More than a month had passed since our baby turned 2. I've been meaning to write and share the experience since then but time just ran away with me, like always...
We started the day with our traditional cupcakes in bed for breakfast routine. And don't forget the sparkler. Micah was whisked off to our bedroom and Happy birthday was sang whilst cupcakes with sparklers were ushered in. He really enjoyed the moment and it is so much fun to see that he knew that it was something special for him. After a whole lot of crumbies on our bed, Micah proceeded to open his pressies. He did not look to keen on the Lego from Dad and Mom (duplo) but Jethro's gift took first prize - Micah was really impressed with his electric drill.
 |
| Cupcakes with White Chocolate Ganache decorated in brights and pretties :) |
 |
| Happy birthday to you, dear Micah |
 |
| Yum Yum Yum |
 |
| It's my party! |
 |
| Pressies! |
 |
| Thank you Jedo :) |
 |
| Getting it out the box!?!?! |
 |
| How does this drill work....??? |
 |
| The Drill |
 |
| Daddy participating in the celebrations |
 |
| Big pressie from Dad and Mom |
 |
| Unda da sea... That's all I hear when I see this pic |
Tony took the day off and after Micah's nap we caught the bus into town and had a picnic in Company Gardens. It was a stunning day, and we had squirrels and geese eating out of our hands. The boys were very well behaved and we even got to ring the big bell at the square in the gardens.
 |
| The wheels on the bus go round and round... |
 |
| We have arrived, Hello Company Gardens |
 |
| Getting the monkey nuts ready for the squirrels |
 |
| A lonely statue in the pond |
 |
| Yes, you are gorgeous! |
 |
| Saved by the bell |
 |
| Spot the dove |
 |
| Hello birdies |
 |
| My one and only |
 |
| The squirrels liked the monkey nuts a bit too much |
 |
| Shoo Squirrels!! |
 |
| The geese came to get their share |
 |
| Hello Little! |
 |
| Bubbles! |
 |
| Tiny Bubbles |
 |
| Our wonderful German neighbours, Peter and Anita, came to wish Micah |
The day was very special and I'm sure Micah felt like he was being treated like a VIP.
For his 2nd birthday party I wanted to bake him a train cake with a Noddy figurine (he loves Noddy). I found the perfect cake on the internet and downloaded a couple of extra cake pictures. I showed Micah all the cakes, starting with the train cake but every time I got to the sheep cake, he bellowed and cried for me to stay with the sheep. He even bleated ;) So, that was decided! We are going to have a lamb cake (sounds strange, but to clarify, it's a normal, flour cake, that looks like a sheep), and while we are at it, a Lamb party. It was so perfect, as Easter was just around the corner, so, the Lamb turned out to be quite symbolic.
Invitations were sent and the cake was created between kiddies birthday parties, avicii concerts and church (which I bunked in order to get everything ready for the party, which was on a Sunday afternoon). I tried to have all things white and fluffy, and in the end our party menu consisted out of white coconut ice, white candy floss, popcorn, oreos, caramel apples, peanuts and raisins, grapes, marshmellows, etc.
By the way, I had no idea what to do with a Lamb party and started frantically searching the net. There is almost nothing available but I came accross this really sweet site where I got some ideas for the Lamb party:
http://blog.hwtm.com/2011/12/darling-little-lamb-first-birthday-party/
 |
| Ready, set, go! |
 |
| Yummy healthy popcorn |
 |
| Some caramel apples, I will post a link to the recipe below |
 |
| Our Little's Little Lamb cake courtesy of Shaz Garner |
We all had great fun celebrating our Little's birthday and I hope that he had fun too. Even though he probably won't remember his 2nd birthday, we will.
Lamb cake:
This is the link to the lamb cake:
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/sheep-cake-686403/
I used 2 boxes of Ina Paarman's Vanilla Cake mix (gotta love tannie Ina :) ) and used probably about 3 quarters of the batter in the standard springform cake tin and the rest in a stainless steel mixing bowl (for the face of the lamb). Bake the cakes as per the directions on the box.
In South Africa we don't have things like plain white mini marshmellows and that is why there is a word called "improvise". So, our white butter icinged lamb got decorated with normal white marshmellows cut in half. By the way, if you want white icing and not yellow butter icing, you can try using Wooden Spoon's white margarine. I know it's not nearly as nice as icing made with real butter, but it comes out white and our sheep had to be white.
The chocolate part of the icing, called for decadence (to make up for the white margarine icing :) ). That's why I used Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Fudge Cake Icing recipe, made with real dark chocolate and lots of butter. This icing is too die for and this is the icing that shouts Death by Chocolate Icing because you just can't stop eating this stuff, it's that good!! Thank you Nigella!!
And tada, our cake was decorated, marshmellows for wooley fleece, black sparkles for eyes, a piece of candy cane as a mouth.
The Coconut Ice recipe was also a first for me and I loved this recipe, because it was so easy and so delicious. That is my kind of recipe. You get a more complicated recipe, which involves boiling but the uncomplicated one was so delicious, I am not going to complicate my life, I've got two little boys :)
Easy Peasy Coconut Ice Recipe
Courtesy of www.foodlikeammausedtomakeit.com
Ingredients
- 340g icing sugar
- 340g cup dessicated coconut
- 400g tin condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon food coloring
Method:
This is a near flop proof recipe-it is very simple.
- Combine the icing sugar and condensed milk until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add food coloring to the sugar mixture. Mix well.
- Add the dessicated coconut.
- Mix until combined then pour the mixture into a deep dish (for best results) allow to set overnight then cut into squares or desired shapes.
How to make coloured Coconut Ice
- If you want to make 2 coloured coconut ice then combine the condensed milk and sugar then add the coconut.
- Separate this mixture into two portions then add your desired colour to the mixture.
- Press the first colour into the pan then add the second colour then refrigerate as per the instructions above.
I kept our Coconut Ice plain white to go with the white woolley lamb theme :)
Below is a link to this gorgeous recipe:
http://www.foodlikeammausedtomakeit.com/2011/10/coconut-ice-recipe.html
Caramel Apples Recipe
I used a recipe for Caramel Apples from Betty Crocker, so, if you are South African like me, you will have to do a bit of converting :(
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/caramel-apples/ff6e4690-90c6-4f37-a4d8-7806d78216f2
Just a warning, this is tedious and messy and not something I will try again. Too little reward for all that effort.
In South Africa, we usually have toffee apples, but I am not a huge fan. The "toffee" is too hard (like glass) and I am not sure if we even should call it toffee?? It does not resemble toffee at all. I am, however, a huge fan of caramel and decided to give the American Caramel apple a shot. But alas, toffee apple or caramel apple, no go for me.
Comments