Birthday Bash Part 3: The Story of the Cakes

I was looking through old pictures of me when I was a toddler and I came across one of me on my second birthday.  I remember my cake vividly (which just might make it my earliest memory).  Anyone who even remotely knows me knows that I Like Candy.  This was true, even when I was 2 years old.  So my amazing mother made me a birthday cake made out of candy for my 2^nd birthday.  It was a choo-choo train, all done in different candies.  I remember being in the kitchen with her while she cut pieces of licorice and trying to steal pieces to eat.  I loved that cake so much!  I could not WAIT to eat it.  Fast forward to this year, and my sweet Lucy turning 2.  I decided to re-create this candy choo-choo train cake for her.   Mine didn’t turn out quite as awesome as the one my mom made for me 30 years ago (even though mom did her best to help me on my mission, lol), but we had fun making it, and Lucy sure did love trying to grab all the candy off the top.  And now it’s a family tradition.

2-year-old me, with my Choo-choo Candy cake...

 Lucy's Choo-choo Candy cake  : )

 We couldnt keep her away.  And of course Grandmum let her dig in!

My sweet Charley had very specific instructions for her cake this year:  She wanted a strawberry cake, with strawberries in it, with chocolate frosting, and then chocolate covered strawberries on top.  WHAT?  How do you even go about making something like that??  I had never made a cake before in my life, let alone one as gourmet as that.  So I called in the Big Guns:  Grammy.  We had a cake decorating party the night before the birthday bash, and Terri came over with the most beautiful cake:  strawberry-cake-with strawberries inside with decadent homemade chocolate frosting.  We melted 2 different kinds of chocolate and we dipped strawberries for the top of the cake and for the first time in her LIFE, Charley had her fill of chocolate.  It was a blast, and I think from now on, this cake making party will be a tradition, too.

THAT'S gourmet, right there!

 And that's one happy little girl right there.

 Rock on!