ideas for making birthday cake : there is a catch : I have no oven

[jeangenie]

anyone got any great ideas? is for DD2s birthday next weekend...she'll be three...she doesn't like chocolate and would like a strawberry cake...unfortunately oven is broken and am unlikely to have it fixed by the weekend

I bought some of those boudoir sponge fingers thingies I've made yummy things in the past by soaking them in alcohol and putting lots of cream in...mmmmm...obviously can't use the booze for a bunch of 3yos...any ideas?

(I could of course buy one...but where would be the stress inducing challenge fun in that?)

could you not ask a neighbour to shove it in their oven for you??

I live in London...we nod at our neighbours round here but not much more...bob next door does look after the cat when we are away but am not sure we'd be on oven swapping terms...

Make a fridge cake. You know, broken digestives, lots of melted chocolate and cream, other stuff mixed in like dreid fruit, nuts, marshmallows, glace cherries, I can post a recipe if you want?

Or I know, use the sponge things to line a rectangle cake tin with high sides, then make a simple chocolate mousse - whipped cream with lots of melted chocolate, and fill in the tin around the sponge fingers. Chill untill set. It will be delicious. Can post a recipe for that too, just let me know.

Buy generic cake and then decorate? Friend did this when her daughter's Barbie cake went wrong, and she was ill - cut up sponge, shaped it using the tin she'd tried to bake the cake in, and then decorated it. Still a challenge (decorating) but no baking.

You could still make a trifle, with the sponge fingers, jelly, custard and cream, decorated with topping of your choice, jelly babies, smarties etc

what about a posh trifle with the sponge fingers, lots of nice jam, cream and strawberries to top.

Or a trifle with ginger cake and pears instead.

ice cream cake. see my profile for the echidna (or hedgehog). you could have a pink hedgehog with strawberry ice cream and......er....

anyway, ice cream cake v easy to do.

do the sponge finger thing - soak them in orange juice (or juice from tinned strawberries, yum), use to line a jelly mould / cake tin, fill with whipped cream and strawberries, more soaked fingers on top, put plate on top to weight down, chill, turn out

Mmmm yes, ice cream cake is a very good idea!

Here we are! There's loads to choose from.

Oh just saw she doesn't like chocolate. There go my suggestions lol

cheese cake with strawberry sauce on top ?

Oh yes, you could make a yummy strawberry cheesecake! Tinned strawberries are great for blitzing up and mixing with the cream cheese mixture.

slubberdegullion - fantastic pics on your profile. how on earth do you change a cake on the day. are you some sort of fairy god mother?

How about sponge fingers on bottom, then gradually layer strawberry jelly with strawbs in it let it set, then a layer of blacmange, let it set, then repeat layering. Looks fab, finish with a layer of fresh strawbs on top.

I made a layered jelly pud with chewy jelly sweets embedded in it the other weekend for a party. Was a big hit.

hatwoman, yes I will admit to having a cake gift

the olde victoria sponge is a most versatile creature.
Green icing, chocolate finger fence and plastic tiger for zoo b'day party.

pink icing, chocolte finger fence and 28 year old wooden play figures for play centre party.

oh you lot are FAB

I'm thinking sponge fingers, strawberry juice from tin of strawbs, cream, strwaberry jelly, fresh strawberries...

I have some fabulous jelly moulds...a huge rabbit, some tiny rabbits, a turtle...would be nice if I could use those somehow to make it a bit more child's bithday party like...

or maybe icecream cake...I generally do an animal or other novelty cake for their birthdays...how can I make this smush of strawberry yumminess into a shape a three yo will recognise and love?

ps she hates pink and princesses...should get away with the pinkness of cake as is strawberry which is her fav taste in whole ^world but I need to give it an edge somehow...

the party favours (ha ha ha) are little tin buckets with seeds and plant lables in (plus some jellys weets and chocolate - I am not that right on!) so something with a horticultural bent would be nice...

(am I testing you yet?)

Tried a great new recipe with them recently. Its a frozen ice cream tiramisu recipe. Line base and sides 9"spring release tin with bonio biscuits and paint them with some alcohol- or not if you have children!!. Soften 2 tubs good ice cream (Coffee or chocolate or could use strawberry) and put this in the bottom, spreading nicely. freeze for a day. then mix up small pot marscapone with 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla essence and 1 cup double cream. Spread this on top. Freeze for another hour or so. Sprinkle over some cocoa powder. Bring it out of the freezer about 10 mins before serving and cut with a blade that has been in hot water....really rich and yummy

Do you have a microwaive? We used the chocolate all in one microwaive recipe recently from Mumsnet and it was brill

gawd, so you want to use rabbit jelly moulds, and pink ice cream with a horticultural bent...... and sponge fingers and strwaberries?

er rabbit jellies feeding in a rabbit hutch made of ice cream and sponge fingers?

jelly rabbits feeding on sugarcraft carrots and flowers??

oooh slubber that rabbit hutch idea is a nice one, along with the frozen starwberry icecream meets mascarpone cheese and sponge fingers...

It doesn't have to be so challengingthough, maybe a big strawberry coloured flower, or even a giant strawberry ...oooh, she'd love that...but how would I manage the shape?

gotta go do some work now but will be back later in case anymore fabbo ideas

strawberry tiramisu

ingredients:
1 tub Mascarpone cheese
1 package lady fingers (trifle sponges ect)
½ cup caster (white ) sugar (or confectioners powdered sugar)
4 tablespoons juice from strawberries
3 tablespoons cream
1 punnet fresh strawberries (leave out 4 strawberries to place on top)

4 small glass ramekins for individual servings

Chop up the strawberries and sprinkle with sugar and set aside .

Open the package of sponges and tear them up into pieces to line the bottom of the ramekin dishes. Drizzle the cake with the strawberry juice and spoon the chopped strawberries over and set aside.

In a medium bowl beat the cream, mascarpone cheese, and sugar.

Spoon the mascarpone mixture over the drizzled cake and strawberries. Smooth over the top and place one of the whole straberries for decoration. Refrigerate until serving.

For a fluffier cheese mixture, use ½ cup whipping cream, beat it in the bowl until whipped and fold in the mascarpone and sugar mixture. *(you can add 2-3 spoons of brandy for grownup pudding)

if you have a strawberry shaped cookie cutter you can make sandwhiches and cut them out in that shape....but I would say buy a sponge cake and cut it into the shape of a strawberry and ice it yourself with buttercream icing with loads of red food colour, and a bit seperated out to colour green for the stalk. abit like this one I googled for.

you could make cornflake cakes with White chocolate and strawberry flakes or even white chocolate rocky road with straberry flakes in.. or even those strawberry jelly candies...