It's too bad the picture above is a black and white photo. What you can't tell from the picture is my cheeks were bright red and I had a fever. I was sick but there was no way I was going to miss my birthday party. I'm sure you all have memories of such times. There is no way you can go through childhood and not remember a time when you were sick and should have been in bed, but wanted to attend the birthday party.
I can remember family birthday parties as well as birthday parties filled with some of my childhood friends. There would be birthday cakes with candles to blow out, ice cream, party hats, those old fashioned party horns that you would blow into, and presents.
My older brother and I were "Irish Twins" because we were born 10 months apart. So, when I was very young for the family birthday party when one of us had a birthday the other one would get presents, too. I guess it was just easier for my folks and grandparents to give both of us presents at each others birthday then to deal with the fallout of one of us not getting presents that day. That way neither one of us was jealous of the other getting presents when we didn't and we ended up having two family birthday parties. Sounds like a win-win.
In the early years my mother always made the birthday cakes. As I got older I always wanted to make the birthday cakes. A lot of the time I didn't get to as my Dad and brothers inevitably wanted a white cake with white frosting loaded with coconut. I hated coconut and never had a piece of their cakes.
I never had a piece of this cake. I couldn't stand the smell of it. The reason is I had made the mistake of eating a whole package of coconut snow-balls on a dare from my older brother and ended up upchucking the whole bunch. As a result and to this day, I can't stand the smell of coconut. If someone asks me what kind of dessert I want for my birthday I always say lemon meringue pie. So, when it came to birthday cakes I let my mother make them.
Like most young girls from the "baby boomer" generation I learned how to cook from my mother. We'd bake cookies, cupcakes and cakes. I loved cookies and cupcakes, but really wasn't a big fan of cakes.
I loved baking small things like cupcakes because you can easily decorate them. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when the Easy-Bake Ovens for girls came out. I could make all the little cakes and cupcakes I wanted. Unfortunately, my first attempt at a cake in the Easy-Bake oven didn't turn out so well. It was hard as a rock and inedible. Subsequent attempts, however, were a hit.
Nowadays I'd have to really step up my game as cakes have become an art form. I suppose it was always an art form for bakeries and the very talented bakers who made them, but nowadays there are all sorts of video's and tutorials out there to teach you how to make some of the most amazing art cakes you'd ever want to see.
They even have beautiful doll cakes. Now for the doll maker and lifelong doll lover, for that, I'd actually like cake. Then there's the dog and animal cakes. All I can say is "Wow!" I'd love to create a cairn terrier cake based on a picture of my "beloved" Bud.
In the meantime I set-up a Cake Tutorials, Video's and How-To's for Decorating Cakes Pinterest board and have been adding all sorts of delicious looking cakes to it. Enjoy!
I would love to learn how to create beautiful cakes. If you would love to learn this, too, perhaps these tutorials, video's and how-to's will be helpful.
If you love my Cake Tutorials, Video's and How-To's for Decorating Cakes board please follow my board by clicking on the link above.
Have fun making your cakes - especially your doll cakes.
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