From a nice place to a wonderful home.
Little traditions...
Laughter....
Family Dinners....
After attending the Power of Mom's Couple Retreat, Eric and I were inspired to start a new family tradition, celebrating half birthday's.
Nothing big or elaborate, just making half a cake and singing half of "Happy Birthday" to who ever's half birthday it is.
Lucas was our first half-birthday this year.
I made a round cake, red-velvet his favorite, cut the circles in half and stacked them all together.
Have I told you I haven't learned the trick to makes cakes flat yet?
Have I also told you I am often lazy and don't take the time to level out the rounded cakes which I intend to stack?
Yes, there might be a spoon in the back of the cake trying to hold the whole thing up....
but hey it's the tradition that counts right?
Happy Half Birthday Lucas.
Red Velvet, whether perfectly flat or propped up with a spoon, is one of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteFun! Would you like to know how to make them flat? :) This is the best trick ever! Take a kitchen towel. Get it wet and wring out the excess water. You want it fairly damp, but not dripping. Then fold it in half the long way and then in half again. You may need to fold it one more time. You want it to be as thick as your cake pan is tall. Depending on how large your cake pan is you may need another towel, or a wash cloth so that the edge of the pan will be covered all the way around. So you want to wrap the wet towel around the pan and use a shoe string or rope to tie it securely in place. Tuck the ends of your shoe string so they aren't hanging down. Make sure none of the towel slips under your pan when you put it in the oven, or your that part of the cake won't cook properly. Bake the cake normally other than that and you will have a nice flat cake when you are done. :) If there is still a slight dome on the top of the cake, just grab a clean dry kitchen towel and gently press it in. You need to do this immediately after pulling it out of the oven. Don't push too hard, and it won't change the texture of your cake at all. The towel wrapping will work for any shaped cake. Even a 9x13. I usually put them on a glass cutting board to transfer them to the oven so I don't have my towel shift on me. Wow that was a long comment! :) Probably more than you were expecting, but I wanted it to make sense. You do such a great job with your kids, and I love reading your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteOh thank you!
DeleteWhat an awesome idea! You're such a fun mom!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea! My middle daughter has her half birthday coming up at the end of this month! I should plan something for it.
ReplyDeleteCute! I bet Lucas was thrilled. What was it about the retreat that inspired you to do half birthdays? Is it just the creating of traditions, or was it something specific?
ReplyDeleteLove the spoon in back. It adds character. Makes it a little more Mad Hatter and March Hare-ish. :)
At the couples retreat one of the things we talked about was family culture and as part of that family traditions; someone else said they celebrated half birthdays this way and we loved the idea so started it too
DeleteThat is a great tradition!
ReplyDeleteThat looks super yummy!!! I think that's a great tradition!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great tradition! I think my kids would love celebrating half birthdays.
ReplyDeleteAnd that cake has me drooling ;)
This is so fun! Who doesn't love birthdays, so why not celebrate them twice a year?
ReplyDeleteHa!! I love it...even the leaning cake! It's very Dr. Seuss - colorful, leaning, and only half! :o) Happy half birthday, Lucas!
ReplyDeleteI love half-birthdays! My friend always remembers hers in June. I never remember mine. Clearly I need to get it together.
ReplyDeletelooks yummy!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute tradition!
ReplyDeleteLucas is a wise guy. I love Red Velvet too :)
what a fun idea!
ReplyDeleteHalf cakes are trickier than they seem, aren't they? I made a half cake for the first time last fall for my son's half-birthday. Mine didn't turn out like the Pinterest cake I was using as a model, but at least it was fun! And I guess that's the whole point!
ReplyDeleteHow fun! My cakes are rounded too. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool idea!! So what did you do with the other half of the cake? ;)
ReplyDeleteYes, he'll always remember that cake. The leaning tower of cake. Hey, it's leaning toward his next birthday. There, problem solved :)
ReplyDeletelol! Perfect!
Deletewhat fun and in the words of the mad hatter happy unbirthday to Lucas
ReplyDeleteIt's the tradition, thought and taste that count! ;)
ReplyDeleteVery sweet and fun idea!! Makes the year of waiting for your birthday to come not nearly as long. I can't get a cake to be flat either-- the womperjaw look is the best! Way to go mom!
ReplyDeleteWhat an adorable baby!! Cute post girl!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.leopardmartini.com/
Too cute! Happy half birthday to Lucas!
ReplyDeleteThat's a fun idea!
ReplyDeleteThe cake looked really yummy!