Here we go - I have finally down loaded about one million photos to show you from Hugo's birthday party... This year it was all about the food with many requests (dare I say orders) from the almost six year old. Hugo wanted to be involved with lots of the making this year so for his cake, the boys and I made little fondant penguins. I have to say that it turned out to be a very good, child friendly project and we were all thrilled with the results. Between the penguins' feet, we popped in some little candy covered chocolate eggs so they would look slightly "Happy Feetish". It also made them taste better.
Hugo decided he HAD to make chocolates for his friends at school so we sprinkled hundreds and thousands into silicon moulds, poured white chocolate over the top and then popped in lolly pop sticks. Voila!
Because Hugo's birthday was the day before the party and the birthday cake was being saved for the next day, we had a fancy afternoon tea with lollies in cupcakes cases and specially iced melting moments with sprinkles. I love the circus motifs found on these cases.
To continue on with the polar theme, I made lots and lots of white chocolate lego men - they were all supposed to have scarves on made from royal icing but by this stage I was beginning to flag.
Funny to think that for Archie's first birthday party everything was homemade, nutritious and virtually sugar free. How things have changed... and for the better.
Hugo requested a boat cake with penguins and jelly - the boat was a chocolate cake with white chocolate icing. It was supposed to be cleverly iced with different colours however, it was a new, untested recipe and wouldn't stop running. In the end I abandoned my first plan and decided to make it a snow-bound wreck colonised with penguins. With the icebergs I cut my losses and covered them with royal icing (so much easier but nowhere near as tasty). I bought a snowflake cutter which made the snowflakes supremely easy and scattered them around the jelly at the last moment.
That's right, the cakes were immersed in jelly (ugghhh - the kids liked it though). Not having had much to do with the professional world of cake decorating, I was thrilled to find little pearly white balls that formed the most delicious snow. I like easy snow.
Hugo was a polar bear (although it was hard to tell as he didn't wear his cape for very long...) and I was an arctic hare. Anything to wear bunny ears.
Archie was an explorer of the antarctic. He is wearing his great grandfather's cap.
Dominique for next door made Hugo this pinata. It seemed such a waste to let little children beat it to death but fortunately Hugo found a use for it after - see photo below.
It was a good birthday.
And now would you believe that I am utterly exhausted and it is very hard to imagine how I am going to do it all over again in two weekends for Archie. Thank goodness Archie wants to spend his party in the swamp getting muddy with his mates... apparently our job will be to provide energy food and pelt them with water balloons. I can do that.
Lots of love,
Kate xxooxx.