Need an extra special birthday cake recipe for disappointed dd

[NorthernMusgrave]

She's 7 on Tuesday, she invited 9 friends to a birthday party here, but only 3 are coming and 2 are not close friends of hers. I want to make up for it by baking her the most fantastic birthday cake ever. Don't want to use colourings though as all the E numbers frighten me, and I have to be an mc lentil weaver.

Any suggestions please?

What does she like?

You can make it pink with beetroot juice, and decorate it with lots of nice sweets?

Beetroot juice? Would it not taste all beetrooty then?

She's not a pinky pink girl, big Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl fan (polishes mc halo again). Should I go for a traditional sponge? Should I use marzipan? Any website recipes you can recommend?

No, it takes very little beetroot juice to make something pink.

I use this site for cakes, and I always do a carrot cake for birthdays - this one.

If you want to be a lentil weaver, you want to make cake with some nutritional value. Sponge is no good. IMO. (But then, I don't even like sponge, so I would say that.)

She's not awfully keen on carrot cake and I'm not really that much of a lentil weaver! I don't mind her pigging out on sponge and marzipan as a treat - it is her birthday after all! But food colourings, especially if you use a few of them, they just scare the crap out of me. I'd have been ok if I had't taken a look at the ingredients.

Ignorance would have been bliss.

Thanks for the link, I've bookmarked it and will flip through it.

I think there are natural food colourings. Or you can just ice normally with white icing (or pink from beetroot, or ... I think you can make blue from red cabbage?), and then put lots of nice, no additives sweets all over the cake.

That site is good, very American, but you can search by ingredients, and users post reviews of recipes, which is very useful indeed.

Will use the beetroot idea, thanks very much!

One question. When you put icing on the top of the cake, how do you stop it drizzling down the sides?

Or you could do what someone on here suggested and which I can't wait to do (!)-give them lots of ingredients like icecream, cream, fruit, sweets, sprinkles, sauces and so on and a big bowl and let them make a pudding then eat it out of the bowl with long spoons!

If you want to decorate a fancy birthday cake, try the Debbie Brown books. The are MUCH easier than the look and are absolutely wonderful. There's a Sugar Plum Fairy one that's incredible!

Dunno, I'm afraid - I rarely ice, and when I do, I generally ice all of it, sides included.

Mascarpone icing doesn't drizzle.

I'm sure other people on here are better at icing things ...

Oh I suppose I could ice the sides too. Unfortunately I get really pissed off straining the icing powder hence the runnyness of it.

Sugar Plum fairy cake sounds nice, can I get that on the web? Don't want to buy a book just to do a birthday cake. It's a budget birthday you see. Presents off Ebay, that kind of thing.

What is mascarpone icing?

What about this one? They also have a sheep one, but this might appeal to dd more.

What can I use to make light blue icing?

Mascarpone icing is mascarpone (or cream cheese), icing sugar, orange zest and orange juice. It's the normal icing for carrot cake. All white and thick.

I don't think I've ever sieved icing sugar. I just use it. [lazy]

You could put some smushed blueberries to make blue? It's more purple, but still ...

I wouldn't use marzipan - i am too parinod about nut allergies.

It is her birthday and parties are supposed to be e numbers and hyper active children. I would go for normal icing - that is what childre like. You don;t want the other children laughing at her because the cake tastes strange!