A Spoonful of Sugar

This was totally a team effort. Dave sat and whittled ducklings out of marzipan--manfully managing not to eat all of it--while I baked the body of the cake. He also mopped my brow and provided Artistic Direction when I got flustered. Why does it always get unseasonably hot whenever I need to pipe buttercream?

The Mummy Duck was a sour cream and lemon pound cake baked in a Wilton 3-d Rubber Ducky pan. God bless Wilton, and especially their Cake Release. Marvellous stuff! The hillside was roughly carved from the left-over cake mix which I baked in a loaf tin. As is traditional, copious amounts of vanilla buttercream was used to ice the cake.

You can't really see it in the picture but I painted the blue icing of the pond in places so that it would have some more depth and Dave cunningly dusted on icing sugar to make waves behind the ducks in the water.

Truly it was a work of art.

And then it was demolished by a horde of locusts hungry family members. I had to shut my eyes and hold back a wince when the decapitation occurred....

The birthday boy thoroughly enjoyed the slice that he shared and thus far appears to have suffered no trauma from witnessing the decapitation. Like his mummy, he can't resist a slice of lemon cake! He did get slightly hyperactive after having a slice the next day, so I'll probably steer clear of lurid icings next year, but it was totally worth it to see him making his excited "Ooooh!" face.

And here's our little guy after opening a present from his Granny and Grandad.