patty cake patty cake

I saw a meme, a while back, that being in your forties means the children within your friend group are either teens about to leave home, or babies & toddlers keeping. Either way, none of us are getting any sleep. I laughed, and promptly tagged a friend, whose tiny toddler is the bookend to my almost-grown Bear. Sixteen years, between the eldest baby of the group and the youngest.

It’s fun, watching this little chap bring that toddler energy to our catch ups. The nostalgia is strong, I will confess, taking me back to the days when toddler boys had me on the hop from son up to son down; busy in a way that seems easy, in hindsight, as I navigate the joy and the challenge of teen parenting. It was with great joy we all reconvened last month to celebrate his first birthday and naming day.

I was deeply honoured to be asked to make the cake – honoured, and slightly terrified. While I’ve made plenty of cakes for my kids over the years, there’s a distinct pressure in making a cake for someone else. Even more so when everybody there knows you. The imposter syndrome, I will confess, was strong.

We went back and forth on a few options, and settled on a simple design that echoed the colour theme of the party. I was also tasked with creating the cake topper.

I think it turned out super cute, and most importantly, it tasted delicious! The colours worked beautifully with the other decor, and it was so lovely to play a small part in this very special event.

THE DETAILS

Cake: rich vanilla, 6″ wide and 2 x 3″ layers high, sandwiched with buttercream

Icing: traditional buttercream, applied with palette knife/spatula in semi-rustic fashion.

Bunting: fondant coloured with Colour Mill paste (pool party colour pack), and trimmed to shape by hand. Twine from stash.

Topper: designed in Canva, cut on Cricut Maker with balsa from Bunnings + black glitter vinyl from Spotlight