See that cute birthday girl in the photo above? That's me! At least it was me in 1983.
The photo is me celebrating my 5th birthday at preschool, with a birthday cake made by my mom. This was one of the many "clown cakes" my mom made over the years. The cake is decorated with cute plastic clown heads placed on bodies made of frosting. I remember standing in the kitchen watching my mom make these cakes (she made several over the years). We (kids) would pose in the position we wanted the clowns to be in, and my mom did a pretty great job matching our request.
My mom is a wonderful cook and baker and almost always made our (me and my two sisters) birthday cakes. I think this is one of the reasons it's important to me to make the cakes for my two girls. I remember how special it was to get to watch my mom make our cakes, and get to add our input. I recently dug through old photos looking for some of the cakes my mom made for me. My mom is not a professional chef, but the cakes she made were so special and beautiful to us.
(Above) Here is my 8th birthday cake. I've always loved rainbows. Oh, and look... more clowns!
(Above) My mom bringing me a homemade birthday cake. I think I was turning 10.
(Above) Me and another special cake made by my mom (I think I'm turning 11 here). I think it's clowns again... my mom actually made several other designs (I remember a 3D panda, a barbie doll dress, and several others) it just happened that the photos I found were mostly the clown ones!
So fast forward a few years... I'm married and have two daughter's of my own. My oldest daughter's 4th birthday was her first "big" party, and the first time I attempted cake decorating. My daughter had requested a "Princess castle cake". I spent several months searching for ideas and watching cake decorating videos on You-Tube. Then I spent the better part of a day and a half doing my best to fulfill her request.
Here is Grace with her "Princess castle cake".
By Grace's next birthday, I had a little more decorating experience and wanted to try covering a cake with fondant. So I made my first fondant cake in the requested theme, Hello Kitty.
That same year, I made a Strawberry Shortcake themed cake for my youngest daughter, Joy's 2nd birthday.
Along with matching strawberry cupcakes...
Last year, it was Grace's turn for a "big" party again (we do big parties for our girls every other year), and I made a cake and cupcakes to accompany her candy themed birthday (blogged here).
(Photo by Nathan Chilton)
(Photo by Nathan Chilton)
Last month we had a fun ladybug themed party (blogged here) for my "baby" Joy (now 4). Here is the ladybug cake I made (decorated with sugar cookies made by Sweet Sugar Belle).
I look forward to many more years of making birthday cakes for my daughters. And I hope they will remember them as fondly as I remember the ones my mom made for me.
As a side note...
I think homemade birthday cakes are very special, but that in no means equates to saying that there is anything wrong with the vast majority of moms/families who buy store bought cakes. If you enjoy making homemade cakes, great... if not, feel no guilt from me!
Happy Celebrating!
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