Easy but Awesome Party Cakes!

Hands up who has ever shed a few tears over birthday cake decorating ?  (I doubt I am alone haha)

I think for a lot of parents (myself included),  birthday cake decorating can be one of the most stressful parts of birthday party preparation.  I think most of us have probably spent a late night or two frantically trying to finish a 'masterpiece' (and most likely cursing said master piece) wondering how on earth a task seemingly as simple as icing a sponge cake can be so difficult and why oh why did we leave the cake decorating until the night before! 

So I thought I would put together some cakes that are easy to create but still look fun & fantastic and are sure to please little party guests.  There are recipes and tutorials included in the links making it nice and easy (and hopefully less stressful) for you to recreate these gorgeous cakes for your little ones! 

If you give any of these fun cakes a try, we would love to see your efforts.  Please feel free to share with us, we love to hear from you :)

Farmyard Cake.  I am a HUGE fan of the basic farm yard cake.  I remember in our childhood Women's Weekly Cake Book there is a section at the back with different style Farm cakes.  So easy but very fun and effective.  This cute cake from Taste.com.au 

The Kit Kat Cake.  Cake and Chocolate, always a winner!

This cake from Recipe Girl. 

Another take on the Kit Kat Cake is this 'Teddy Beach Cake'.  I love love love this cake, it is so cute!

This cake from Lovely Party Things.com 

This basic Marshmallow Cake is still really cute and would be perfect for a little girls 1st Birthday. 

This cake from Kidspot. 

This Construction cake looks awesome and nice and easy to decorate. Milo, malteasers & honeycomb, can anyone say YUM!  This cake from Petticoats & Peplums. 

This is one of the best kids cake ideas I have come across. Cover your cake in white fondant and let the birthday child decorate with food pens.  We planned on doing this for my sons Art party last year though he changed his mind on theme at the last minute.  Definitely one year I will be doing this!  This cake from Sweetapolita. 

Pretty pink icing and sprinkles, so simple but so pretty!  Another gorgeous cake from Sweetapolita.  

The 'Naked' cake.  Layer your cake and ice simply on top and add some fun toppers. 

This cake from Delia Creates.  (includes tutorial to make these sparkly toppers as well.)

The Rainbow layer cake.  Make the inside of your cake the highlight and just frost with plain icing. 

This cake from Betty Crocker. 

Kids would have lots of fun cracking open this Pinata Cake.  This cake from Thirty Nine (using the Women's Weekly pinata cake recipe.) 

Fun Race Car Birthday cake.  This cake from At the Corner of Happy and Harried. 

Pretty Marshmallow Flower cake.  This cake from Kidspot. 

Happy Decorating!

Kate xx

Party Food Recipes ~ Meringues

Hi There :)

My lovely friend Tara from Gluten Free Hart made some amazing meringues not too long ago and she has been kind enough to let me share her recipe with you all today. 

Meringues are an absolute winner in my household and they are a yummy and fun party food.  What I also love is that they can be made completely gluten free (with no comprimise in taste) which is great for all of us who need to cater for children with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance as it can often be tricky to find yummy sweets for parties that are gluten free. 

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Ingredients
4 egg whites (eggs must be at room temperature)
Pinch of salt                                                    
1 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons gluten free cornflour
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Sprinkles/100's & 1000's if desired

Pre-heat your oven to 100°C  

Method
Make sure your mixing bowl is clean.  Any trace of fat can bring your meringue merriment to a screeching halt. Using an electric mixer, beat your egg whites and salt until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar.  Beat until mixture becomes glossy and all of the sugar has dissolved.
If you rub a little between your thumb and forefinger and the mix is no longer gritty, you're good to go.  At this point, add cornflour, vinegar & any colour preference (mix until just combined).

Use a piping bag with a wide star tip to create your meringues.  Aim for about 4-5 cm diameter and allow space between each on a lined baking tray.  You can sprinkle 100 & 1000's on the tops if desired (remember if you are needing gluten free to check your sprinkles as some brands do contain gluten.)

Bake for 2 hours until meringues have a hardened shell and sound hollow when gently tapped on the bottom.

Now for the hard part.  The waiting..
Turn your oven off and allow meringues to cool for a couple of hours.  I stick a wooden spoon in the door so it remains ajar whilst meringues are cooling.

Well done! You made it.  ENJOY!               

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You can read Tara's full article here, it's full of laughs :)  I also 
highly recommend Tara's Blog Gluten Free Hart for anyone who needs a gluten free lifestyle as there are lots of great recipes and other tips available. 

Thanks Tara for letting me share your yummy recipe!

Enjoy.

Kate xx    

Frozen Party Ideas

Frozen is the party theme of the moment & for good reason, the movie was fantastic, wasn't it ?  Give me a Disney Musical any day!

The internet is just bursting with party ideas and inspiration and the range of beautiful products available is endless.  Here are a few party faves of mine for this fun theme. 

Happy Planning!

Frozen Party Supplies & Decorations

Plates, cups, napkins, table covers, balloons, party bags, party bag fillers, edible cake images & more! 

Buy from Piece of Cake Parties & Celebrations,  Character Parties, This Party Started,  Shop Now HQ 

Frozen inspired Tulle Pom Poms from Pom Pom Princess.

Cute Frozen inspired cupcake toppers from Sweetheart Party Extras, matching banners also available. 

Party Favours/ Party Bag Fillers

Frozen Hair Bows, perfect for party favours.  From Tahlee 'n' Me.

One of my lovely customers gave me this idea as she is using them for her Frozen party.  Plaster painting kits, perfect for party activities and take home gifts.  From Plaster Craft Workshop. 

I adore this favour idea!  From Jacolyn Murphy. 

Adorable Olaf party bags from Team Skelley (full tutorial included.)

Party Food Ideas & Cakes 

Frozen inspired Marshmallow pops from Around My Family Table (full tutorial included.)

Snowflake Princess Party Cake Kit from Cake 2 The Rescue.

 Amazing cake by Mommy Bakes Brisbane. 

Jelly Ice Cubes, cute take on regular jelly cups.  From Bubbly Nature Creations. 

Hats & Costumes

Elsa inspired costume from Fairytale Treasures. 

Beautiful Frozen inspired party hat from Miss Charlie's Treasures. 

Frozen inspired dress from Always Sew Love.

Entertainment

Snow Princess Party Entertainers from Encore Kids Parties (Perth).

Face painting by Wicked Faces Kids Parties.

Snowman Tissue Box Bowling - perfect for toddler aged parties, this would be heaps of fun!  From Craftaholics Anonymous. 

If you have your own awesome Frozen party ideas, feel free to share them with us by leaving a comment below :)

Kate x

Sweet & Simple Easter Gift Ideas ♥

Hi There :)

Sorry about the long time between posts! I can't believe Easter is almost here already.  

I wanted to share a few sweet and simple Easter gift ideas that I have found and love, that make a great alternative to buying pre- packed Easter eggs at the Supermarket.  Whilst little hand made gifts can be more time consuming, I think that they show a lot of love and are received excitedly by children and adults alike. 

Some of these will definitely be used in our family this year ♥ 

These adorable milk bottle bunnies filled with sweets are a cute and thoughtful Easter gift.  Love them! From The Idea Room.  Full tutorial & printable labels here.  (Glass milk bottles can be found at many stores such as Red Dot, Gone Bazaar, Thingz & discount shops.  The Reject Shop also sell plastic milk bottles which would be perfect to give for children.)

Adorable Bunny Lollipops from The Mother Huddle.  Full tutorial here 

A fun & simple chocolate alternative from Club ChicaCircle.  Full tutorial here

Cute little Bunny bag toppers, a cute way to give a simple bag of sweets.  From Skip to My Lou, full tutorial & printable download here.

This option would be great to give as a 'family' gift instead of individual.  Mix up up with mini Easter eggs & lollies.  Then wrap the carton in some pretty fabric & ribbon.   From the Crafting Chicks.  Full tutorial here.http://thecraftingchicks.com/2011/04/easy-tasty-easter-gift.html 

What other ideas have you got for Easter Gifts ?  Please feel free to share other great options with us by leaving us a comment :)

Kate xx

Real Party Feature - Angry Birds Star Wars

Real Party Feature - Angry Birds Star Wars 

by Elise Easdown, Managing Director of 

What's on 4 Little Ones Australia. 

There was never any question as to what my soon to be five year old son was going to choose as his birthday party theme this year.  He had become Angry Birds and Star Wars ‘obsessed’ and when the two came together in a marketers dream he was hooked!

Naturally the first thing we searched together for was the cake.  I had decided that every second year I would outsource the cake to a cake maker.  I find it makes for a much less stressful lead up to the birthday experience and I was more than happy to have someone else create the Star Wars/Angry Birds cake as I had no idea where to start.  I returned to my trusted cake maker and decorator here in Brisbane, Mommy Bakes Brisbane as she had made my daughters Peppa Pig cake last year, which was amazing.  You can see that blog here.

I gave Ella from Mommy Bake the basic idea that we were after a cake that incorporated Angry Birds and Star Wars and that it was to feed about 25 guests.  Ella was excited about the challenge and I was relieved to hand that part of the party preparation over to her. The chocolate cake itself was divine with layers of yummy chocolate frosting.

The invitations were a template I used from Kids Party Invites and had the details altered by Joni  at MPlusPR which included adding the photo of my son’s face to the template.  I then printed these onto photographic paper, attached a magnet on the back and delivered them in a bright orange envelope, my son’s favorite colour,

 It wouldn’t be a party without a Light Saber and my clever husband got very crafty with some coloured pool noodles and black and silver electrical tape.  It took about. 1.5 hours to make 15 pool noodle light sabers but it was well worth the effort.  At the party we had structured games with the light sabers and then the kids had free play in the playground.  They kept them well entertained for over an hour and were very safe and durable.

I focused the food around Star Wars themes such as Vader Veggies, Princess Leia’s pinwhee Buns,  Padawan Potatoes etc.  They were a great talking point!

I had cute food labels, food toppers and a banner made from Sweetheart Party Designs.  These added features really helped bring the theme together.  For the party favours I obviously allowed children take the light sabers home and a little sweet treat of jelly beans also made by Sweetheart party Designs.

Overall it was a fantastic theme and I’m looking forward to what next year is going to bring.  May the force be with you!

Elise Easdown, mum of two little ones.