For kids, birthdays usually involve some form of birthday cake and ice cream along with all the decorations and presents… unless that cake could potentially cause an serious allergic reaction. For Mr. D’s first birthday we didn’t know in advance or realize how bad his reaction would be to a simple cupcake… below is his first birthday at Ruby Tuesday. We a joint celebration with my niece who is 5 days older and got each kid a cupcake. we asked for the frosting to be removed from Mr. D’s and gave him the cupcake… with in an hour we knew to NEVER do that again… the trial and error of a first time allergy mom/dad. In the 3 years since Ruby Tuesday has stepped forward and created an online menu guide. It has information about which menu choices might affect those with various allergies or sensitivities to foods. http://www.rubytuesday.com/assets/menu/pdf/informational/allergen.pdf
By his 2nd birthday we knew that we couldn’t risk it. So Mama got creative and made him a cake and frosting from scratch with the help of a Betty Crocker cook book that had been collecting dust on top of my fridge. My decorating skills were a little rusty (I moonlighted as a name writer on cakes when I was 18 at my local grocery store) but no one seemed to mind. The cake was a little bland for my taste but the kid enjoyed it. I had bought store made cupcakes for everyone else but failed to get a photo.
In January of this year Mr. D turned 3 and Mama pulled out all the stops… but instead of making a cake with the help of Betty Crocker’s cook book… I used one of her box cakes 🙂 I made a test batch a week early to make sure he could have it and it was perfect with no allergy issues in sight.
Then I got to decorating… We did a “construction” theme and thank you to pinterest for lots of awesome ideas! I even managed to find yummy Betty Crocker chocolate frosting for cupcakes to make the dirt. The white and green frosting also is Betty Crocker except I used green gel dye to color it. Same with the blue frosting. I didnt make the construction equipment, lol. I bought those in a multi piece kit that he got for Christmas.
His 4th birthday is coming in… eek… 5 months… cant wait to see what I have to create then 🙂
The cake looks good!
sounds like you are very creative,,at least to try an do a check test first,,that cake looked good to me
I love the cake theme of construction. My little boy loves his cars and trucks. Great job! The cake looks very good. We use the Betty Crocker cake mixes as well.
Inspiration, thy name is Mommy! Good cakes.
I like your cakes and the last one is so cute with a great theme. I think it is great that you are taking your son’s birthday and making him a good cake for him and everyone else to enjoy. Great pictures of your son.
I’ve always been paranoid anytime I give my daughter a new food. No allergies run in the family and so far so good but I’m not sure how well I would have reacted to a reaction! Great cakes. I always make cakes for my kids bdays. I have fun decorating them and I always thought they tasted better than store bought.
Your construction cake turned out great! I know how hard t can be going through the trail and error phase with foods. It is always tough knowing what you can feed them when you go out. You did a super job on the cake. Plus it means more because you made it. Way to go!
You did a great job on the cake, looks perfect. I have been seeing some great things on Pinterest. I haven’t been on too long but looking forward to seeing many great things there