Let them eat cake! (Or maybe, let them eat one spoonful, then say they had enough...)

It's official. This morning Matteo turned 5. We survived a chaotic, albeit, very fun party. This was the first party where many parents dropped off their kids rather than staying. That adds an element of challenge too- I now have PROFOUND appreciation for the patience and talent of Matteo's preschool teachers. But, for the most part, everyone left happy, and it was pretty memorable.

It's funny, but one of the things I spend the most time on, and feel the most proud of is the cake for a birthday bash. I say it is funny, because you are talking to someone who, as a kid, would SOB over the prospect of going to a birthday party and having to eat cake. I loathed the stuff. My mum would say, "Just tell them you don't want any." But I would reply in tears, "But you always say I have to eat everything someone puts in front of me and they always put cake in front of me." I can still remember a milestone in my life- going to Shannon's birthday party and her mum had made a sherbert cake shaped like a watermelon slice, with little chocolate chips for the seeds. No cake, no icing. Heaven. At any rate, I spend a lot of time thinking about the cake. Maybe because I watch Cake Boss and naturally assume, I too am as talented as Buddy Valastro. This is never the case, but, I never seem to give up that hope. Usually, I send the kids to daycare while I bake and decorate the cake. Why? Well, ahem, the air is never bluer than when I bake a birthday cake. Things start to go south, and all of a sudden, my large vocabulary is involuntarily forgotten in favour of a myriad of expletives and horrendous expressions that would make a sailor blush. It's ugly (not to mention shocking coming out of a 5 ft tall elementary school music teacher). This time, however, I baked while the kids were in bed and my husband was on the couch with his ipod in his ears. And miraculously, only one cuss was let go, and it was not a major. Plus, it was smooth sailing- 4 hours top to tail. Here's what it looked like:

I like doing fondant. It is like playing with playdough. Once I figured out how to cover the cake, the rest is super easy. Plus, for an icing hater like me, you can get away with very little buttercream underneath. I always find that when doing a buttercream iced cake, you really have to use a ton to make it look right. Now, this cake is not huge. And I suppose I thought more would be consumed, so I decided I'd better make a small batch of cupcakes too. Enter Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone. What?, you ask? This dude:

The Muppaphone. Matteo loves this as it sings one of his favourite songs, the Witchdoctor. And if you haven't seen this- you tube it. You won't regret it. Here's the cupcakes: 

 Here's my list of dirty little secrets: I don't make cake from scratch. If I'm going to spend the time on decorating the thing, I don't want to spend the time on baking it too. Plus, I discovered an awesome recipe for cake mix pound cake. It uses a package of instant pudding and produces the most delicious dense and moist cake- perfect for decorating. I also don't make my fondant. I have made my fondant, it isn't that hard. But it is time consuming. Plus when I stupidly dyed it toxic waste green by over doing the food colouring, and had to start from scratch, sending my husband out at 8 p.m. for more glycerine or something, I threw in the proverbial towel. I save my coupons from the craft store and refuse to buy the fondant for less than 40% off. I will occasionally colour purchased fondant myself. I'm getting more confident there. I dyed the lime green and the yellow on this cake. 

This party was a good one. Very fun. Man, was I glad I had lots of activities planned- that many kids left to their own devices in my very small house would have produced an explosion of toys and noise that would have turned your eyelids inside out. My favourite activity was the ribbon pinata- it was spectacular fun! Here are some photos of the day:

 A decorated house- ready for a party!

 My brilliant mum sewed this banner. It is cloth and I love it so much. She made separate Matteo and Elio banners- I just pin them on for the appropriate birthday. 

 My muppetly man models the shirts that I made for the guests instead of goodie bags.

 Love that kid!

 Good groceries as my sister says- waiting for feeding time.

 The finished ribbon pinata. I will always do this from now on. Try it- you'll love it too!

Craft station set up and ready to go. 

As much as I'm already thinking ahead to Elio's birthday in June, and I will admit, I am, I plan on doing sweet NOTHING tomorrow! 

Happy trails all!