Any ideas for a birthday cake for a 13 year old girl please.

[NorbertDentressangle]

When DD was younger I made various novelty cakes for her birthday (not brilliant but she loved them!).

The last couple of years they've been less novelty and more of a "pile on lots of DDs favourites" which has also gone down equally as well eg. last year was choc sponge, choc butter icing and decorated with Maltesers, chopped up fudge, choc buttons, Matchmakers etc.

Wondered if anyone had any simple but effective cake ideas please. I haven't got masses of time beforehand so the easier the better

Thanks

Could you do something a bit funky, like a baked alaska with popping candy and sparklers on it?

oooh now that sounds like something that could go down well although aren't they notoriously difficult to get right ie. without ending up with a sloppy mess?!

My mum says bake the cake base first and don't just let it cool, stick it in the freezer with the ice cream. Then get your oven very very hot. Choose a meringue recipe that works in a hot oven (they are either hot for a few mins or slow bake on almost cold. Make sure your ice cream is completely covered and sealed by the meringue mix, then put the lot back in the freezer, so the uncooked meringue also gets cold. Five mins before you want to serve it, whack it in the very hot oven.

When it comes out, it's ready to eat straight away, just cover it in popping candy, stick in the sparklers and you're done.

Get on Pinterest and search for birthday cakes - some truly spectacular cakes on there!

Apparently pink skulls are all the rage!!

Why not get some cake toppers and make cupcake tower?

Oooh, a skull cake would be brilliant!

nooo...my very first photo link didn't work!!

I'm still tempted by the Baked Alaska but I fear it all going horribly wrong. How forgiving are groups of 13 year old girls if I cock it up?

Pink skulls are a no I'm afraid. She doesn't like skulls and is not too keen on pink either.

BTW I got really excited seeing a pic on here as I forgot you could do that in some subject areas! [easily amused emoticon]

mobile phone?

massive cupcake?

Recent creations among 13 yr old DSD friends have included cake pops (purple and pink however you could decorate them to your DD taste I guess), cakes shaped like a converse boot, a purple guitar and a swimming pool (those reflected the particular interests of those girls) and one was a phot of the girl and her best friends with all kinds of sweets round it like a sweetie photo frame. None were my creations, I can't bake for $h1t but she has freinds with creative Mums!!

Elvis, I did a swimming pool cake for DD when she was about 8 -it looked great when I made it (blue jelly for the water, little swimmers made from fondant icing etc). Trouble is by the time it was the party the 'swimmers' had started to dissolve in the 'water'. It looked like a horrific acid bath nightmare!

lol - I have attempted a vicky sponge a couple of times bu they are always flat as a pancake so now I get other talented folk to make it for me and I pay them!! hee hee

Mine always sink in the middle which is why I managed a swimming pool cake!

You could always do a cheat version of baked alaska - no wow factor of ice cream coming out of the oven, but still delicious:

Make sponge cake. Wash tin. Pre cook meringue in same tin so it's same size

scoop icecream into the middle. Put meringue on top. If meringue crumbles just turn it into an on-purpose mix of meringue, chocolate shavings, popping candy etc.

They'll eat it.

Racing that's genius! But instead. I'd make Italian meringue and then cook
blowtorch the crap outta it!!!

unclear aren't I?! I meant to cook the Italian meringue with a blowtorch (thin layer of meringue!)

The more I think about the Baked Alaska the more I'm tempted.

I did buy one of those indoor cake-sparkler-fountain things thinking that the impressive indoor fireworks would detract from any crapness on the cake-front.

Tell me how it looks Norbert. I've just ordered some of those for a massive 50th birthday cake I'm making later in the year.

I fancy one of these www.marthastewart.com/256688/rainbow-cake

Does she like profiteroles? I made a croquembouche for my choux pastry loving 12 yr old for his birthday and it was very well received.

can you buy a croquembouche? I am hopeless in the kitchen but I know my dh would love one for his 50th !
ot could i get away with buying the profiteroles?

You can make croquembouche! It's easier than you'd think. Just loads of baking parchment, so they don't stick. It's a sticky business gluing them together, definitely a winter activity.
Teen birthday cake, I do three traybakes- brownies, rice crispies, rocky road, then cut up, 'tower them up' sprinkle with marshmallows etc and stick sparklers and candles in.

ggirl it's the assembling that's tricky with croquembouche. By the time you'd paid for enough profiteroles it would be cheaper to buy one ready assembled.

Do you have a costco there? If so do they have frozen profiteroles? Ours does and they are not that expensive. Assembly was easy, I made butterscotch sauce and glued the bottom layer to a plate and then built it. I just dunked a puff in the sauce and glued it to the one below and built it into a tower. I have a pic if you want. I didn't use parchment or anything, just lots of hard toffee sauce.

where can you buy them already assembled?