The Elegant Baker: Adventures in Parenting

It's hard to believe my daughter will be 16 in 11 days...I'm having trouble breathing already. She has been an adventure since the moment I laid eyes on her...and has changed me for the better.

I've been preparing this cake for a while now, working on flowers one night, making fondant the next, baking the cakes....rebaking the cakes (eggs shouldn't be forgotten), icing the next...reicing. Some may find it strange that a mother would spend what could have probably been an entire week on one birthday cake, but not for me. There was something about taking the time, the care...the love that I just needed to do. Now that the cake is done....I could have spend years on the cake..it would have never totalled the amount of love I have for that kid. She's sweeter than cake :)

Here's my girl at 3 years....insert awwww here...

This cake was a couple of firsts for me, some which I'll do again...others are sitting in the bottom of my garbage can.

I enjoy making things from scratch, but someone invented 'boxes' of cake mix for good reason, my sanity. After a horribly failed attempt at making a plain white cake, to which I forgot the eggs..I tossed it. Then, because I'm a gluten for punishment, I tried it again, this time I forgot the milk. Seriously?!

Once I had my handy dandy cake mix from the grocery store in hand, it was smooth sailing. The batter was divine...and pink :) Cake 1 / Baker 0

I then tried my hand at gum paste flowers. Gum paste, where have you been all my life? This stuff rocks. I managed to make a small batch, coloured it pink, rolled it around in icing sugar and voila, instant garden. The leaves didn't turn out as well, but the cutter I had for leaves was obnoxiously huge, so I'll have to remember to pick up a 'teeny' one next time.

I also used 'dust' for the first time. OMG, I could use this crap as eyeshadow, it's awesome! Once I brought home my little tube of glitter, I quickly searched the house for vodka. No joke, the instructions on the back say 'pour small amount of vodka into a Candy Melting Plate cavity'.

Vodkaless, as usual, I opted for lemon juice instead and sprinkled the dust into the bowl, as I was fresh out of 'Candy Melting Plate Cavities'. I stole a brand new paint brush from my son's model airplane kit and away I went. I love this dust crap...I'd love it better if it was mixed with vodka though :)

I made fondant, which isn't a first for me, but this was the first time I screwed up the recipe so royally, I had to make a whole new batch. Fondant 1 / Baker 0

Her party is this weekend, in our basement, therefore I (and my hubby) plan on enjoying this party from the comfort of my neighbour's porch...ah peace and quiet.

Here is the finished product.....