Ideas for icing a fairy b’day cake

I’ve decided that I MIGHT try to make Caitlin’s birthday cake.
It should, in theory, be relatively easy. I’m going to make a fairy out of different shaped cakes, a round cake for the face and cut out a triangle for the body/dress and wing shapes from a rectangle.
The cake is the easy bit (I’ll get one of those “just add water” mixes LOL) but I have no idea what is the best type of icing to use?
I want it quite think and easy to spread like whipped cream, rather than the icing sugar and water variety. I think in the states they call it frosting?!?!?

Also, any ideas about what sweets (lollies to you NZ’ers) I can put on it to decorate? Remembering that it is for a whole bunch of 1yr olds

Thanks

I make butter icing, which as you can guess uses a whoooole heap of butter!

cut up about 250gms of butter, chuck in a microwave safe bowl and nuke it for about 15 secs till it is just on soft.. NOT melted, then add a whole sprinkling of icing sugar and about a table spoon of boiled water, cream it together like you would when baking a cake, as you go keep adding icing sugar and small amount sof water, you don't want to melt it with the water just make it more spreadable. i just keep going and going tilli have used usually about three quarters of a kilo bag of icing sugar, kinda halfway-ish i add around a teaspoon of vanilla essence, add less if you want less flavour but definately more than that is just too strong.. (especially for little kids)
once it's kinda looking about the consistency of whipped cream, and is nice and white instead of yellowy butter looking, then you can divide it out into different bowls and add the different colourings you need to each.   Beware, some serious beating-arm power is needed to make this up, lol

spreads wonderfully and is great to smooth once all on, just dip a bread knife in some boiling water, make sure pretty much all the water is off the knife and smooth away the bumps.

Makes up heaps of icing too.

with the cake mixes, Greens butter cake mix is good, from woolworths i think it is, about $4 a pack, usually use about 3 packs for a large cake. or the home brand cake mixes are great too, much cheaper, about $1.50 a pack, also from woolworths.

can't wait to see the fairy cake!

Definately have a practice before hand!! We made Ashleigh's cake on the weekend - we hired a number 1 cake tin and the shop said to use 2 packets of cake mix. We did and within 10 minutes it all overflowed into the oven!! BIG mess and I had to go another cake mix. Worked fine with just the one. Then used butter icing for the piping but must of done something wrong as it was still really yellow and I wanted to make pink icing but yellow and pink = orange    In the end I wrote her name with silver cachous and just piped along the cake board. If you decorate with pebbles or something you can always remove them before giving to the children.

mum2paris wrote: if you are using butter icing you have to make it upo enough so that it is white before adding colours.. and they suaully are a bit duler.. hence our pink elmo.. which looked red later but when i was icing it i was thinking "oh my god".

Yeah I didn't think we had beaten it enough!! And then it started separating and when in the piping bag just liquid was coming out and the icing stayed in there

kelly probably too much water compared to icing sugar.. it should all be creamed together and heaps of icing sugar to make it thick.. once it's all made up then you can add small amounts of water bit by bit to make it more pipeable if need be.

Edited by mum2paris

lou wrote: No offence, but it sounds weird very one talking about packet mixes.  I've never used one, have always made the cakes from scratch.  I have found an awsome chocolate cake recipe.  So easy and never seems to fail. Gook luck  - I'm sure it will look fab.

I think it would be more offensive to inflict my cooking on the party goers
...and it's once less thing to go wrong, I only have to worry about getting the icing bit right *scared already*

Edited by Two Blondinis

Ashlee loves eskimo men you could cut them up somehow to make a pattern (obviously the right size so no-one chokes or something )

I can't get icing right. I've tried on *ahem* a few practice cakes and it just isn't going the way I want it to so I might end up giving up altogether! (or do something that requires not much detail)

lou wrote: The mini marshmellows look great on cakes - and safe for the littlies to eat. If you cut them in half they make cool looking flowers. Use 5 halves as the pettals and then a dap of coloured icing in the middle.

What a great idea! *gets all inspired for next month's birthday*