4-Year-Old’s Party with Animal Cakes – and Not Much Sugar

How do you throw a kid's birthday party without overdosing on sugar for all participants? It gets a little more difficult as the children get older, but now we've pulled off a 4-year-old's party with sugar mainly only from fruit (and some chocolate).

Above are today's creations. Here are more pictures and instructions:

Hedgehog

Ingredients: Melon with water-melon wedges (fastened with toothpicks). Eyes of radishes and black olives. Nose made of cherry tomato.

The nose was the most popular part and we quickly had to bring out some more to avert any potential injustice - something to be prepared for.

Ingredients:
Half a melon
One small water melon
One cherry tomato
Two radishes for eyes
One black olive, cut into two small circles for pupils

Peel half the melon which will be used for the body and trim some to form a narrower snout. Cut spines out of the water melon and fasten with toothpicks on the part of the body that was not peeled. Cut away some of the red on the radish and fasten with toothpicks together with the pupil. Attach a cherry tomato for a nose.

Turtle

The turtle is built with a cake foundation and filled with chocolate mousse, fruit and berries. The only sweetener besides the fruit and berries comes from the 70% chocolate.

The result is excellent if you're not too addicted to sweets. Adults have given the cake the somewhat doubtful compliment "what a fresh cake!", but kids (and I) will happily eat it.

The recipe is found at the end of this post.

Crocodile

The crocodile is very popular with our younger party guests, it is a fun way to serve cheese and sausage chunks on toothpicks.

Ingredients
One cucumber
Pieces of sausage
Triangle cheese pieces
Small pieces of orange and green bell peppers
Two radishes for eyes
A black olive, cut into small circles into pupils

Cut out a groove for a mouth and scoop out some of the seeds. Carefully cut out fangs. Attach pieces of sausage and cheese along the back. Cut away some of the red on the radishes and attach with a toothpick together with the pupil. Cut out claws from four pieces of the green pepper and place along the sides. For the tongue, cut a piece of orange pepper.

We found the inspiration here.

Klara

Here's the party's wonderful main character, Klara, who has now turned 4. If you recognize the dress, yes, Frozen is still popular at our house.

Recipe for turtle cake

Chocolate mousse
7 oz. (200 g)
2½ cup (600 ml) heavy whipping cream
3 egg yolks
vanilla powder or extract

Melt the chocolate bar over a water bath and let cool. Whip the cream lightly and add vanilla powder to taste. When the chocolate has cooled down a little, add egg yolks and blend. Pour the chocolate mix into the whipping cream and blend or whip until the mousse is smooth. Let cool in the fridge for a few hours. An option is to make half the amount of mousse and instead make one layer out of 1¼ cup (300 ml) whipped cream.

Cake
1¾ oz. (50 gram) butter
1¾ oz. (50 gram) almond flour
1¾ oz. (50 gram) hazelnut flour
1¾ oz. (50 gram) unsweetened shredded coconut

Set the oven to 350°F (180°C). Prepare the form by buttering, or put down a piece of parchment paper in the form. Melt the butter and let it brown a little (not burned). Put aside and let cool. Whisk the egg whites until firm. Mix nut flours and coconut in a bowl and fold into the egg whites. Finally pour in the butter carefully. Spread the batter in the form and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden on the sides. Let cool completely and trim so that the cake takes a more oval shape.

Other ingredients
(You can of course choose whatever you want!)
A banana
Raspberries
12-15 kiwis (depending on size)
two radishes for eyes
One black olive, cut out small circles into pupils

Assembling the Cake
Apply a little mousse on a serving dish and place the cake on it. This way it doesn't slip away during decorating. Start by applying a layer of chocolate mousse to the cake. Add a layer of sliced banana, but not quite all the way out to the edges, to form a rounded shape. Add another layer of chocolate mousse. Place the raspberries top side up, but leave some space towards the edges. Apply the last of the chocolate mousse or whipped cream and try to make it round, covering the entire cake.

Peal the kiwis and make a head by cutting a flat bottom on which the head may rest on and a groove for the mouth. Cut away some of the red on the radishes and attach with toothpicks together with the pupil. Cut out the arms and legs by cutting a kiwi lengthwise and then cut out little claws on the ends. Slice as much kiwi as needed to cover the entire creation and let cover the entire body. Put a raspberry in the mouth!