The Birthday Olympics

This time, 6 years ago, I was VERY pregnant and eagerly awaiting our first addition! Actually, if I'm being honest, I was terrified of going into labour...that's why I did my first ante-natal class when I was only 4 months pregnant..lol!  And at that class I met someone who has become one of my closest friends, Tash.

We got chatting at the class and discovered our bubs were due only days apart, which lead to catch-ups and coffee mornings whist waiting for the bubs to arrive.  It was nice to have a friend in exactly the same situation as me.  Funnily enough, we didn't realize how similar we would become...

June 17th 2006, we BOTH had our bubs! 

It started June 16th......I sent Tash a text saying "I'm in labour!!!" and got a response of "yay for you, nothing happening here :( ".  A few hours later I got another text saying "Me too!".  And a few hours after that, whilst I was STILL going, I got another text which read "All done!".  It was a few hours after that message (about 12hrs to be exact...) that I was finally able to send Tash my very own "All Done!!!" message.  So both our baby bundles now celebrate their birthday on the same day, June 17th.

Here I am with Alex the day he was born - gee, I really look like I've had 24hrs of labour too!

And so the Birthday Olympics where born.  We coined the phrase to sum up the crazy, obsessive, enjoyably creative process we both undertake in an effort to throw great parties for our kids.  It's fun having someone to do this process with every year who loves it as much as me!

Alex's first birthday cake - luckily my skills have improved since then

 This year Tash threw a fantastic Disco inspired party for her daughter, which was held last weekend.  I am organising my son's Circus Carnival party to be held this Saturday.  I'm still in the throws of fondant clowns, side show alley games & cake baking! I'll be posting throughout the week showing you all the party prep, and fun things like cake pop making and how to make fondant clowns.  Here's the inspiration for this years party...

I've designed a two tiered version of this cake under special direction to "add more clowns mummy".  So let's see how we go....

Till next time, have a great day x
Cass

Cake Pops - how to make them - easy!

Cake pops are no longer fussy & hard to make, now the new Bake Pops tray has arrived! I was so excited to find this in my local Target store just recently, with Alex's 6th birthday party (Circus Carnivale themed) coming up, I knew I needed this!  At only $30 I knew I'd use it again, and again...so well worth grabbing.

This tray (called Bake Pops) is a two sectioned setup, with a top and a base that clip together for baking with a couple of silicone clips.  You just use any cake mix or recipe, fill the base tray, clip on the top tray and bake. EASY!
Here's a pic of my first batch of chocolate cake pops....

A few pointers...
- the instructions say to fill the bottom tray, I found that a bit too much.  Although the excess just comes through the top hole, easily removed & doesn't effect the pops at all (plus you get 18 mini muffin tops to eat..lol)
- the cooking time on box instructions is WAY too much.  I baked for only 10-15mins, checking regularly and using a skewer to test them
- the instructions recommend adding 1 extra egg to make the cake mix denser. This works for chocolate pops but for vanilla it ends up tasting like scrambled eggs.
- for vanilla pops I found it best to halve the liquid, using milk instead of water as suggested in the instructions, but instead of adding an extra egg I simply over-beat the mixture. Worked well, without the "eggy" taste.
Here's my vanilla pops...

 As our party is still 5 days away I've sealed these up in bags & popped them in the freezer.  When it comes time to make & decorate the pops later this week I'll take some pics and post the "how to's" for you.
Thanks for reading, please share my new blog, give it a like on facebook and a "follow".
Thanks heaps, Cass x