Giving It a Try to Make Your Child a Birthday Cake

It actually doesn't matter if your child's birthday cake is made to order, or came from a stop and buy shop. There are plenty of amazing birthday cakes around that we see in specialist cake shops, in internet photos and in cake books.

Although you can easily find beautifully-decorated and affordable birthday cakes, as a parent, you'd be glad to be able to make your little darling an eye-catching birthday cake. I'm sure you would love to surprise your child with a spectacular birthday cake made by you. Even though it may sound like a bit of a chore, having all the baking ingredients and materials in special shapes and sizes could be enough for you to give it a try.

Allow me to share two charming birthday cake ideas to make your child's big day as cheerful, sweet and fun. Try it!

Pastel Perfection

You'll need:

1 ready prepared deep sandwich cake 2 egg whites Squeeze of lemon juice 125g powdered sugar, sifted 1 teaspoon cornflour Red, green and yellow food coloring 155ml heavy cream 1 tablespoon milk 90g or 1 cup desiccated coconut Lemon curd (method below) 3 piping bags fitted with star-shaped tubes

Procedure:

Begin with the meringues. Preheat oven to 240 degrees F. Using a whisk or a hand-held mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until stiff. Gradually add powdered sugar until meringue stands in peaks. Using a metal spoon, fold in cornflour smoothly.

Divide meringue mixture equally between 3 bowls. Tint one bowl with pale pink from a few drops of the red coloring, one bowl pale yellow and remaining meringue pale green. Line a baking sheet with a non-stick baking paper. Do not grease the sheet. Pipe or spoon 12 mounds of meringue mixture in alternate colors onto prepared sheet. Bake for 1 - 2 hours until meringues are crisp and dry. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

To complete decoration, whip cream and milk together in a bowl until thick. Spread around sides of cake with a palette knife. Spread coconut on a piece of foil. With one hand on top of cake and the other underneath, carefully turn cake on its side and roll in coconut until sides are evenly covered. Reserve remaining coconut in a dry bowl. Spread top of cake smoothly with lemon curd then dust lightly with remaining coconut. Finally add a border of pastel-colored meringues.

Chocolate Cake Dream Cake

You'll need:

1 ready prepared deep sandwich cake 110g (3 oz) strawberry jam 315g (10 oz) milk chocolate 13 firm strawberries with stalks, washed and dried 110g (3 oz) plain dark chocolate 12 rose leaves leaves 155ml heavy cream 1 tablespoon milk Piping bag with large star-shaped tube

Procedure

Melt milk chocolate. Spread about 2/3 of the melted chocolate over top and sides of cake with a palette knife. Leave until fully set. Using back of knife, mark top of the cake to form 12 equal portions or slices, but do not slice. Meanwhile, dip 12 of the strawberries into remaining milk chocolate until half-covered. Leave to set or until chocolate is firm.

Melt plain dark chocolate then brush melted chocolate over tops of leaves. Set aside to set or until chocolate is firm. Very carefully pull leaves away from chocolate. Make more chocolate leaves than you need in case of breakages. In a large bowl, whip cream with milk until thick, using a whisk or hand-held mixer. Transfer to prepared piping bag and pipe 12 swirls around edge of cake. Decorate with the half-dipped strawberries and chocolate leaves. Place the plain strawberry in the center.

I hope the birthday cake ideas can help you get into the groove for birthday cake making.