Cake icing advice needed urgently

[puddle]

I ususally buy them but I'm planning to MAKE a birthday cake for dd (3) tonight.

Have suddenly gone into a panic about icing it. No idea how to decorate it. She's 3 and is very pink and girly at the moment. She's having a party at the weekend so tomorrows cake is for a family party (she'll have another at the party).

Can anyone help me? I know I should ahve thought about this earlier!!

I would wait till the cake is completely cool and then cover it in whipped cream that has had a little strawberry puree and sugar mixed in.

You can either buy a packet of Ready to Roll icing, dye it pink with some food colouring and roll it out to fit the top of the cake, or make up some butter icing with icing sugar, butter and pink food colouring. The first will give you a smooth finish, the second a soft one. Then you just decorate with sweets or non-edible things you can take off. (Once did a grat scene with DD's Polly Pockets cavorting on the top of a cake. In the days when PPs were really tiny, not the larger, rubber-dress wearing things they are now!)

Ready roll icing - does it look like ready roll pasty - how do you dye it?

For dd's last one I made up some butter icing, coloured most of it pink and covered the top, put a small circle of 100's and 1000's sprinkles in the cnetre of the top (used pastry cutters to get the shape) and coloured rest of icing purple which I smeared around the circle in petal shapes to make a sort of daisy shaped flower. Then added shop bought icing flowers etc around the edge.

Buy a cheap barbie-style doll, chop off her legs (ahem, sorry) and have her in the middle with her cake as a dress.

Icing is so easy to make (icing sugar, water + colouring) and you can buy all sorts of little glittery bits and pieces to put on it.
Or use smarties.

That said whipped cream works well with fruit in as I've found lots of kids leave the icing as it's too sweet.

I've got one to make for my dd who's seven on wednesday.

Happy birthday to them both.

You find it with all the baking stuff in the supermarket and it comes in packets a bit like ready roll pastry does (but it's heavier-- feels like a small brick!) Take it out of the packet (probably you'll only need half) and start to knead it like play doh. When it's all soft put a tiny drop of pink colouring onto it and knead that in. Keep adding a drop more until it's as pink as you want it. It gives a finish similar to the birthday cakes you buy, and it is very sweet!

Oh, you'll probably need to brush the top of the cake with some jam to stick it down as well.

For my ds2 I did butter icing in green and then placed coloured lifesaver rings (lollies) over cake and placed coloured lollipops in those so it looked like flowers in a field.

You are probably now wondering why I did the flower look for a boy - my son has severe food allergies and couldn't/wouldn't eat the cake anyway but he could eat the lollipops.

Thanks everyone. I might try the doll-in cake idea.
Happy birthday to your big 7 year old for Wednesday Spidermama!