The Baby Shower Block Cake

The block were bigger than they look - most pieces were shared!


This was another of Mrs S's ideas ... luckily I couple of old Beatrix Potter books that I picked up for 50c at a garage sale!

So, a few months ago, Mrs S and I agreed to throw a baby shower for our neighbour, Mrs Sz.

I envisioned brownies, cheese scones and cookies... as time progressed, however, it became obvious that Mrs S had a grander plan. We were an interesting mix of skills - Mrs S spoilt by the convenience of box cakes and me, spoilt by the taste of "from scratch". Mrs S transforming a onesie into an outfit with matching burp cloth etc. and me providing an abundance of clothes purchased on sales. Yes, we both use the shortcuts that work for us.

First,Mrs S mentioned she had always wanted to make a baby block cake -she called it something fancy ...petifore (not a word according to spellcheck?), I think- individual, fondant covered baby blocks. Neither of us had ever worked with fondant before.

I said "OK" because I am open to trying new things (at least once!) and suggested that I make brownies ahead of time as the cake inside the blocks. She tactfully mentioned that here "we don't usually have brownies as the baby shower cake - white cake is preferred!!

So, white cake it was...

I knew I could use her kitchen aid and you can do anything with a kitchen aid... right?

Well, as it turned out the fondant recipe did not call for a kitchen aid but it was very useful to whip up the cake and icings. I found making and working with fondant to be somewhat a mix of bread making (kneading) and playdoh crafting. Both of which I have some experience with!

What I did not anticipate was the need to make 3 different icings - buttercream between layers and to adhere the fondant to the cake, fondant and then royal icing to decorate. It was wonderful to discover royal icing again. As I read the ingredients and worked with it, there came a flood of memories as I realised my mom often used this icing. Mrs S and I spent a few nights of baking and decorating. Whenever I thought we had everything covered, Mrs S would come up with another wonderful idea - like decoupaging baby name letters and using pages from a child's book as decorations. Minimalist that I am, I was certainly not the one coming up with the ideas - but I found myself surprisingly equipped in skills to carry them out. It was a fun experience and made me even more appreciative of those who have held baby showers in my honour in the past.