It began thirteen years ago now, with a little caterpillar cupcake cake for a tiny boy turning just one year old. This year, it was a 13 cake for a much older boy who is now, officially, a teenager. I'm not quite sure where all the years in between one and thirteen years old have gone but I know that every year we celebrate the day he was born with a homemade birthday cake. It's tradition!
There has been a ladybug cake, complete with freckly dots, and an echidna ice-cream cake with chocolatey spikes and a sleepy moon cake for a boy who loved the moon when he was two. Here are some of the special cakes that have held my boy's birthday candles over his years so far ...
The very first birthday cake I made for my boy.
For a boy who loved the moon!
A rather red ladybug with freckly dots!
An ice-creamy echidna with chocolatey spikes.
A photo cake for seven!
A simple 11!
12 candles to blow out on this cake.
12 candles to blow out on this cake.
My smaller boy would happily leaf through the pages of our batter-splattered birthday cake book, the ever-reliable Women's Weekly Kids' Birthday Cakes, and take his time choosing the cake for his happy birthday day. He'd then ask, "Can you make this one?" Now he is older though, he presents me with his own hand-drawn cake plans and asks the same question. I usually respond with a question of my own along the lines of "Just how many Kit-Kats do you want me to fit on this cake?"
This year's birthday cake plan.
A cake for a brand new teenager.
Once the candles were blown out, it took very little time for the cake to be demolished. Whether to have a slice with white chocolate or darker chocolate icing was quite the choice! The birthday boy himself requested a slice with both!
It does take time to make a birthday cake, to cream that butter and sugar and fold in that flour and melt that chocolate, but a homemade cake also has that one very special extra ingredient...love.
Meg
Perfect way to celebrate a birthday, no matter how old you are.
ReplyDeleteOh, I agree, Marlene. Nothing like birthday cake! MegXx
DeleteA very Happy Birthday to your lovely boy. You can't beat a home made cake and yours all look fabulous. I really hope Lily will request something other than smartie covered chocolate brownie one year. X
ReplyDeleteMmm...Smartie-covered chocolate brownie does sound good, Jules. My boy loves everything chocolate and his own cake designs seem to feature Kit Kats! Meg:)
DeleteThere is nothing quite like a home made cake. Far nicer than a shop bought one
ReplyDeleteI love making his birthday cakes, Cherie. I do think homemade is nicer than shop bought too. Meg:)
DeleteThat's true, Meg. I am baking a cake this very instant! Your all look so beautiful and creative. My mom used to bake our birthday cakes, too. Those are happy memories.
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to have those memories of your Mum baking your birthday cakes, Stephanie. I think it means a lot to mix up a cake batter with so much love. What kind of cake are you baking today?
DeleteMegXx
13 it's so significant isn't it...I remember when my first turned 10..wow that seemed crazy and now in November this year he will be 17. Love all the home made birthday cakes you have done very well over the years and I love he still has input on the cake he wants....well one Mum.
ReplyDeleteMy boy is most excited to be officially a teenager, Kathy. I feel that joy for him too but also felt that bittersweet tug in my heart when remembering my once-little boy. They grow up so fast, don't they!
DeleteMegXx
They sure do....
Deleteps...go to Aldi to get your frozen veggies they are half the price of the supermarkets and they have a lovely stir fry frozen veg packet as well. Don't bother buying them from the main supermarkets...you will be able to save money at Aldi
ReplyDeleteThank you for this tip, Kathy. I am heading out to do the grocery shopping as soon as the plumber, who is fixing our hot water system, is finished his work here today. I will look at Aldi as you've suggested for my frozen veg. Meg:)
DeleteHappy birthday to your son! I think he is very creative, just like his mom. That’s a very nice cake design. 😊
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nil. He loves presenting me with his plans and appoints himself chief taste tester of cake batter, icing and sweets too!
DeleteMeg;)
I love this post so much! It makes me want to get out the photo albums and remember all the ones I've baked over the years. My kids are MUCH older than 13, so I'm sure I've forgotten many. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's lovely, Kath. I hope you enjoyed time with your photo albums looking back at your children and the cakes you made. MegXx
DeleteOh yes, the WW Kid's Birthday Cakes.....the most enjoyed, thumbed and food-spattered recipe book in the house! My kids loved choosing from it too. That '13' looks good, and best wishes to the new teenager.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nanette. I love the birthday cake cookbook and ours is well-loved and quite batter-splattered now. My boy was quite captivated by all the different cakes in it and would sit his little self down and look at each and every cake in it before finally settling on one.
DeleteI hope you are staying dry down your way with all this rain! MegXx
How lovely, Meg. I used to make my children's cakes too and that WW book was just great.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great cookbook too, Chel. Clear photos and step-by-step instructions. There's no way I'd have built an ice-cream echidna cake with it! Meg;)
DeleteBeautiful cakes, beautiful boy! Happy 13th! Very important year...becoming a teenager! Andrea
ReplyDeleteThanks, Andrea. He's quite thrilled to be a teenager now and to be as tall as me. He keeps telling me I'm shrinking!! Meg:D
DeleteSuch wonderful cakes you have made over the years Meg and how lovely to the have the pictures of them as a memory. I love being the parent of a teenager, it has been one of my most favourite ages. Teenagers get a really bad press these days which is totally unwarranted.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely that you have such a positive view of teenagers. While it's a time of growing independence there is also that precious opportunity for gentle and guiding adults to nurture them and to believe in them as they grow. MegXx
DeleteHello Meg,
ReplyDeletesuch lovely cakes and very special memories. I hope your son had a great birthday.
When my kids were young I made some of their birthday cakes using the Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book. They chose their cake from that book or the cake would be based on their favourite toy, book character or sport. I have made teddy bears, witches, a park with the Bananas in Pyjamas, Hickory Dickory Dock clocks and number cakes.
My kids are now young adults but a home made cake is still requested for their birthdays. These days they choose a cake based on taste not appearance. My son also loves chocolate so he usually chooses my Tiramisu Cake, a Mud Cake or Devil's Food Cake. My daughter's favourites are an Apricot & Coconut Cake that I have been making for years or a Pear and Almond cake.
No matter what the age, a home made cake is special. You are so right. The ingredient that will never be included in a shop bought cake is love.
I'm glad you are posting again Meg. I really missed your lovely way of writing especially your beautiful descriptions.
Warm regards, Maria.
How lovely that your children still request homemade cake for their birthdays, Maria. I hope my boy will too when he's all grown up. Thank you for your very kind words too. I'm enjoying writing here again and happy that people find it worthwhile visiting and reading my words. MegXx
DeleteHappy Birthday to your 13 year old teenager! Birthday cakes are special. We make the same all the time now, it is a Malteser cake that contains Horlicks and tastes really nice. We are not allowed to change the routine :-)
ReplyDeleteA Malteser cake sounds rather delicious, Christina. Why change if you are on to a delicious thing! Meg:)
DeleteHow great is it you have photos of all the cakes ! Beautiful memories.. and yes "where do the years go?"
ReplyDeleteI am not sure where the years go, Suzie, but they do seem to be going fast. I expect that in the blink of an eye, my boy will be an adult. I am glad I have photos of his birthday cakes and celebrations for him (and me) to look back on. As you say, lovely memories! Meg:)
DeleteYou've been quite the cake connoisseur all these years, and I didn't even know it. We try to do amazing things for our kids though. I love how you both work together, to make a cake he'll enjoy. They all look so delicious! My son has already requested Oreo's, in some fashion for his birthday this year, lol.
ReplyDeleteTime does fly by so quickly. I can't believe it myself! This year we're looking at buying driving lessons for our daughter's birthday. Whaaat??? Enjoy this special time with your son. xxx
Thanks, Chris! I think the step-by-step instructions in the birthday cake recipe book contributed a lot to the final outcome with these cakes;) The ice-cream echidna cake is my favourite!
DeleteWow! Driving lessons already!! That's a sure sign your daughter is nearing adulthood. I imagine, when she takes that wheel for the first time, it will be not unlike that moment when we first let go of their hands so they can take those first tottering steps!
MegXx
I miss making these kind of cakes - I always made them for my two daughters until they left home - now it is just their important milestone birthdays that I would do; but I have started again for the grandchildren although I am very rusty and need some new equipment I think to help things along. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your collection of cakes through the years - you are so clever and homemade is so much better than the shop bought ones.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to your 13 year old x
How lovely that you now make birthday cakes for your grandchildren too. I'm sure their eyes light up when they see their special cakes. I find my son's designs are actually simpler to make than some of those he requested when he was younger. These days, he's very happy if there's KitKats on the cake somewhere!! Meg:D
DeleteHow lovely that you have all those photos! I have made cakes when I have visited my overseas grandchildren. A train cake, a storybots cake, a hungry caterpillar cake. My grandson is a huge storybots fan so in fact I made those twice. I will have to try and dig out the photos! I also made cakes for my grandchildren here in Australia, One of the memorable ones was a dragon, his fire consisted of jelly babies, and my grandson kept disappearing inside during dinner. after dinner we noticed that the amount of jelly babies was greatly reduced. thank you for re-igniting those memories.
ReplyDeleteA dragon cake sounds quite amazing! I had a chuckle at those disappearing jelly babies. I have to hide the sweets I buy for my son's cakes in 'secret' otherwise they'd all be gone before any decorating happened. Meg:)
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