Cake for a princess party - inspire me!

[stealthsquiggle]

DD has ordered a princess party for her 3rd birthday. I am trying to oblige without reference to Disney Princesses (nothing against Disney per se, I just think she is too little for Barbie-style princesses). I ended up copying/drawing a little girl princess for her invitations - but now I need cake inspiration.

Would anyone care to find me something like this but with a princess (little girl one) on top instead of a crown so that my poor sleep-deprived frazzled brain doesn't have to think too hard about adapting it?

I'll be back next week for ideas on games/activities

[janeite]

Just do a plain cake and stick some Playmobil princess stuff on top.

Or do a couple of rectangular cakes in a layer, each iced a different colour to look like a pile of matresses and stick a marzipan or icing 'pea' on top.

[Thinkstoomuch]

You could do a dome-shaped cake then stick a Sindy-type doll in the top, so the cake is it's dress, if you see what I mean. Like this.

It's hideous isn't it? But if I was a little girl I think I would LOVE it.

[Takver]

Or a fairy castle - two rectangular cakes stuck together with the top one cut square & used to make 'steps' between the two layers, then choc mini-rolls with ice cream cones on top for towers & ice cream wafers cut into shapes for window, drawbridge etc. Shed loads of pink butter icing slapped over the lot (not the wafers), jelly diamond decorations, jelly baby soldiers, and green jelly chopped up round the lot for a moat. Dead easy and comes up a treat (have done variations on this theme several times!)

[stealthsquiggle]

I have made one of those before (but more tasteful), for my goddaughter, but I am rebelling against that as I think it is a bit too old for a 3yo - I want cute little girl princesses (not that she's my baby and I don't want her to grow up or anything you understand )

Janeite that's a good idea, except that I would have to explain it to DD as she has no idea about the princess and the pea!

[stealthsquiggle]

(that was to thinkstoomuch - I haven't done the castle yet, but that is Goddaughter's order for this year I think)

[janeite]

I did the stick Barbie down the cake thing for dd2 once but used a younger looking doll with a child's body rather than norks. It was probably one of Barbie's baby sisters or something. So it looked like a little girl in a biiiiiiiiiig dress, rather than Sam Fox!

[liliputlady]

You could go to a cake decorating shop and buy a little princess to stick on top. Otherwise take a photo of your dd dressed as a princess and have it put on an Asda cake.I once made a princess castle - a plain cake with turrets mad out of wrapping paper rolls and upside down ice cream cones smothered in pink butter icing. Don't think it would have won any competitions but it kept 4 year olds happy.

[stealthsquiggle]

I can do it ( at lack of modesty, but I do lots of cakes) - I just need one to copy

I am thinking something like this with a princess based on this?

[Thinkstoomuch]

Oh well if you're capable of that sort of thing apologies for the stick-the-Barbie-in-a-cake suggestion! This sort of thing? Or this?

[fortyplus]

What about a sleeping beauty type princess asleep in her beautiful bed?
then you'd only have to do her head sticking out instead of the whole thing

[stealthsquiggle]

I like your thinking fortyplus - and your links, thinkstoomuch.

I think I need someone with more experience of small girls than me - what do princesses do, in the view of an almost-3yo who has a big brother and therefore doesn't get to watch many princessy things? Only as far as I can see the defining characteristic of a princess appears to be that she wears a pretty (ideally sparkly) dress

[mumoverseas]

ooh, my DD is just like yours! She is 3 next Thursay and her party is Friday and I was also ordered to do a princess party (with pirates for the boys)

DD learnt all about princesses at Disneyworld and DLP. We have bought her a sleeping beauty dress for her birthday with tiara, wand etc and assume she will wear that.

With regards to the cake, I must have the same cake book as Takver as that is exactly what I am doing. My mum bought me a fab childrens cake book years ago and every year I've made the cakes for my DC's parties. DD1 (now 13) also had the princess one when she was around 5 so I'm hoping a second attempt will be better.

I'm making a square (pink) sponge cake, cut the corners off, around 4 to 5" high slices of swiss roll on each corner and one in the middle with an ice cream cone stuck (with butter icing) on top of each one. Cover with loads of pink and white butter icing (I cheat and use betty crocker frosting and bung some red food dye in for the pink) wafers for windows, little sugar icing flowers on the front and use icing pens to do the stems of flowers so it looks like they are growing up the front. Loads of sprinklies all over the place and if you feel up to it, put it on a large board with green butter icing around the 'castle' and then some blue butter icing in front of the door (made of wafers) to look like a moat. Its amazing what you can do yourself and they are three, they won't notice if it doesn't look like in the book! It will look cute and DD will love it.

I'm a bit stuck on games as 3 is a difficult age as most will have the attention span of a gnat but am going to do a few games. Am thinking of 'stick the tiara on the princess' instead of tail on donkey and musical statues or similar.

We've got a bouncy castle for the bigger ones (ie 3 and 4) and bought a small little bouncy castle for the little ones (1 to 2 years)

face painting, music, balloons, will be fab.

I must admit I gave in and bought all the Disney princess stuff, plates, napkins etc and party bags and bought some brilliant (and cheap) tiaras in sainsburys that came in packs of 4 or 5 to go in the party bags with some sweets. Disney princess colouring sets as prizes for games.

If you haven't got a 'proper' princess dress then any pretty one will do and if you haven't got a tiara you could make one or buy one of the sainsburys ones (or similar)

I'm sure she will have a lovely time

[BonsoirAnna]

I'm going to bake a cake in this mould for DD's 5th birthday. I am going to do a Sleeping Beauty type decoration, with lots of red roses.

We are also have lots of cupcakes with pink icing and flowers and silver balls...

[BonsoirAnna]

Oh, and we are having a magician with a real rabbit and real doves to entertain the children. Children here cannot manage parties without entertainers (most of whom are truly frightful) so I chose the entertainer who was most fairy tale like...

[blametheparents]

I made my DD a priness castle for her 4th birthday.
Picture on my profile.
It was really easy to do

[BonsoirAnna]

I'm also thinking about making a crown cake (first line, far right hand side) using this mould