Any ideas for a birthday cake for my daughters 1st birthday next week?

Question

I'd love to make her cake, something a little more than an iced sponge cake would be good, but I have no idea where to start!!

Although I am reasonably proficient in the kitchen, I am by no means an experienced cake decorator. Does anyone have any good ideas (with instructions please!) for a simple but effective cake? I was wondering about perhaps the hedgehog cake that was so impressive when we were younger... or a duck, or a ladybird would go down well with my daughter. Or a flower, seeing as her name is Daisy!

Pennies are limited at the moment, so buying fancy cake tins is out.

Many thanks for your ideas!

Answer 1

when my daughter was 1, I made her a bunny cake- I used two round cake pans and one round cake was the head and the other I cut into three sections to make the ears and bow tie. I then used one color icing to cover the cake and different kinds of candies for details. It was very cheap but very cute.
I have seen other neat designs make with a simple patter of cutting a round, rectangle or square cake just the right way. You might also consider using cupcakes to make a cupcake cake- put them close together frost them green and make little flowers to put on top, or make a long caterpillar with different colored sprinkles on them and candies for the face.

These sites may help with ideas :

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/special/specialfeature/cakefinder-birthday/

http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/_bd-cake.html

http://www.easy-birthday-cakes.com/butterfly-birthday-cake.html

http://www.simplesweetness.com/cupcakecakes.htm

Answer 2

Make a chocolate sponge mix as normal. Grease an oven proof pudding basin and put mixture into this. Cook as usual and when cool cut it in half (across). Then turn the 2 halves around to form more of a hedgehog shape. Cut a small piece to make the nose. Spread chocolate butter icing all over the cake and lift it on to a plate or cake board. Fix the nose shape on with some butter icing. Place chocolate buttons into the butter icing at an angle, covering all the cake except the nose end. Make the points go in the same direction to make them look like spikes. Add a cherry or red smartie for a nose.

Answer 3

This may not work for her first birthday and if you're on a budget at the moment, but it's a good idea to keep in mind for future birthday ideas. When I was a little girl, my mom was famous for her cakes and she would make us a cake that showed whatever we were really into at the time....My Little Pony, Donald Duck (when I turned 2), Mickey Mouse, whatever. But she also made us little girls. They sell cake pans that are shaped like up-side down bells and all you do is make the cake itself in that shape and buy these little half Barbie things. Picture a Barbie body with a large tootpick instead of legs (she's cut off at the waist). You can use your daughter's Barbie clothes (or buy cheap ones) to cover her top, then decorate the cake however you want. You make her look like a princess, or a bride, or just like she's wearing a pretty dress. I've even seen one that looked like a mermaid sitting on a rock. You'll need to buy cake decorator tips and either buy, or learn to make, the stiffer icing needed for that kind of project. Go to your local arts & crafts store to find all of the supplies and most often, the pan comes with decorating ideas. I made a bride for my best friend a few years ago for her engagement party and it was a big hit. Good luck and Happy Birthday, Daisy!

Answer 4

It's worth noting that you can take simple rectangular, square, and round cakes and shape them into something neat, just by cutting them apart and reassembling them...remember the slice and bake cookies where you could take ONE circle shape, cut it into wedges and then arrange them and it baked into the shape of an angel? That's what I'm talking about.

A heart might be all you need. Get a round layer pan and a square cake pan the same width across and bake your cakes in these. You would angle the square on the center of your serving board, making a diamond, then cut the circle in half and put each half straight side against adjacent sides (on the top) to finish the heart shape. Frost it as one large cake in white, and polka dot it in red or pink with happy birthday and a candle.

You could also just do a pretty layer cake in circles or a 9x13 cake that you frost with white and decorate with colored sugars.

You could do a Bundt cake, it is a purchase of another pan but these are pretty versatile for future use, you can make sticky buns, angel food cake, jello molds, punch bowl ice rings, etc in these pans.

With the cake tipped upside down it is ready to have a simple thin icing drizzled on top. Very elegant, I would do a white cake (or confetti cake mix) with pink frosting for her, or a white frosting with a dusting of cocoa or colored powdered sugar that you dyed yourself, or colored granulated sugar...maybe the cake is served with strawberries or a pretty pastel colored ice cream.

You can cut costs by dying your own sugars and making the cake yourself, but you could also buy premade cake decorating items or have a half sheet cake made at the bakery, undecorated, and shape and decorate it yourself, which would save you on pan costs.

Answer 5

Our favourite cake is one where you just make a plain sponge cake with jam/icing in the middle then melt Cadbury chocolate and pour it over the cake.

We then give the kids a couple of packets of sweets - Haribo, buttons, maltesers etc and let them decorate it themselves - always goes down much better than anything fancy!

Know your little one may be a bit young but am still sure she would enjoy licking the spoon/bowl!

Answer 6

I did this once for a car club:

Make a neopolitan round cake of white, chocolate and strawberry. Then, mix together green and yellow dye (to make blue) and pour the dye into white icing and ice the cake in blue. Then take white lettering and color in a VW logo on to the top of the cake.

Answer 7

For my daughters first birthday I did cupcakes. They are the perfect size for little ones to handle and eat on their own. I bought an inexpensive tiered plate from Kmart or Target and put them on that. Since her name is Daisy you could decorate the tops of them like a daisy...fairly simple!

Answer 8

when you have little ones, you want to make it super easy to eat as well as cute.
I think cupcake cakes are the best idea. you can lay them out on a platter like a big flower with a stem and just put different colored icing on each one, maybe with some simple dots on each one, and make the ones for the stem green.
this would be so easy and super cute.
congrats on the bday, how exciting. i cant wait to have kids!

Answer 9

Why not just go for a cake in a shape of a one white with pink piping , as long as it is tasty a One Year old will think its great and simplicity is class .

Answer 10

Make a Daisy shaped cake your daughter and your guests will like it.