If there was ever a good time to haul out some banal clichés then this must be it. "Time flies." "They grow up so fast." How often we use these timeworn phrases, and yet how true they are. As I write this, almost exactly 4 years ago to the hour my precious daughter arrived into the world. I remember it like it was yesterday, (which is impressive as I often struggle to remember what I was doing last week!). My bright, funny, sweet girl who knows exactly what she likes and wants... which is handy as I knew for months that she had her heart set on a fairy birthday party this year. Oh yes, one of the many things I love about her is that she knows her own mind, and once it is made up she usually sticks to her guns. Luckily this also meant that I had quite a while to mull over cake ideas before settling on this one.
I tried to keep the party uncomplicated this year. Simple snacks, pretty party boxes for our young guests and little fairy touches here and there. Like the miniature vials of "fairy dust" inside the party boxes - you can buy these but I decided to make my own. There were also bubbles, butterflies and fairy wings a plenty, all adding to the magical theme.
As for the cake, I wanted to make something colourful and enchanting and trawled Pinterest for some inspiration. I decided in the end to make a tree trunk decorated with fairies and other forest inhabitants. The cake was good old vanilla which I iced with chocolate butter icing to give it a rough look. This also made it easy when it came to adding my fondant creations as they stuck to the cake without a problem.
I have included some details of how I made the cake below. If you are planning a fairy party sometime soon I hope they will provide a little inspiration! If you have hosted a fairy party lately I would love to hear about it in the comments below.
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AN ENCHANTED FAIRY CAKE
350g unsalted butter, room temperature
food colouring in assorted colours
cutters (leaves, butterflies, flowers, etc.)
50g chocolate coated pretzel sticks
Step 1.) Ensure that the vanilla cakes are completely cool before icing them.
Step 2.) To make the icing: place the butter in the bowl of a freestanding mixer and beat to soften. (And electric mixer will also do the trick.) Sift in the icing sugar and cocoa and beat until the mixture comes together. Add half of the milk and continue to beat slowly until the milk has been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then continue to add milk gradually until the icing has a soft, spreadable consistency. (You may not need all of the milk.)
Step 3.) Place one of the cakes on a plate. Spread a thin layer of icing over the top. Place another cake on top and repeat the process. Place the last layer on top and ice the top and sides of the cake with chocolate icing.
Step 4.) Use a palette knife to give the icing a rough look. Make vertical lines around the cake by gently spreading the icing upwards from bottom to top. Use the palette knife to make rings on top of the cake.
Step 5.) While the icing is still soft stick the stems and leaves around the sides of the cake. Add the flowers, butterflies and remaining decorations and finish with a light dusting of glitter.
You can obviously get creative here and make whatever you feel like, but these are the decorations I made. I made the fondant decorations three days before the party so that they had time to dry out.
- mushrooms - I got this idea from Sprinklebakes.com. Roll out some brown fondant and cut out 6cm circles. Press the edges between your thumb and forefinger to give them a ruffled look. Dust with some cocoa powder and leave to dry completely. On party day cut some small slits into the side of the cake and insert the mushrooms.
I prepared the fondant decorations a few days before the party and stored them in an airtight container. The vanilla cakes, chocolate icing and pretzel ladders were prepared the day before, so that on the day of the party I simply had to ice the cake and pop the decorations on.
Another tip is to make a few extra decorations in case there are any breakages before party day!
