x 8 in Swiss roll tin (jelly roll pan) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 3 Cake
2 quantities of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in two 20 cm/ 8 in ring moulds (tube pans) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 4 Cake
1 quantity of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in a 25 x 20 cm/ 10 x 8 in cake tin (pan) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 5 Cake
2 quantities of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in a 20 cm/8 in ring mould (tube pan) and a 18 cm/ 7 in square cake tin (pan) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 6 Cake
1 quantity of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in one 18 cm/ 7 in ring mould (tube pan) and one 900 g/2 lb loaf tin (pan) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 7 Cake
1 quantity of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in two 900 g/2 lb loaf tins (pans) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 8 Cake
2 quantities of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in two 20 cm/ 8 in ring moulds (tube pans) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 9 Cake
1 quantity of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in one 18 cm/ 7 in ring mould (tube pans) and one 900 g/2 lb loaf tin (pan) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Number 10 Cake
2 quantities of Basic Butter Cake
Bake the cake mixture in one 18 cm/ 7 in ring mould (tube pan) and one 25 x 20 cm/10 x 8 in cake tin (pan) until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Funny Face Cakes
Make a Basic Butter Cake in a 20 cm/8 in cake tin (pan). Use Vanilla Cream Icing or Fondant Icing, coloured to suit the face you have chosen, then decorate with small amounts of coloured royal icing (frosting) to make up the remaining shapes, with biscuits (cookies), decorations or sweets. Stick layers of royal icing together with a little egg white or water. The illustrations are designed to inspire your imagination.
Cat
Bake a little of the cake mixture in a small square tin and cut to make two triangular ears to stick to the top of the cake. Ice in suitable colours and use jelly sweets for eyes and liquorice for whiskers.
Clown
Use a white base for the icing (frosting). Small jelly or chocolate sweets make good eyes and noses, while thin wafer biscuits can make eye or cheek shapes. Liquorice is always good for sharp lines and outlines. Jelly-lip sweets couldn’t be easier to make a jolly smile, or you can cut wafer biscuits or pipe icing in a separate colour. Hair can be piped icing, or you could curl strands of paper ribbon by pulling them across the blade of some scissors. A party hat, cut in half, completes the effect.
Dog
Shape the cake to create two floppy ears and ice in suitable colours. Use marshmallow and fruit gum eyes, a wafer-biscuit tongue and a liquorice smile.
Lion
Use half the icing to ice the cake in a yellow-brown, then colour the remaining icing in a darker shade and pipe the mane on to the board. Make the features fierce or friendly with marshmallow and chocolate sweet eyes, liquorice whiskers and a chocolate biscuit nose. Cut marshmallows to make teeth, if you wish.
Mouse
Bake a little of the cake mixture in a square tin to make into ears to shape and fix to the top of the cake. Cover with cake with a suitable colour butter icing, then sprinkle with desiccated (shredded) coconut. Add jelly-sweet eyes, long liquorice whiskers and marshmallow teeth.
Masked Warriors
Use colours to suit your child’s favourite character and copy the shapes from a picture to get the details right. Fondant Icing is the easiest type to use for cutting out distinctive shapes.
Monsters
Colour the monster any way you like and let your imagination run riot. Try marshmallow or icing teeth, liquorice hair and even jelly-sweet spots.
Nurse
Cut shapes from Fondant Icing to lay over the base icing. Roll thin strands of icing for the hair.
Pig
Bake a little of the cake mixture in a ramekin dish (custard cup). Cut it in half horizontally and attach the circle to the front of the cake to make a snout. Cut the remaining half into little ears to fix to the top. Ice in pink, then add chocolate-sweet nostrils and little black sweet eyes.
Pirate
Use fondant icing shapes or liquorice for a moustache, red liquorice or jelly sweets for the mouth and jelly sweets for the other features. Pipe some hair – unless you want a bald pirate! – in a suitably coloured icing and cut a hat out of paper. Use a gold-wrapped chocolate coin for an earring and pipe on a scar for a really wicked effect.
Rabbit
Bake a little of the cake mixture in a 450 g/1 lb loaf tin (pan) and shape into long ears. Ice in a suitable colour, then sprinkle with desiccated (shredded) coconut, masking the inside of the ears and the eyes. Make long liquorice whiskers, a pink biscuit nose and marshmallow teeth.
Sheep
Pipe the cake in white icing (frosting) through a very fine nozzle (tip), or use a potato rice to squeeze the icing in swirls all over the cake. Add tiny biscuit ears, sweets for the nose and eyes and a liquorice smile.
Leopard
Ice the cake in a yellow butter icing (frosting) and sprinkle chocolate vermicelli in little patches over the cake. Add twinkling sweet eyes and a wide or a wicked smile.
Teddy
Make the cake in an 18 cm/7 in cake tin (pan) and two small cake tins so that you have nice large ears. Shape the edges and sandwich them together. A happy face from liquorice or jelly sweets and wafer biscuits for the inside of the ears are then all you need. Add a paper bow tie (or even a real one) if you like.
Easy Cake Shapes
Use the quantity of Basic Butter Cake indicated, cut out the shape and sandwich them together with Butter Icing or a little sieved (strained) apricot jam (conserve) before icing wih Vanilla Cream Icing, Fondant Icing or ready-roll icing.
Boat
Use one quantity of Basic Butter Cake baked in a 450 g/1 lb loaf tin (pan) and a small quantity baked in a second loaf tin. Shape the bottom of the main cake piece to make the boat, then cut and fix pieces on the top to finish. Once iced, use cocktails sticks (toothpicks) and thread for the rails, little sweets for the portholes and liquorice for the ropes.
Butterfly
Use one quantity of Basic Butter Cake baked in a 23 cm/9 in square cake tin (pan). Cut across diagonally, then slice a triangle off each corner and place the large shapes together to form the wings. Use chocolate flakes for the body, liquorice for the antennae and ice patterns on to the wings or decorate with colourful sweets.
Cat
Bake two quantities of Basic Butter Cake in a greased 20 cm/8 in cake tin, a 10 cm/4 in cake tin and a 10 cm/4 in square tin. Trim where the large and small cakes are placed together to make the neck, and cut the small square cake to make ears and a tail. Once iced (frosted), use liquorice for the whiskers and sweets for the features.
House
Make two quantities of Basic Butter Cake and bake in a 20 cm/8 in square, deep cake tin (pan) and a 20 x 10 cm/8 x 4 in rectangular tin. Cut the smaller cake to make two triangular pieces for the roof. Cover with Butter Icing or ready-to-roll icing (frosting) and decorate with sweets.
Sheep
Use one Swiss Roll, then bake one quantity of Basic Butter Cake in a 600 ml/1 pt/2½ cup pudding basin. Shape the round cake into a head and cut legs from the trimmings. Cover the head and legs in smooth Butter Icing, then squeeze the remaining icing (frosting) through a potato ricer or garlic press to make the fleece. Use sweets for the features.
Train
Use one Swiss Roll and one quantity of Basic Butter Cake baked in one 450 g/1 lb loaf tin (pan) and one 10 cm/4 in square cake tin. Top with Fondant or Butter Icing, then use orange-chocolate biscuits for the wheels; biscuits or icing (frosting) shapes for the windows; sweets for lights and coloured liquorice or sweets for the features. A little whipped cream on the top makes the steam.
