Maddie's 9th and Grant's 1st Birthday Party

So, my oldest is 9, and my youngest is 1.  I can finally say that without cringing!  I say this all the time, but it sure has gone quickly!  These two have birthdays that are just a week apart, so we decided to do a combined party with family.

Maddie wanted a basketball cake, and Grant has always been our little monkey, so we had monkeys and basketballs!  I found the monkey cupcake idea here.  I used candy eyes from Walmart and placed some chocolate sprinkles on the top of the monkeys' heads for hair.

Of course, I had to make some cake pops, too!  The monkey idea came from my Cake Pops:  Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats by Bakerella.  I used a mini vanilla wafer for the nose instead of a peanut butter candy wafer.

When Maddie requested a basketball cake, I decided it was a great opportunity to try fondant.  I mean, I only needed one color!  I used this recipe and tinted it orange.  I greased my mixing bowl and dough hook with Crisco and used it to knead the dough instead of doing it all by hand.  I put the food coloring in right when I started mixing the fondant so that I did not have to need it in later.

I baked two 9 inch layer cakes and frosted them with orange-tinted buttercream frosting.  Then I placed the fondant on top.  I rubbed the fondant with Crisco shortening to help smooth the wrinkles and give it a nice finish.

Ready for a party!

Happy Birthday to you!

I was nervous cutting into Maddie's cake because I wasn't sure what it was going to look like.  I used this idea and put cake balls into the chocolate layers!  We baked some orange cake balls with my Babycakes Cake Pop Maker, tinting the vanilla cake pop batter (from the user's manual) orange.  I froze them to use when baking the cake the next day. I just used a boxed chocolate cake mix.  I placed enough batter to cover the bottom of each of my prepared 9 inch round cake pans.  Then I placed 12 cake balls in each round and spooned batter over the top to cover them.   I baked the cakes about 7 minutes longer than called for on the cake mix instructions.   I was worried about getting the cakes done, so I think I over-baked them a bit.  Next time I will not bake them quite as long.

It was neat cutting into the cake and seeing little "basketballs" inside.

I'm not sure if Grant liked the balloons or Grandma better--probably a tie!  In case you are wondering, I ordered the Mod Monkey balloon, napkins, and plates from Birthday Express.  

Happy birthday to my sweet girl and boy!  I am so proud to be your Mom!

If you like decorating cakes, be sure to check out these posts!

Anna's Fifth Birthday
My Tips on Decorating Cakes
Evan and Lyla's Party (7 & 3, How Can That Be?)