More than anything, I aim to please! I take kids' requests even more seriously than adults' because while an adult will generally be pleased with something that's in the ballpark of what they asked for, a child will not hesitate to point out when something looks not quite like they imagined it. Like when Winnie the Pooh's fur isn't quite the shade of Pooh-tan that he is in the books, films, toys, etc. for example. Bless the children--they can't lie.
So a few weeks ago, I received this sketch for an ice skating-themed cake from an about-to-be 7 year old birthday girl:
She was, not surprisingly, very specific in her directions! I love that she even added "Hole body in 3D." (Are these kiddos watching a bit too much Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss?!)
When I saw her at school during the week, the birthday girl reiterated that she really wanted the cake girl to wear a twirly white skirt and skate in an arabesque position ("I want her leg to stick out like this."). No problem.
This is the cake she and her Mom picked up this past weekend for her ice skating party:
My goal was to really capture the simplicity of her stick-figure drawing, but make it a little more than 2-dimensional. Sadly, a 3D cake wasn't in the cards for her this time as her design was mostly flat and rectangular. I toyed with adding some snowflakes, for an outdoor scene, but in the end ran out of space. The cake was chocolate and vanilla, half and half, and the decorations were gumpaste and fondant plus a skating rink of white decorating sugar crystals.
Her Mom reports that the birthday girl enjoyed her two-flavor custom-designed cake, so I'm breathing a sigh of relief that it was a success!
