Birthday Cake Creatives, By Mom

My mom is very sweet. Every year, she makes whatever we want for our birthday dinners, including the ridiculous cakes we ask for.

I’m not certain how the tradition of outlandish cakes began, though I seem to remember being one of the first to make a request like a confection featuring green hills, sheep and a tourist bus… it was shortly after my trip to the UK.

We’ve made it a little easier in the past years by combining the dinners – my sister and me in late fall, our husbands in mid summer. Nevertheless, it’s a challenge to come up with something to give Mom pause. Today, I’d like to show you a few of her stellar creations:

First is the cake my sister and I shared in 2008. We wanted a roast chicken. The bread bits are supposed to be carrots and potatoes.

I think the legs were made with tin foil and toothpicks. We resisted the urge to bite into them.

In 2009, we were still very aware of the recent passing of Michael Jackson, and asked for a cake reflecting that.

We were surprised not only with the cake itself, but the multiple MJ faces hanging from the lamp above the table and under the glass dinner plates. She’d included images from the early 70s all the way through the madness of his final years.

It was spectacular, especially as the glove was made from edible sparkly sprinkles.

Now for the boys’ cakes. This past summer, they wanted a Triforce cake – both are quite fond of the Legend of Zelda.

Poor Mom didn’t even know what a Triforce was. I’m not sure if she looked it up or if someone helped her out with a picture.

Either way, she managed to fashion three triangles out of a few cakes and position them on some epic and shiny foil.

I have no idea why the husbands are laying on the table like that…

In the summer of 2010, my dear husband asked for a cake that looked like vomit. We really thought he’d stumped her with this one.

Nope. An angel food bundt cake is a great base for an open and violent mouth. A little pink frosting, and a mix of nuts, raisins and thicker frosting looks surprisingly like a regurgitation situation. The “vomit” was actually really tasty.

The picture at the top is from this weekend. We’d asked for cupcakes, one to represent each person at the dinner. I admit we didn’t really give Mom enough time to use the full range of her talents.

Still, she created little drawings for each cupcake. Mine had a pen and book, my sister’s a microphone (she’s excellent at public speaking and holds a BA in business comm) and there was even one with a plastic baby for our Grumpy Eggplant.

There have been so many more, but I think you get the idea. Could we ask for a nicer mom?