Nothing brings more joy to my heart than making themed birthday cakes for my grandchildren. I am far from a professional cake decorator but I find joy in creating and decorating the cakes which are made with love. The best part of all is the joy on my grandchildren’s faces when they see what I’ve made them. I usually ask them what they would like and this year my 7 year old grandson, Elliot actually drew me a diagram and instructions so ‘Nan’ would know what to do.
What is Minecraft?, I hear you ask
Minecraft is an online 3D adventure game where players interact with a fully customizable three-dimensional world made of blocks and entities. Its diverse gameplay options allow players to choose the way they play, creating countless possibilities. I still can’t get my head around it but it does test your brain power.
Sparks of Joy #36 – The Joy of Baking Birthday Cakes
Learning from past experience
Elliot’s request was for a Minecraft cake. When he said that I thought to myself ‘Oh no, another difficult one’. I had previously made his older brother Ethan a Minecraft cake for his 7th birthday and remembered cutting out 1,000s of little squares which I then put on the cake one at a time. It took days!!!
This was Ethan’s cake
I’m wiser now and found this fabulous little tool from Rissa Rose on Etsy. It is a little cutter which cuts the squares. This time I didn’t cut right through so it made it much easier to decorate the cake.
Ideas for Minecraft Cakes
Elliot was fortunate this year, because I made him two birthday cakes. One was for his actual birthday and the other was for his birthday party with friends. He and his brother don’t have birthday parties every year so it is special when they do.
A Creeper Cake
For his actual birthday I made an easy ‘Number 7’ cake. In keeping with the Minecraft theme, I decorated it with Creepers (a character from the game). With the left over cake I made some little square cup cakes as well.
A Minecraft Cube cake
The birthday party with friends cake was a Minecraft Cube cake. I made three layers and iced with buttercream as a base. I then added the fondant squares and also made his name from fondant. I printed off a Minecraft logo and added some of his figurines to the top.
Timeline:
- Made the cakes about a week before and froze them
- Cut the fondant squares about 4 days ahead and stored them in cling wrap in my pantry
- Two days before I pulled out of the freezer and when thawed I assembled the three layers and iced with buttercream – tip for a layer cake I used some rods to hold the three layers together. I used 6 in various parts of the cake.
- Day before I added the squares and finished off the cake
I was pretty pleased with the result and using the squares cutter made life so much easier.
He loved both of the cakes and my heart was filled with joy.
Where did you find joy this week?
I’m linking my post up with Min from Write of the Middle’s, Wednesday Words & Whimsy – pop over to her blog and she her latest post.
23 Comments
Hi Sue, what lucky little boys Ethan and Elliot are and how clever are you?! Your cake/s look amazing! My Mum used to make me themed birthday cakes from the Women’s Weekly Birthday Cakes book (do you remember that?). My favourite one that I remember was the maypole cake. It had a little doll on top holding on to a ribbon from the maypole. I thought it was incredible! Your grandsons will have the most wonderful memories of you and the cakes you made them. Thank you for sharing with us at #WWWhimsy ! xo
I remember the Women’s Weekly Birthday Cakes book, Min and am sure I made some of them for the kids. I absolutely love creating and decorating the cakes because the grandchildren get so excited when they see it. It doesn’t matter that it isn’t perfect, they look past that don’t they? xx
Ah, I love that cake so much. And I especially love the drawing that Elliot did for you. So heartwarming! <3
Elliot is such a darling little boy. He can be serious at times and very particular – as in the directions for the cake. At other times he is extremely creative and has a talent for being comical. xx
WOW!!! And, you say you can’t decorate cakes! Both cakes are amazing, but I’m sure you were so glad to find that little tool. I used to baked my grands their birthday cakes, but they haven’t asked me to do so for the last several years. My oldest granddaughter thought I could do anything so I always tried. Isn’t that what Grans do? Thanks for sharing not only the cake, but the joy behind it!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
It is what Grans do, Marsha and I just love doing it. I’ll be disappointed when the boys grow out of themed birthday cakes. I’m enjoying it whilst I can. xx
Gosh – to have the patience to make a cake like that! Your grandson must have been pleased.
Hi Barbara, I had learned from Ethan’s cake which took me days and yes lots of patience. That fondant icing cutter was a game changer. x
You are so clever Sue. I love that your grandson gave you a diagram with instructions. That’s very cute. I’m sure he loved it when he saw it.
Hi Jen, thank you and yes, Elliot is such a dear little boy. He knew what he wanted and said told me yesterday ‘It was better than good, Nan it was fantastic’. Made my day xx
Way to go finding short cuts. What a loving and caring Nan you are Sue. And keeping those instruction notes forever is a link you will not want to forget.
You did a fantastic job.
I’ve done lots of birthday cakes over the years but never got to the fondant stage.
Well done YOU.
Denyse x
Hi Denyse, that icing cutter was a game changer and saved me so much time! Elliot loved it and that is all that matters, isn’t it? xx
Brilliant cakes, Sue!
Thanks, Toni. I love doing it for the grandchildren and find so much joy. xx
You may not be a professional cake decorator but that cake looks SO professional! Elliot must have loved it and the number 7 cake is fab too! We used to make birthday cakes for our godchildren and I really miss it although we always ‘encouraged’ them to choose easy cakes! LOL! I can’t wait to see what the boys ask for next year 🙂
Oh thank you, Sammie. Elliot thought it was fantastic and Nan kept to his directions so that was a double tick! I will miss it when they get older and probably don’t want birthday cakes anymore. I still have a couple of years left I think! xx
Oh I just LOVE those instructions! LOL. Your cakes are beautiful!
Thanks, Joanne. I have to admit the directions made it so easy for me. xx
You are VERY clever. I bet he LOVED that! #WWWhimsy
Thank you, Lydia and Elliot thought it was fantastic. That made my day! xx
Sue, you are so talented and loving by making these cakes for your grandsons and other family members. I can only imagine how much work goes into these and I’m sure Elliot loved his cakes. thanks for sharing how you created this one.
Thanks also for helping with Min’s linkup – we make a great team!
Deb #Teamwwwhimsy
Hi Deb, I feel I’m getting better and less stressed with each cake. What matters is that they know they are made with love and the boys in particular always think they are wonderful xx
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