Cake Time! February Traditions

It’s February! That means cake season. If you read my previous post, my kids have a long-standing tradition of requesting serious cakes, and I do my best to make it happen.

Insert picture of my children requesting and planning cake. 

This year, my oldest, now 12, requested a “Baby Minecraft Zombie, with a working guillotine to decapitate him.” Oh, I wish this were a story of executing this fantastic idea. Instead, I bought everything to make a guillotine, became overwhelmed with existence and gratefully allowed Papa to take over construction. Papa plans to make the guillotine, and we will use it on cupcakes or other cakes next year. (Update: It turned out beautifully, is not dangerous, and we will be attempting to slice cupcakes with it soon.)

I present to you: Baby Minecraft Zombie. He requested a chocolate cake, chocolate ganache filling, and vanilla buttercream. I don’t usually do final decoration with buttercream, but the eldest isn’t fond of fondant….. So, I did what was requested. It turned out fabulous! Despite my lengthy fight with buttercream, I achieved the spirit of this baby zombie. Deliciously messy baby zombie. Perhaps the best buttercream I’ve ever made! (The secret is homemade vanilla extract and a touch of vanilla caviar.)

Baby Minecraft Zombie, in vanilla buttercream.

My youngest, who is suddenly 8, requested something entirely different. He wanted a red panda cake. He recently visited the Lincoln Zoo, and red pandas occupy his brain. This cake is based on an idea I saw on Pinterest, but I’m doing everything possible to stay out of the #nailedIt hashtags.

I present “Red Panda,” chocolate cake, strawberry dragonfruit filling, and a chocolate ganache top with fondant decorations. The bamboo sides are gluten-free cocoa-filled wafer rolls.

Another extraordinary cake event. It’s my favorite time of year by far. I sat molding this little red panda out of natural food dye and cocoa while I talked with my parents about the cakes, my kids, and life in general. I treasure the time I get with my family.

We all dug into the cake, my kids opened their presents, and it was a beautiful day. As long as they ask me for fancy cakes, I’ll do my best to make them.