Cake Again

It never ends around here.

Annie's final cake request was
A pirate ship.
A green, purple, and yellow pirate ship with flowers.
A pirate on the pirate ship, steering the wheel.
A pirate steering the wheel and looking over his shoulder.
A pirate looking over his shoulder at an elephant.
A dancing, pink elephant.

Yup, I think that about covers it.

I was going to try; I really was. I even made gumpaste the night before so that I could sculpt a dancing pink elephant and a pirate and cannons and a crow's nest and all manner of pirate frivolity. Then I woke up late. Then I started making the frosting at ten o'clock. (At least I'd had the foresight to make the cakes the night before.) Then I started cutting cake and stacking cake and tinting frosting. Then I smooshed my gumpaste, only to find that it was sticky and way too soft to shape, and, who'm I kidding?, it was already noon, the cake had to be done by one, and there was no way I could make a million clever things out of sticky gumpaste when I'd never even tried to use the stuff before.

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, here's what you should do. Raid your children's toys. Find their wooden beads for stringing, their mini baskets, their doll's toybox, their gray oliphaunt, their crafting popsicle sticks that you've never used because you're just not a crafty mama. And raid your jewelry box. Fill your fists with beads from all those sparkly necklaces your babies have broken off your neck and that you like to tell yourself you'll re-string Someday. Then cut out flags from paper and bend them onto plate dowels from your kitchen cupboards. Most importantly, don't call the cake complete until your mother arrives with her gifts, one of which you know is a wrapped pirate, a pirate who does NOT look over his shoulder at a dancing pink elephant but who looks mighty fine nonetheless.

Do all these things. You'll still feel a little crazy before it's all over, but your daughter will be overjoyed. (And that's what it's about anyway, right, 'cause cake never tastes as good as it should.)

Cake.


Bead cannon.


Popsicle stick.


Party elephant.


CROW'S nest? I thought you said clown's nest...


(I think the wheel looks like a palmetto plant.)


I will probably never wear these pretty necklaces again, especially now that pirates have stolen them.



These clowns have been used on quite a few birthday cakes but have never met a fate quite so gruesome. Brave, little soul. So cheery!



Millie made the sea serpant out of playdough, and then Annie added a baby, sliding through the seaweed to join the feast.