creative jewish mom

Cinnamon Roll Cake Pops For The Dessert Bar Are Perfect In A Pinch!

Okay dear readers, I'm off sugar and flour entirely so I'm trying to post this fantastic idea for making cinnamon roll cake pops that look like lollipops without really looking too closely at the photos, and with the idea that while certainly I'm not encouraging folks to eat un-healthfully, sometimes you've just gotta bake that cake or make that special dessert for your child's birthday, a special event in school or important family occasion. If you're like me, and you're trying to mend your ways in the sugar department it may just be advisable to skip the baking and just assemble something from bakery bought items........and that is where this cinnamon roll cake pop idea really shines!

Of course if you love to bake, and especially if you can whip up a healthier version of cinnamon rolls using say spelt, why then go for it! The cinnamon rolls shown here were home baked by a friend of mine, and I just loved the idea so much I had to share it. Keep reading to find out how she made the display stand, an important part of the whole presentation!

Quick Cartoon Character Bundt Cake Is Perfect For Birthdays!

Introducing my ten minute cartoon character bundt cake for a guitar themed party. Of course you can use my simple formula to make a cute cake that works perfectly for you, and best of all less stress and more time to focus on other equally important aspects of the party, like decorations, which after all really make the party.

Quick birthday cakes are the best kind really, in my opinion, after all it does get eaten......okay it is true you have the photos to remember your efforts, but in my book going for a larger scale wow factor with decorations is time more well spent. It may be that is because I don't know my way around icing or fondant or ganach, (and hope to keep it that way) or maybe it is just that after all the years of making fun birthday party decorations for my kids I realize that the cake needs to be a cute element within the whole look, and that can be achieved quite simply, yippee! And I'll admit, last night when I came up with these decorations for the last minute cake my daughter baked for the birthday, it was a huge relief that simple just worked. Especially since the birthday boy was waiting outside to be let into the decorated house when all was ready! A true life story, though of course he knew that he would have to keep himself busy after school, outside of the house, and had even planned this ahead of time, assuming that we would do our usual birthday party routine of surprise decorations.

Five Minute Cake Decorations In A Pinch!

One of my dear nephews from New York was coming for his last shabbat with us before heading back to the USA after a two year stint in Israel, so I just had to make him a good-bye cake! The only problem was that the house had been turned upside down with Pesach cleaning, we had some construction done which added a layer of ground dust to the upside down state, I had to go to a Bar Mitzvah celebration Thursday night, we were loosing a hour due to turning the clocks ahead.........oh, and of course the cake and the cake decorations had to be made before sundown on Friday, phew.

Quck and cute is my motto, and sometimes you just gotta lower your standard, or you might miss an opportunity to make someone feel special, right? Keep on reading for a few tips that I'll use next tiem I need to make cake decorations in a pinch!

Black And White Flower Or Spider Web Icing Trick

Making baked works of art can really be quite simple if you know a few little tricks, right? Courtesy of my 14 year old daughter who I have now appointed as chief family baker, I bring to you a little tutorial for how to make black and white icing flowers or cob webs! While she made black and white flowers on mini doughnuts, one can certainly use this trick on cookies, cupcakes and even cakes.......the results will be truly gorgeous, promise! And doing this on a cake would be so less time consuming than many other types of decorations, so give it a try, I'm going to encourage my daughter to do so as well sometime soon, and will share the results, of course. (Well assuming there is time to photograph the results, that isn't always possible, as you can well imagine.)

One disclaimer, we are not professional bakers, and certainly not specialists when it comes to making icing with dairy ingredients as almost all of our baking is for items that will be eaten on shabbat after a meat meal, and thus cannot contain any dairy products. So I will provide you with the icing recipe we used, but there are likely many more options out there that may be more suited to your needs.

A Simple Bear Birthday Cake For A Fourth Birthday

Once again I pulled out the teddy bear cake pan and my large red plastic tray in order to whip up a cute birthday cake in as little time as possible. With a cake pan that results in a cake that is at least the silhouette you desire, and a few simple toppings like whipped cream or icing, edible cake decorating paper (used here for the first time) licorice, sprinkles, and striped sour sticks, for example, you too can create something cute in just about 15 or so minutes. My little patent that really adds so very much? That would be colored paper shapes of course to make balloons and greenery to surround the cake which makes the whole thing that much more special!

Of course, planning ahead is crucial, and whille I did plan ahead I should have looked at my previous bear birthday cakes, as the addition of a crown as in previous years would have been cute. Oh well, next time! With all the pre-Hanukkah rush and the need to decorate this cake and get a party together within an hour or so, I was quite frazzled. Oh yes, and then the cake wouldn't come out of the pan because my daughter (who now does most of the baking) didn't know that one needs to oil and flour pans like this!

So I scooped out the head of the bead with a spatula and then the body, but no one was the wiser as it was all covered in non-dairy whip cream in any case. Keep reading for some more tips and links to previous bear birthday cakes!

Five Minute Simple And Cute Cake Topper

This adorable five minute cake topper really will only take you five minutes, especially if you have all the simple supplies on hand, and you most likely do! Okay, it is true, you may wish to invest more time in a cake for a loved one's birthday, understandable, but on the other hand, sometimes you need some quick tricks, and sometimes simple is truly the best! Invest time in decorations that won't be eaten if you have the time, and keep the cake fairly simple, that is my advice! 

I've even had people arrive at my house as guests and then declare that it is their birthday, in which case something like this is perfect......actually to have something like this already made is perfect, so why not whip up a few and put them aside, you won't regret it. And the good news is that this little cake topper can also be used on a fruit platter, or stuck into just about anything in case there isn't a cake on hand. (Stay tuned until tomorrow to see what kind of cake I used this on! ) So what do you say? Lets make one of these together, okay?

Giraffe Birthday Cake In A Pinch That Is Simple And Adorable!

Need an idea for a quick birthday cake that looks great and will even prompt some wows? Then maybe my golden giraffe topped birthday cake with dancing paper elephants and washi tape flags is perfect for you! This giraffe cake which was for the giraffe themed birthday party I made for my eleven year old is also perfect for people like me who really don't have the time or patience to figure out how to make a perfect tall cake, as those elephants hide all the imperfections! And of course, in my opinion, since the cake is going to get eaten anyway, don't stress, just cover the mistakes, and maybe slice the cake out of sight from the guests. I am now laughing having actually typed that, since behind those elephants is a globby chocolate coated mess that really did look quite terrible until I remembered the little trick of the decorative paper sleeve around the cake, phew! And of course, since I had to take that idea one step further with a sleeve that is actually a chain of elephants, that I happened to have on hand as I had made a bunch of giraffe and elephant chains to use as party decor.

Still with me? Okay, lets gather together those simple supplies and decorate a cake, ready?

Golden Giraffe Cake Topper Is Simple And Looks Amazing!

If you need a fun cake topper in a pinch and you happen to have some spray paint (toxic stuff that it is......) and some plastic animals hanging around somewhere, you are in luck, because this golden giraffe cake topper (or the animal of your choice of course) is so simple to make and looks amazing! For my son's eleventh birthday i decided to make a giraffe themed birthday party, maybe because he is now in that skinny gangly stage some boys go through, or maybe because I thought that the two from legs of a giraffe are like the number eleven. (And then I discovered that giraffe themed birthdays are actually really common for the 1st birthday for some reason, so the 11th birthday makes sense then too!)

In any case, the giraffe theme was a good choice as there are so many fun things to do with giraffes, even with simple supplies you may have around the house, as I fortunately did, as the weather was suddenly way too hot to thing about going out shopping! And that my friends is how this idea came to fruition......I've seen plently of plastic animals spray painted and glued to the tops of jars, but can't say I've seen any cake toppers! Come to think of it, had I had more time I should have actually made one of those animal topped jar to hold some birthday treats......maybe next time!

Keep reading for the super simple instructions......

A Daughter's Sweet Birthday Decorations For Mom!

 My darling 13 year old daughter, who very fortunately takes after mom just a bit in the crafting department, whipped up these sweet little decorations as a surprise for my birthday last week, and I have to say, sometimes when the apple doesn't fall so far from the tree it can truly be a pleasure!

A Super Simple Butterfly Birthday Cake!

Last week my daughter turned 13, and while I have been just too busy to even photograph all the decorations I made for her butterfly themed party (fortunately they're all still hanging in our home, so there is hope of sharing them next week) I did at least manage to photograph the cake, but unfortunately after dark and inside, so the photos are not great quality.

Other than the fact that this blog continues to be a great journal for our family of all the things we do, I also wanted to share with you the idea that a butterfly themed party doesn't have to be so sweet that it wouldn't work for an older child.

The cake was decorated with gummy butterflies and gum drops, and those gummy butterflies were actually the starting point for the theme. And then just one bamboo skewer in the middle completes the look! That is it, hope this inspires you to make simple yet lovely birthday cakes so that you can spend time on the decorations that can be enjoyed for days or even weeks to come! More about that soon.