Monday, November 30, 2009

Celebrating Zack's birthday

Well, I wanted to surprise Zack and try to make another unique cake for his birthday celebration. He loves lighthouses - he collects them in all shapes and sizes. With my mom & Dad in town, we decided to celebrate Zack's birthday with them too. Well, we kept telling Zack I was going to make a Lego cake, but he started questioning me since I only had various round cake pans lying out on the kitchen counter.

So my dad suggested they take the kids to the movies. And they did . . . they took the kids to see Old Dogs, which I heard was very funny. Matter of fact, it seems Zack was the one who enjoyed it the most and Grandpa Tom couldn't stop laughing at Zack's laughter!! Not only did they enjoy the movie, but the kids loved the movie theatre, they said it looked a lot like Egypt with its themed decor.

Before they had left, for the afternoon show, I had cooked off all the round cakes and made a double batch of butter cream icing so I could work on the cake while they were gone for a few hours. As soon as they left the work began . . .

It took me a little over two hours to get it together. I chopped up some Quaker Chocolate Crunch Rice cakes in the food processor, stacked, carved and crumb coated all the cakes, and then I broke out the pre-made fondant. I'm not a big fan of fondant, mainly because I haven't worked with it much. So I took my little glass cup, flipped it upside down, and then formed some fondant on top to resemble the top of the lighthouse.

The plans were there for the cake, but the execution could have been better. Once I got the lighthouse on top of the base cake I knew I was going to have a problem. First off I could only find one dowel rod to help support it and second I placed it too close to the back. Well, I'm not very good at taking cakes off/apart because I'm lacking a few cake tools - besides it was only for Zack, so I finished decorating it. Once I finished, I knew it could be a disaster, so I called my mom to see if the movie was over. Well, they were actually on their way to Wal-Mart to kill some more time because they figured the cake wasn't ready yet. So, I explained to Mom if Zack wanted to see his cake before it fell they might want to bring him home sooner than later. And they did.

The cake was a success, Zack loved it. Believe it or not, it never did fall. After he opened presents, I took the top glass off, which was heavier than I originally thought. Having never made a lighthouse 3D cake before, I now know what I would do different if I were to make one again!!

Zack with his stash of presents from Grandma Linda, Grandpa Tom, and Uncle Matt & Aunt TJ.






A lighthouse nightlight for the lighthouse boy! He was soooo excited about all his gifts.

Well, now on his actual birthday, December 12th, he will receive a gift or two from us and some hugs and kisses. NO more cakes this year!!

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