"The Cake"

I had to dedicate a special post just to the cake.

We decided on a rubber duck theme a few months ago, after she really started "taking" to them--granted, she plays with them in swim class every week, in the tub, and there are a few around the house, but she just loves them. IN fact, "ack" was one of her first prominent sounds/ words, and she loves almost anything duck you put near her--so this was a no-brainer.

So, we debated on a professional cake-baker, vs. us doing the cake, and whether to draw on the cake, or cut the cake out, or use a 3-D cakepan, and finally decided on this design. She has a very similar ceramic duck outside, so we knew she'd be familiar with it, and hopefully like it.

We did a trial run a few weeks ago and were really happy with how it came out...still, a lot of pressure to make your little girl's 1st cake, but Eric was determined. I was in charge of the foundation cake (pink--the easy part) and structurally supporting the duck, etc. Eric was in charge of decorating the duck, beak, eyes, etc. (hard part)

We made the cakes Thursday and Friday (would you believe the duck takes 2 mixes, plus another for the pink layers?), leaving the cakes to rest, and icing to commence on Friday (party-eve). Between the trip to the zoo, getting the house ready, wrapping presents, etc. we didn't even start until after 9 o'clock. Eric's poor hand was cramping from all the duck star-tips it uses to create the rough look, and we finally wrapped up after 1 am. I even video taped him in true time-lapse fashion, to verify for posterity that we did the cake and how long it took!

Without further ado, here is the before (Eric making stars on the duck), during (finished product, ready for demolition), and after, Unclue Matt, serving up duck slices at the party.

Great job dad!