James has turned one. In the lead-up to this momentous occasion we worked ourselves into a total lather over how to celebrate, what to get him and who to invite. I mean the kid is a year old. He's not even aware of his bowel movements yet so what's the point of holding a big bash with lots of gifts? But first birthdays are a HUGE milestone and we threw an enormous bash for Charlotte's first birthday (admittedly it was also a house warming to celebrate moving into our new house too). So we're on the hook to go all out for Baby James too.
Being the middle of June an event at home was out. This is because the guest list runs to about a hundred people and they would either destroy the house trying to fit in it or they would be shivering outside in the cold. So we need an external venue. Since I also can't be bothered going to huge efforts, we decide to hold it somewhere where we will have to do a minimal amount of work. So we book a table at KidCity for our friends who have ruggers and we book the Hellenic Club bistro for a dinner with everyone else.
Next comes cake. Since the Woman's Weekly train cake was Charles' first birthday cake and also my brother's first birthday cake (see picture below)...I figure we should have the same one for James. Unfortunately Charles is a train enthusiast and we quickly wade into the murky water of how unrealistic the cartoon train in the cake book is and how it would be so much cooler if we made it more realistic.
As a side note I feel that I must point out the dynamics of our cake-making relationship. Basically I come up with a concept and then Charles becomes artistic director and project manager, instructs me to the point of divorce, insanity and murder before an agreeable compromise is reached*. Apparently opting for a train cake is like writing a waiver allowing him to redesign the cake so it is a perfect working replica of his favourite steam engine.
So instead of an engine and four little freight cars full of lollies we have a modified engine that is more correct in detail. Then we have a petrol wagon (filled with choc fudge sauce so it looks like oil), a coal car (with chocolate rocks for the coal), a stock car (with various animals in it) and finally a log car (with Flake logs strapped down with licorice). I am tempted to sarcastically suggest sourcing dry ice to drop into the more realistic funnel to make it seem like the engine is steaming but I censor the words before they reach my lips. I do not want to spend an afternoon on the phone trying to find dry ice.
Then we debate colours.
"Well," says Charles, "technically it should be a sort of rusty brown".
Here is where I do my block.
"I know," I say brightly, "We can make a whole train station out of fondant and we can even have a fat controller man. Oh wait...we already have one of those..."
He takes the hint.
"Well what do you want?"
"I just want a cute little train cake for my baby son. And I want it to look sort of like the one Jase had and the one you had. And I don't want it to be complicated or overly realistic - it's a baby's first birthday cake!"
Then I sulk. Charles is a little bit silent after this but he agrees to compromise before I come out of my sulk. Feeling placated I agree to different sized wheels for the engine. I agree to a more realistic funnel and I love his idea for steam....marshmallows bubbling out the spout. In return he agrees to simple freight cars filled with lollies in the same colours as the book.
Making it is time consuming and a bit interesting. We need ten individual cakes. A slew of different lollies and chocolate. I spend all Saturday baking. Together it takes us three-and-a-half hours to put it together and decorate it on Sunday before the party. It is so enormous that we construct it across two cake boards so we can fit it in the fridge and transport it. Here is what the finished product looked like;
Truly we wouldn't do things like this unless we enjoyed it. I can confidently say that by the time we got around to assembling it the train cake was one of our best collaborations ever. We had the same thing in mind, we were working towards the same goal and I think we were both over the moon with the result. Best of all it tasted good and by the end of the party there was just nothing left...which is the best endorsement of all.
* I throw the piping bag at him and tell him to do it himself.
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