With Thanksgiving, Emma's birthday, Ethan's birthday, a HUGE deadline, and Christmas all hitting within the span of 4 weeks time, this place has been a bit of a madhouse.
Since the kids' birthdays are so close together, we usually alternate each year and only give one a friend party. The other gets a small, quiet (yeah, right!) family party at home.
I don't know if I've mentioned that Ethan is a but obsessed with the Angry Birds. He is. And this year he asked specifically for a big cake--not cupcakes. I'm not a baker, but how could I deny such a sweet request?
Thus was born the Angry Bird cake.
Although I didn't take progress shots of the cake, I'll share the steps so that you can make one of your own if you want. This is such an easy process, even I couldn't screw it up!
1. Use two cake mixes and bake 4 8-inch round cakes. Cool and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for between 2 hours to overnight.
2. Unwrap the frozen cakes. If they have big bulges on top, shave them off so that they will stack better. This is so easy when the cake is frozen!
3. Stack up the four layers, frosting in between each one. I used a couple cans of the cheep white frosting, colored with some yellow food coloring. Then, carefully shape the stacked cake into a rounded pyramid.
4. If the cake is still mostly frozen, coat the shaped cake with a very thin layer of frosting. This will lock in the loose crumbs. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
5. Next comes the fun part. Cover the cake with the rest of the yellow frosting. I will glide over the frozen layer and look wonderful. For the white feathers, I used large marshmallows cut into slices and layered onto the front of the bird.
The eyes are also marshmallows, with chocolate chips for pupils. The angry eyebrows are chocolate chips, too. The only tricky part was the nose. We used a piece of trimmed cake, frosted with orange, and stuck on with a toothpick. I think a baby carrot might have worked, too.
The crest and the tail are also marshmallows. I snipped them into a fan shape, and then dipped them into a little bowl of melted chocolate chips.
Ethan was pleased with his Angry Bird cake.
The rest of the birthday "party" was spent opening presents and playing with family.
He even got a hand-drawn card from his big sister.
I cannot believe my little baby boy is five years old today. He was just an infant when I started this blogging adventure. Can it have been so long already? It just seems to have flown by.
My Ethan is funny, energetic, focused, spirited, gentle, compassionate, protective. He has a way of impressing on the hearts of those who don't even like being around children. At all. I am a better person for having him in my life, and I can't wait to see what lies ahead.
Happy Birthday, Ethan!
