re: Cinderella birthday cake - Another cake idea for Suzanne/UK

Hi Suzanne :-) While I was thinking about your post, I remembered that my mother used to make a cake for me for my birthday, when I was little (so it was years and years ago), that was a 3 tier cake. Each round tier was slightly smaller than the one below it. She either used 10, 8 and 6-inch round cake pans or maybe 8, 6 and 4-inch. After the cake layers were baked and cooled, she would put them together with frosting, then cutting a hole down through the center and removing some of the cake, she would insert a china doll. (I think she actually had one that stopped at about the waist. You know the antique small China dolls had such great and beautiful detail and had moveable joints.) You could use a small plastic or China Cinderella doll if you have one, hopefully with moveable joints or at least arms and elbows that move so they aren't stuck inside the cake:-) The cake is her dress (almost like a big, full dress with old fashioned hoops.) Then my mother would frost the doll from the waist up for the bodice of the dress and put straps on the dress, going over the dolls shoulders, with frosting as well. Dress detail could be as intricate or simple as you feel comfortable doing. Joyce's ideas for dress decorations were wonderful. Silver and pearl dragees might be something you could incorporate into the dress detail and/or dots of pink and green frosting for flowers. (Believe it or not, my mother was a big fan of Queen Elizabeth and that was one birthday party that I had. Everyone came dressed up in their finest dress-ups and I think we had tea and the cake I have described. I, of course, was Queen Elizabeth, complete with a beautiful full length white dress and a "diamond" tiara :-)!! I felt completely and utterly like a queen! I guess you wouldn't want to ask guests to come as the three ugly sisters but maybe someone would have an idea, if you want to make it a dress-up party. Oh, I know, guests could come dressed in their finest for the ball.

Another idea is to make a pumpkin cake. I think there are instructions for doing that on the internet and I will look for it for you. The cake is baked in two bundt pans. You invert one on top of the other. It could be decorated like Cinderella's coach. You could use loads of silver dragees to make it sparkle.

Good luck with your party, Suzanne. If I think of any other ideas, I will certainly post them for you.