To say that I make a big deal out of my children’s birthdays would be an understatement.  I didn’t go crazy and invite hundreds of people; however, I want the perfect pictures (which I never get) and just want happiness throughout the day.  With this birthday being my daughter’s first gluten free I cared even more than normal.

1st – pizza.  When we picked the place to have her party I made sure my daughter could get a gluten free pizza.  When it was time to order pizza for the party, I placed the order for the kids, adults and for my daughter.  They refused to order the gluten free pizza for us.  The place they were ordering from has gluten free pies (which I had verified were celiac safe), but the birthday place wouldn’t order it for us.  We had to call the pizza place and order it separately.  When writing this, it doesn’t seem like a big deal but I was so upset, hurt, and angry.  All I wanted was for 1 day of the year to feel as though her disease didn’t exclude her from her friends.  (I had also debated ordering all gluten free pies but financially I couldn’t justify doing it.)  The owner of the gymnastics place didn’t understand why I was so upset and my only response was “you just don’t get it.”

2nd – the cake.  Prior to being gluten free we always bought a Costco cake and spent $20.  I refused to buy a gluten free cake from one of the local bakeries where they cost a fortune and I don’t really love how they taste. So instead I probably spent way more money than I would want to admit (to myself more than anyone else) but she had the cake that she wanted.

Stage 1 – figure out how the cake should look.  My daughter has opinions, lots of them, and I let her give me her wish list for the cake.  She decided on a baby blue cake with unicorns and princesses and flowers and a castle.

Stage 2 – youtube, youtube, ask a few people for help, and youtube.

Stage 3 – buy supplies.  I bought a cake turntable (probably not necessary but helpful), 2-12 inch round cake pans, Russian flower tips, piping bags, a 14 inch round bottom for the cake to go on (really helpful for transporting the cake), a box big enough to hold the entire cake, fondant, chocolate, and chocolate molds.

Stage 4 – practice.  I made way too many practice cakes and frosting.  The cake itself is Pillysbury Gluten Free Funfetti Mix, the frosting was homemade buttercream frosting.I first tried to put 2 cakes into the 12 inch cake pan.  The cake came out, looked good, I did the toothpick test and half an hour later it sank.   Another one overcooked.  I embarrassed myself by realizing I could find the area of the 12 inch pans and compare to the area of the rectangular pans to figure out the best cooking times.  (I am a math teacher so that should have been obvious).  I used different recipes for frosting to figure out which one produced the best flowers and the best spreading consistency.  For the flowers: 4 sticks of butter, 2 lb bag of confectioners sugar, 2 tsp of vanilla extract.  For the crumb coat and outside layer add 1/8 cup of heavy cream.

Stage 5 – chocolate cover lollipops and fondant.  Earlier in the week I created chocolate lollipops that I stuck into the cake for design.  I also used letter cookie cutters to write her name in fondant (pre-made).  And if that wasn’t enough I bought on etsy edible Disney princess stickers.

Stage 6 – the party weekend.  Unfortunately timing wise I had a bridal shower out of town the day before her party which disabled me from baking when I wanted.  Her party was at 4 on Sunday.  Friday night, after the kids went to sleep I made 3 cakes.  Saturday morning I leveled each of the cakes and made my first round(s) of frosting.  Each layer had the baby blue frosting in between with a light crumb coat of frosting on top.  Saturday night, after the kids were asleep I did the outer layer of frosting.  I hadn’t practiced this but putting the spatula under hot water really helped to smooth out the frosting.  Then I stuck on the side the Disney princess stickers and the small chocolate unicorns.  Sunday morning.  More frosting – I made 2 different colored flowers to outline the cake, both the top level and bottom, then stuck in the other lollipops, the fondant Zoey and the 5 candle.

Stage 7 – Enjoy.  The cake did not look professionally done, but it looked amazing.  Zoey was so happy and she had exactly what she wanted.  Mommy win.

The only thing I wish I had done differently was to take the cake out of the refrigerator sooner.  I took it out about an hour before the party and then there was about an hour until cake cutting.  The cake was still a little cold and I think it tastes better at room temperature.  The kids didn’t notice at all, everyone ate the gluten free cake, but it’s a note for next year.

Overall her first gluten free birthday was a big success.  She had a massive smile the entire time and she had the cake that she wanted!