Sorry I have not posted very much this week. I have been distracted with planning Twizzler's 5th birthday party!!!! It was a pirate theme, since I have no homeschool tips to share with you today I thought I would tell you how to throw... or at least how I throw a pirate party. The above cake I made myself. I will start with that. After all, aside from the birthday boy, the cake is the most important part.
The bottom layer is a simple white sheet cake by Betty Crocker. I use a white cake mix because it does not have artificial colors and my 1st is allergic to Red #40 Yellow #5 and #6. I leave the yolk in the eggs though and it makes the cake yellow. Then I covered it in homemade icing. Actually, my Nana made the icing it was just enough leftovers from a previous cake she just made. I dropped a few drops of Blue #1 in it and mixed but not completely. I wanted a marbleized look. It didn't work out though, hence the blue sprinkles. shhh....
The ship is a (Betty Crocker) chocolate sheet cake cut in half long ways. (Sorry I didn't take pictures) Then I cut a couple inches off the end of each piece. I leveled them out and then stacked the 2 larger pieces and put one smaller piece on each end. Then I cut a point in the front. I piped some frothy white icing around the bottom of the ship especially up the front where the bow would be breaking the water. I added some wake in the back too.
The cake is decorated with with Betty Crocker fudge icing (cuz it's dye free and DELICIOUS!!!) Then I added my little accents. I used Tootsie Rolls for cannons and railing, 2 Rolos stuck together for barrels, Whoppers for cannon balls, and 1 Pirouline cookie for the bowsprit. Most of these are held in place by mini skewers but you could probably use a toothpick.
The masts are chopsticks and the sails are just card stock with Happy birthday typed in a Pirate Font. I also printed off 2 Jolly Rogers onto card stock in a wallet size for the back of the ship and taped it to a mini skewer. We thought of using Thomas Tew's flag because Twizzler was born in Newport, Rhode Island, Tew's home port, but decided to go with the traditional skull and crossbones for simplicity.
I used my left overs from the ship to make the chocolate island which I covered in brown sugar and topped off with a couple palm trees my Nana had. (She is the real cake decorator) I ran my boys pirate figurines through the dishwasher and put them around the outside of the cake.
When I got all my goodies into their bag I stapled another piece of clip art onto the front. This is a treasure chest clip art I got from GA Passport. That is a class I teach at my church and our theme this year is Anchors Aweigh.
Finally, I wanted the kids to go on a treasure hunt for their goody bags. I mean, what good is a pirate party without a treasure hunt?!?! Our park is pirate themed and there are pirate themed figures carved out of wood all around. So I came up with a riddle for each thing and let them run around from clue to clue.
Here are a couple of the clues. , "Don't let my name fool you, I can't wear a saddle or pull your wagon nor help round up sea cattle." and "I have no feathers but I do lay eggs. Find me on the beach or surfing in the waves." Did you guess what they are??? I typed them out in a pirate font and rolled them into small scrolls. Then I tied them up with a string and a Jolly Roger button that I had laying around for a costume. The final clue was, "It's not a pirate ship but it will take you places. look in the lot where the X marks the spot." All the time the treasure had been hidden in the trunk of our car with a big masking tape "X" on the back window. When they lifted it open, their goody bags where waiting. I let them go through their own goodies while Twizzler opened his gifts. Then I set them loose on the pirate themed playground!
And that is how I do a pirate party. I hope I have inspired you. For more cool pirate cakes check out Coolest Birthday Cakes. What do you think??? Should I submit my cake??? LOL.. I mean ARGH!!!
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