So, Ethan's birthday was August 28th but I went up to Idaho and things were busy and he didn't get his party until yesterday. That's right 17 days after his actual birthday. Poor kid. He's been really patient about the whole thing though. Before I left I did take a batch of cupcakes to his preschool class though.
I just arranged the mini-cupcakes how I wanted and then iced them like they were one whole cake. No knife needed for cutting and it's easy for little hands to get just the piece they want.
This year Ethan asked for Captain Hooks' pirate ship for his cake. I took a few pics during the process, but as you'll see, it was really pretty simple. I used a half-sheet cake pan, but you could easily use a 9x13 to do this cake. The only specialty thing I used was a little imprint that presses into the fondant to make it look like wooded boards nailed together. I got mine at Cake Craft Shoppe in Sugarland for 10 bucks in a pack that had that one, cobblestone, brick, siding, and basketweave imprints. Since we're trying to close on the house and pack and what not I decided to just buy a couple of pirates to put on top and then I printed Peter Pan saying "Happy Birthday Ethan" on a piece of cardstock that I used for the sail. I'll include the pictures etc at the end.
He decided for his birthday dinner that he wanted to make his own pizza. I'll include my focaccia bread recipe at the end since we used that for our pizza dough.
So, I said before how Jon and I had taken away all their toys and....well, everything and that the end result was that they basically didn't care. We realized from that little experiment that all these toys and things they had were, for the most part, for us. We wanted our kids to have this stuff. They didn't really care. I read this article in some waiting room where this organization expert said (and I paraphrase):
"Look at all your stuff and realize that every thing you own represents some of your time; time to clean it, time to put it away, time to maintain it in some way or other. Think of how much more time you would have in your life for things and people you love if you took back some of that time that's being eaten up by things that are just in the way."
Profound right? Since we're moving I thought this was pretty much perfect timing and we're getting rid of loads of our crap we've been holding on to for years for Heaven only knows what reasons. We'll donate it and maybe someone who actually needs it can have it. Simple, streamlined, peaceful lives is the plan. So, as part of that we asked the grandparents and cousins (we only did a family party) not to get toys for birthday presents. Yep, you read it right. No toys. Before you think I finally crossed the line just read on.What we asked instead is a gift that means something: time. We want our kids to have strong, happy, meaningful memories of time spent with those they love. A tradition of having a lunch date with just them and Grandma or going fishing with Grandpa will mean so much more to them than another plastic thing that will be broken or have half the pieces lost in a month tops. (Who am I kidding? We all know it's a week tops in this house.) And I don't mean that it will eventually, in the long run, sometime when he's older and wiser be more meaningful to them. I mean now as well. For his birthday present from us Jon and I took Ethan to the Houston Children's Museum for the day (we have an annual pass) and we ate PB & J's in the car on the way home. You never saw a happier kid. Traditions, memories, family. That's what we want our celebrations with them to be about.
For the pics and recipes....
Sorry some of the pictures aren't great, but it's a miracle they got taken at all.
Like I said, the cake was pretty easy. After it was baked and cooled I cut it like this
The two large pieces in the center are the boat. You'll need two of the larger triangles, but the rest are scraps. Stack the two large pieces on top of each other with whatever filling you want in between. Then, cut out a small rectangle or sideways 'C' shape in the middle of the flat side making sure not to go deeper than halfway through the top layer. Then take that piece you cut out and lay it on the back of the ship, trimming the edges as needed. Like this:
Poke a couple of BBQ skewers through the back end (the tall part) and pound them a bit until you feel them go into the cardboard (if you're just doing it on a plate just skip that last bit =P). Then use some kitchen shears to cut them level with the cake.
Dirty ice that baby!
Get your fondant ready. Then, if you want to imprint it by placing your design on there and rolling over it with the rolling pin a few times. Peel off the template in the direction of the 'boards' so you don't distort the shape. Then cut it with a pizza cutter to the approximate size erring on the side of too big of course.
Drape it over one side letting the fondant come over the top about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. Trim at the base with a pizza cutter.Then do the other side and the back and then do the top. I changed the direction so the 'boards' were going in the right direction, but whatever.
Now you just add whatever details you want. You could make a long thin 'snake' of fondant then twist it together for a 'rope' effect. I'll post below the pictures of how I did Rollos 'cannons'. I used chocolate for a 'plank', 'wheel', and 'rails', but you could also use pretzels, wafers or whatever really. Tootsie rolls and starbursts make really good edible 'clay' for making various shapes. Ethan decided to name his ship after himself, so I used a #2 tip to pipe that on back. I used a cake dowel shoved through a cut piece of cardstock for the sails and I painted the skull and bones with whiteout on a small piece of black paper and stuck it on top. I used the #2 tip and a small star tip to make the gold buttercream accents and picked up some star-shaped candles from Kroger for the back. Voila! Pirate Ship.
Focaccia Bread This makes about 2-3 personal size pizzas
2 tsp yeast
1 1/4 c water
3 1/2 c flour
3 T olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
a handful of cornmeal
*We used whole white wheat and added 3 T of gluten and 1 1/2 ish T water so that I could have some because I'm all whole grains all the time now.
Let the yeast and water get happy together for five minutes in your stand mixer or bowl. MAKE SURE your water is luke warm. Too hot = dead yeast and too cold = non-activated yeast. Either way, you get flat, dense bread. Not yummy. After about five minutes it should smell like yeast and you know you're there. Add the remaining ingredients (except the cornmeal )to your stand mixer or bowl and let it knead with the dough hook until it's smooth and elastic or get yourself a good arm workout and do it the old-fashioned way. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (until it's doubled in size). (A friend of mine always covers her bowl and sets it outside in the front seat of her car while it rises). Punch it down and shape it then sprinkle the pan you're going to use with a little cornmeal and put the pies on the cornmeal. Use a fork and poke a few holes through the whole thing just so you don't get too many bubbles in your pizza. Let it rise for about 1/2 and hour then preheat your oven to 500 while you top with the sauce and toppings of your choosing. Bake 8-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your dough. Try not to burn your mouth as you eat it piping hot!
*If you want to make focaccia follow the same directions except that after the 30 min rising bake it at 400 for 30-45 min.
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