Simple idea needed for decorating 4yr old's birthday cake please

[SilentBoob]

Love this new topic! Good call MNHQ [thumbs up emoticon]

Right. My boy turns 4 tomorrow. He is having a small swimming party. I am making a 2 layer round chocolate cake.

I can make any colour icing... but I have no ideas on how to decorate it.

Fondant and characters are beyond my capabilities.

Please give me a simple idea that he'll think is fun.

Simple fun cake - here

If you have diggers also simple

what about blue icing with half gummy people "swimming" around?

Love the candy cake, but not for ds as he's dairy allergic. I should have said. I did the diggers last year (but mine wasn;t as good as the linked one).

I think swimming gummy people may be a winner! If I can find gummy people... am not in UK... hmm.

Does it have to be round? If you make it rectangular and cut it into the shape of a '4' you can have lots of spare cake to eat just cover it in loads of sweets?

Oooh, what about blue with a shark fin coming out?

Best easy decoration I have used for a cake is a largish magnet from the Disney store. Write on happy birthday , or use a plaque if your icing writing isn't up to it. Surround with coloured jelly sweets.

Or a hedgehog. Cut the cake in half and stand on cut sides together. Smother in brown icing/chocolate and stick in chocolate buttons for spikes (not sure if you can get dairy free buttons?)

I don't understand the magnet and sweets idea.

I always think its best to start with a theme.
He's having a swimmign party. so thats not a bad theme.
I always type it into google: cake
And then I look at ALL of them. Don't be overwhelmed. 90% of the cakes are better than most of , mere mortals can make. But what can you can do, is take the ideas. simplify it.
Is you cake round?
You could maybe just about manage some steps going down the outside, like swimming pool steps, right? what about a couple of lanes, and a couple of rubber rings?
there is one, 3/4 of the way down, that just has the words splish , splash. and a couple of splashes of water. Even I, might be able to manager something like that.Even the fact, you made the EFFORT, will be good enough , for most 4 year olds, surely?

Great advice Oblo. Thanks. Have had a good browse.

I think I am going to make it blue with (not)butter icing, and then use some sort of square wafers to tile it a bit like this. Then I'll put a couple of life savers maybe? And a shark fin? Not sure what to make the fin from. Unless I can get little plastic people to swim in it?

Any thoughts / improvements on my plan?

Or I could forget the tiles and just have a blue cake with a shark fin and son's name in white?

This is cool though

This is really simple and effective.

I really like your last link. The "sand" could be mashed up biscuits if you can get dairy free ones. I can think of a few places to get jelly fish from but not sure if they ship outside of the UK.

ime, things like plastic sharks etc always go down well as they get to keep them afterwards.

I like it too. Am now trying to track down some fish and a shark.

This place will have both. Not sure if they ship abroad though.

They are unlikely to ship in time for tomorrow too but am bookmarking that site for another time. Thanks.

How did the cake go Boob? Did you take any photos?

Going to make that kit-kat cake on Friday for DS's birthdaay. Thanks for the link goingtoofast!

I love that kitkat cake, I'm going to give it a try for DH's birthday next week. How did yours turn out lordflasheart

I want to make it too. Got to find a Nestle-free alternative to the kit kats first though. Damn boycott.

Just made monster cake, Kelly- now onto kitkat cake. Monster cake on profile- am very proud cos it was bloody hard work! Need a now...

Wow that monster cake is excellent, you are very talented.

I'm a total novice so think that kitkat cake is about my limit for now!

KitKat cake online- not impressed with this- I should have put kitkats on the other way! But I think DS will like it

Looks good to me, I'll be happy if mine turns out like that.

I'm sure your DS will love it, all those M&M's, yum!