Wednesday 14 March 2012

Let them eat cake, and a winner.

Hello, sorry it's all been quiet for a while. As usual at this time of year, I'm a flap, thinking about birthday parties and baking birthday cakes. The boys have their big days within 2 and half weeks of each other, but ever since we all got some appalling vomiting bug over Boy1's first birthday and I wasn't able to finish his cake - let alone entertain party guests - March has loomed over me like GCSE coursework every year.

I know, it's stupid, the kids themselves are excited regardless and have never claimed their birthday was ruined or anything so melodramatic, but it's the one area where I become totally neurotic. If I'm not monitoring the outbreaks of D&V in nursery and working out how many days grace we'd have to get ill and recover before a party (yes, it's happened again since that doomed first birthday), I'm convincing myself that they'll one day be discussing the inferior frosting on the dinosaur cake with their therapist.


I blame my mother. I always had such fantastic birthdays, with themed cakes depending on my interests at the time - fairy toadstool house, magician's top-hat, signed photograph of Tom Cruise [yeah, I got fancy cakes right into my teens. And I fancied him before he became an unnervingly white-toothed sofa-jumping mentalist. Now, not so much] - that I  feel anything less would be letting my kids down. Imagine - just being able to sling a Ben10 'celebration tray bake' in the trolley and job done! But I was brought up with a healthy disdain for 'supermarket cake' - thanks again, Mum - so why not make things difficult for myself and make an edible model of a Nintendo DSi? [You'll notice I'm not Mumzilla enough to pay someone who's actually competent to make it for me - I prefer to suffer and spend £150 on something which won't end its life as a handful of crumbs in a novelty serviette].

It doesn't help that I have several Facebook friends who are professional cake makers, forever posting photos of creations which wouldn't look out of place at the Palace of Versailles.

Made by my talented friend who opened  PMT cupcakes tea room last year.
If you need a properly impressive cake - contact her @PMTCupcakes

Mine taste good, but I've never been on a cake decorating course, and most of the year no-one expects my Victoria sponge to resemble Captain Hook. Mary Berry isn't there on the Great British Bake-off saying "it's delicious, but I'd have enjoyed it so much more if it was shaped like a Victorian steam engine". [It had cotton wool steam billowing from a mini roll funnel. In case you're wondering]. If I'd made the same cake twice a year for seven years, maybe I wouldn't have this problem, but there's been little opportunity to practise making a giant lego brick before now.

Boy1's 7th birthday cake
Despite appearances, this cake was not moulded from play-doh by the chubby digits of a three year old child.

Anyway, he liked it - or the five new mini figures I decorated it with - and I breathed a sigh of relief before surveying what was left of my house following a three hour party for ten rampaging children. And remembering I have to do it all again in 10 days time.

Anyway, this lengthy ramble was supposed to explain my tardiness in choosing a winner for my fabulous blogiversary giveaway. So, as chosen by the random number generator, congratulations to number 6 - aka Alice from An Alien World. Please could you email me with your address?

Hello as well to new followers - I've a load of blogs to catch up on, but do drop me a comment so I can come and say hi.

Lakota x

No more lego now, I promise.

Linking up to Handmade Thursday 

This is a subtle subliminal message ... nominate my eBay posts please...in the BiB awards...laugh category...closes tomorrow...thank you...

35 comments:

  1. Oh the shame! lol! Your lego cake is amazing! xx

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  2. I think the lego cake is super cute!
    My Mom made almost all my birthday cakes when I was a child. None of them scarred me for life... So don't stress too much. Kids are just happy to eat a shizz load of sugar and open presents.
    *Congrats to An Alien World*

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  3. With a 12 yr old now, the whole birthday thing has worn me out. Especially since her birthday is a mere 5 weeks after Christmas (and we have 4 birthdays within 10 days before Christmas (2 nephews, a sister & brother-in-law). So I completely understand the craziness that happens. Take a deep breath and a lot of vodka to prepare for the next one.

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  4. Ooooo Alice will be ever so pleased when she gets back from Paris! This will be a wonderful surprise :D

    That lego cake is so adorable, I bet you were cleaning up sticky fingers after they tucked into that beast!

    I remember my 21st birthday cake was a large 2 and a 1 in white icing covered in delicate purple and lilac icing flowers, my mum had it specially made for me and all my friends enjoyed it very much! Mmmm I realllly want some cake now.. but we have none :( xxx

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  5. I think you did a brilliant job on the Lego cake! It's difficult not to feel dwarfed by other people's amazing talents sometimes but do things your own way and I bet it'll look (and taste!) brilliant. Fingers crossed that nobody comes down with anything!

    Jem xXx

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  6. Oh God the whole birthday thing is hideous isn't it? As for birthday cakes, well I've never made one in my life (oh, apart from one which was like a hard fat biscuit but when slathered in nutella and smarties was surprisingly edible). Anyway, I think your Lego cake is amazing. Give yourself a pat on the back and several glasses of wine. Xx

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  7. Just wanted to say so sorry for not commenting here recently - your blog was one of a bunch that disappeared off Google Reader list and I only realised it today, when I was thinking about all of you and wondering where you all were. I hope I didn't come acorss as a snooty cow. Oh grief I am embarrassed.

    Anyway - March. Yes. Big birthday month here too. Lots of cake making. Your Lego cake is cracking - so cool.

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  8. You are the sweetest Mum. I adore this Lego cake. I love that you put the toys on it too and not some cheap throw away things. I don't know how you Mum's pull off half of what you do but we'd all be lost without you!
    XOXO~
    Krista

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  9. Lego cake looked wonderful!

    I feel your pain in March. Husband (3rdd), #1son (29), #1(14), Godfather (21), Uncle (26).

    March = cake overdose

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  10. Genius! I long for a lego cake! (except I'm not keen on icing! Can you make one using buttercream instead!)

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  11. Calm down missus. I made Twiglet a tardis cake last year it appeared to shrink overnight so was a squat blue square on his birthday.
    Bless that boy, he said it's the best cake ever and it's the right colour Mummy :) Your Lego cake is ace
    Twiggy x

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  12. You’re a cake-making Mum after my own heart. You’ve seen (and commented) on my past efforts so you know what I mean. Funnily enough, I’ve got my daughter visiting at the moment and we’ve been looking at old photos of her birthday cakes over the years, all of which she could recite and remember. So, there you are - the effort is worth it - right to the last crumb!

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  13. I've nominated you Missy but I'm not sure if a nomination from Australia counts? Goodluck anyway, your ebay posts are hilarious and you deserve to win.

    Your lego cake is brilliant, I think shop bought b'day cakes are boring and they usually taste, well actually they don't have much of a taste, do they... One of a Mum's most important jobs is to turn out a lop-sided, slightly crap looking cake she's spent ages decorating (sometimes to no avail=me!) each year. I treasure a photo of little me with a Dolly Varden cake made by my Mum x

    p.s. have you seen Mel's (Bungalow Bliss) Legoman cake? Most recent post. It's awesome.

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  14. Brill cake making. My one and only birthday cake creation was a Batman cake for my boy's fifth...It was green on red because I didn't have black and they weren't overly impressed!
    You have dropped off my sidebar/link thing for some reason and so has La Dama.xxxxx

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  15. Your cake is smashing the important thing is that your son loved it ;-) It not the cost its the love that it was made with and by your own fair hands you can't put a price on that. Your kids will have fond memories of that. dee x

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  16. Fabbo Lego cake that and a great idea to put it on that Lego base too. You can't beat a homemade cake made with love xxx

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  17. I love your lego cake! You should of seen the mushroom cake my Mum tried to make me for my 21st last year total disaster. We ate pumpkin scones instead. xx

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  18. I think your lego cake is great! My Mom use to make different cakes, though I think in the 80's she use to be able to rent for the day various character cake tins (not sure they even do that anymore?). I remember my Mother telling me that my first grade teacher was appalled that I wanted a Darth Vader cake for my Birthday..she said 'that's for boys!'..my mother made me one anyhow..as that was what I wanted :P

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  19. Absolutely classic! I attempted a sports car for my son several years ago. Jeeezuz it looked awful, but it tasted good!

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  20. Sometimes I think I live on a different planet to everyone else. I don't recall birthday cakes ever making an impact on my childhood.
    Your Lego cake looks great and I'm sure your boy loved it.
    Your blog's in my side bar. x

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  21. They're fab! You and I are like cake twins, I've made the DS cake AND the Lego brick cake and am on the cusp of my 10th effort for my son's birthday next week and he keeps changing what he's into (NOT HELPFUL!) I too hate shop-bought cake and love to have a themed cake for my kids' birthdays but wouldn't dream of paying someone else to do it, I'm tight like that! x

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  22. I think the Lego cake looks ace! I had loads of really wonderful cakes growing up, but they were either shop bought or more commonly, made by a professional. But I must say, I really used to envy the other kids who had mums whom were arts and crafty and would bake them something....even the ones that looked a bit wobbly still tasted loads better, and its all about the taste in my book!

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  23. Haha love the ecard and very impressed with the lego cake- looks like lego, what more is there to do?
    I am going to be a total embarrassment to Ramona when it comes to making cakes for her I am sure. I can't even decorate a biscuit.

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  24. awwwwww you did a brilliant job on making that lego cake, Lakota! it looks awesome! i think you're a super mom! i had to cringe imagining myself if i had two kids and their birthdays are close to each other, you must be super duper busy baking and entertaining and organizing the parties! i do hope you'll get to relax a little bit and breathe! hehe but i do agree with you that if i had kids, i would bake my own cakes and try my best to organize my kids' birthday parties even if it kills me :)

    xx susan

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  25. and oh! congrats to Alice on winning the giveaway, so jealous!! xx

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  26. Cool idea to make a humungous lego brick Lakota, I'm well impressed as I am sure your son was. I was crafty for many of Alice's birthday's and asked a brilliant baker friend to make her a cake every year as her birthday gift...nothing fancy but it worked a charm! Next birthday she will be 12 and no doubt will be happy with a plain old victoria sponge,her favourite cake ever xox

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  27. Lego cake is tremendous - you're very clever. Your boys will always remember their wonderful birthdays! Congrats to Alice :) xxx

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  28. Your cake is brilliant. It ticks all the boxes and am sure it was delicious.
    My husband doesn't need, or want anything I make...he is going away to the mines in WA, and I thought it would be nice to have a little bit of my craft. When I gave it to him, he laughed!

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  29. Wow, 2 weeks apart. I'm finding a lot of people conceive around the same time of the year. Cake making is fun. I don't blame you. I've seen some really cute cookie monster cupcakes I wanna tackle one day. Thanks for your congrats. I haven't looked at my reader much but I'll keep my eye out for any funny business.

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  30. very cute cake, I don't think I can even attempt a sponge cake, so I think yours is wonderful. It's nice to be able to bake birthday cakes for your children, I always remember the ones that my mom used to bake for my birthdays, and they are always baked with so much love. So I see a lot of love put into this lego cake. Your kids will remember this for life! Btw regarding your question, yes I do see your blog updates on my blogger.

    mongs
    mythriftycloset.blogspot.com

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  31. Your Lego cake is awesome! I'm off to the Lego centre this weekend in manchester and I am probably too excited about it for a 24yr old who has no kids...

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  32. The lego cake is amazing, you know what an arse i am at making cake so the thought of doing it again this year sends me running to the supermarket. Eugh the D&V bugs, seriously not fun - i blame the children ;o) Scarlett x

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  33. I adorar your lego cake! it looks like its full of butter cream. mmmm.
    My siter goes all out for niece but she gets them done at a bakery shop.
    kids will eat anything anyways.
    besios

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  34. Oooh brilliant cake- good job! Curses for not winning the giveaway! xx

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  35. Lego again! I can relate to always being completely spoilt as a child. My Mum would always choose one big theme at birthdays, and it would usually be whatever I was obsessing over that particular year. I’m sure both your boys are incredibly proud to have such a wonderful and thoughtful Mum xxx

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