by Eggybird
While working on “Hough Bakeries Birthday Cake Memories,” an earlier post about my love for Hough Bakeries cakes, my cousin reminisced with me about the days of savoring their products. She told me about a place that still sells Hough Bakeries cakes. Before I left Ohio, she surprised me with a slice of a Hough Bakeries almond cake.
As soon as I tasted the icing and felt the texture of the white cake in my mouth, I was transported back to my ponytail wearing days. With one bite, I was walking through the door of the Southgate Hough Bakeries and inhaling the infamous aroma. Whoever baked my slice had gotten the recipe right. Of course, I had to share a forkful with my mother, my sister, and my brother-in-law, who was new to the Hough Bakeries experience. My sister and mother agreed that the slice was a duplicate and reminder of our Hough Bakeries days.
My cousin purchased this slice at Giant Eagles on Chagrin Boulevard. Now, there’s two places that I know of where a “Hough Bakeries” cake can be purchased when I’m visiting Cleveland, Ohio. The other Archie’s Lakeshore Bakery: 14906 Lake Shore Blvd.; 216.481.4188.
If you know some other people baking Hough Bakeries cakes, let me know. Thanks!
July 31st, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Birthday Parties, Cakes | Comments (0)
by nightngle
If you aren’t a great cake designer, but you don’t want to hire someone to bake a cake for your child’s birthday party, consider baking and decorating cupcakes for your child’s party. Although decorating cupcakes can be as intricate and fancy as a professionally designed cake, you can create presentable basic cupcakes and, possibly, memorable ones for your child’s party.
1. Gather your supplies. If you don’t have a muffin pan, you’ll need to purchase one. The pans that make 24 muffins are best for efficiency. You can buy these at Walmart or any store that sells cooking equipment. You’ll need a hand mixer, too. Purchase a box cake and the ingredients you’ll need to make the cupcakes. In some cases, this includes water and oil. Check the cake’s ingredients because some recipes call for milk, butter, and eggs. Don’t forget to buy a tub of icing and cupcake liners.
2. Bake the cupcakes. Pre-heat your oven and prepare the mixture according to the directions on the box. Place your cupcake liners in the muffin pan. You may need to spray them with a cooing spray to prevent sticking. Pour the mixture into the baking cups and cook according to the directions.
3. Decorate the cupcakes. Once the cupcakes are baked and have cooled, spread icing on them. If you want to make them a bit fancier, you can sprinkle the icing with sprinkles or place various gummy candies on the icing.
4. Display your cupcakes. When it’s time for the birthday party, display the cupcakes on a cake plate or platters. Another option is to place them on a cupcake stand.
By baking your own cupcakes, you not only save some money, but you’re able to personalize them, too, for your child’s birthday party.
July 31st, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Birthday Parties, Cakes, Party Planning, Tips | Comments (0)
by clevercupcakes
A birthday party would be incomplete without a birthday cake. If you have to, you can skip the ice cream, but a children’s birthday party isn’t a party without a cake. Lately, I’ve been purchasing cupcake cakes for my children’s birthday parties, and they’ve been a huge hit with the parents and the children.
The first cupcake cake I purchased for my oldest daughter’s Rock and Roll Ladybug Princess Garden Party was out of necessity. Looking for a ladybug themed birthday cake, I had called every commercial bakery in town. The only place that sold a ladybug cake was Walmart, and it was a cupcake cake shaped like a ladybug.
I contemplated buying a ladybug-shaped cake pan at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, so I could attempt to bake and decorate a cake for my daughter’s party, but my vivid imagination took over. I envisioned disaster, so I ordered the pink and purple ladybug cupcake cake with the legs drawn on the cardboard, and my daughter was happy. I, on the other hand, wished the cake had more personality. I wanted a cute ladybug cake.
For my youngest daughter’s Dora the Explorer Water Party, I ordered a Dora the Explorer cupcake cake from Walmart. The cupcakes were decorated like a cake would be designed. The frosting covered all twenty-four cupcakes and had intricate flowers for a boarder. Also, the cake’s decorations included Dora, Boots, and Swiper cake toppers. The parents didn’t realize it was a cupcake cake until it was time to “cut” the cake.
Cupcake cakes are convenient and can be decorated almost as intricately as a cake. I enjoy serving them. Children love eating their individually wrapped cake, and I don’t have to concern myself with cutting equal slices. Also, I know most children aren’t going to let a good cupcake go to waste.
July 30th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Cakes, Party Stories | Comments (0)
by ellen benton
Little girls love the idea of being ballerinas and twirling on their toes. Many imagine dancing on stage in their ballerina shoes and beautiful costumes. A fun party to throw for an aspiring ballerina is a Pink Tutu Birthday Party.
Some dance studios offer birthday party packages, which may include a mini dance lesson from a professional in a studio room. Having your party at a studio not only provides professional instruction and an authentic setting, little girls will have fun watching themselves wiggle and prance in the studio mirrors.
If renting studio space isn’t an option for you, check your local dance studios for a hirable ballet student to teach a few basic ballerina steps or moves to the guests in your home. Also, you may be able to find a neighborhood dancer or family friend who will donate their services to you for your Pink Tutu Birthday Party.
Invite guests to wear their tutus, leotards, and ballerina slippers. Any color will suffice, but pink is the preferred color for the birthday party. Have a few extra ballerina skirts or tutus for those who don’t own ballerina attire. For fun, parents can put their daughter’s hair up in a ballerina ball.
On the day of the party, make sure all decorations are pink. Decorate the chairs with bows made from pink taffeta. Bake or purchase a cake in the shape of a ballerina or ballerina slippers. Another option is to bake cupcakes and decorate them with pink icing and miniature ballerinas. Also, serve strawberry ice cream in pink bowls.
The girls will enjoy this Pink Tutu Birthday Party and pretending to be beautiful ballerinas. Before each ballerina leaves, give her a pink rose like at a ballet recital.
July 29th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Birthday Parties, Cakes, Party Planning, Party Themes, Tips | Comments (0)
By The Pug Father
At many parties and celebrations, the cake’s appearance takes precedence over the decorations and activities. The host may think, “If the cake doesn’t shine, neither will I.” Some party planners will even sacrifice the cake’s taste for its appearance. Ideally, I want my guests to be awestruck by my cake’s appearance, but I want them to be mesmerized by the cake’s taste as well. If I have a cake at an event, I want the entire package.
Some hosts may think they can get over on children with fantastically decorated cakes that lack flavor. However, I’ve attended a couple of children’s parties where the toddlers and young children wouldn’t even devour the icing on the perfectly decorated cake.
I’ve made the mistake of ordering cakes for my children’s parties without seeing a portfolio or sampling a cake before committing to purchasing the cakes. I was caught up in finding cakes to complement the parties’ themes. The cakes were edible, but the appearance of them wasn’t what I expected.
How do you find that perfect combination of design and tastiness? When you’re at an event, don’t be fooled by a beautiful cake. Just because it looks good doesn’t mean it will taste good. Taste it. If it’s tasty, ask the host if she’d give you the baker’s information. Never assume that you’ll be able to locate the baker on your own. Even in a small town, there are many bakers without a commercial bakery, and they can be found only through referrals. Even if a cake is offensive to your palette, I’d ask the host the baker’s name, so you can record it for future reference, too.
When hosting your party, don’t sacrifice a cake’s taste for its beauty. It’s just not fair to your guests.
July 28th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Cakes, Party Planning, Tips | Comments (0)
by dtramos
As a child my mother made sure everyone in our family of four had a store-bought birthday cake on our birthdays. Although my mother can only recall having one birthday cake as a child for her Sweet Sixteen Birthday Party, she made sure her daughters had a birthday cake each year.
Living in Warrensville Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, the best birthday cake anyone could receive was a Hough Bakeries birthday cake. The cake and icing were exceptional, and until they closed, this was the type of birthday cakes we received in our homes. When you walked into Hough Bakeries, the aroma promised a tantalizing cake, donut, cupcake or more.
One year after, Hough Bakeries closed, my father discovered Archie’s Lakeshore Bakery, a bakery that had the coveted Hough baked goods recipes, so my parents traveled across town to purchase one for my birthday.
Even when we traveled to West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, in August, my mother still made sure I had a Hough Bakeries birthday cake to celebrate my special day. One of my favorite birthday cakes was a cake topped with teenagers dancing and sitting and listening to music on a record player.
Today, my sister and I make certain our daughters have birthday cakes on their birthdays. They may not be Hough Bakeries cakes, but the thought is the same.
July 24th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Cakes | Comments (0)
by Cade
Candles lit on a birthday cake make a birthday celebration magical. Usually, counting the number of cylinder candles verifies the age of the birthday person. As the flames flicker, the birthday person closes his or her eyes and makes a silent wish. Then the candles are blown out by the birthday person. “What did you wish for?” is often the question asked by the curious, but all know to tell the birthday wish means that the birthday wish won’t be granted. So the child or adult who hopes to receive that special wish never tells and waits for its deliverance.
In her paper The Birthday Cake: Its Evolution from a Rite of the Elite to the Right of Everyone, Shirley Cherkasky explains that historically, solar light and light from fire had religious significance, and candles have been used to designate the passage of time. She goes on to state that the tradition of lighting birthday candles on a cake “seems to have begun in Germany, in the 18th century or earlier”
(www.chowdc.org/Papers/Cherkasky2000.html).
Birthday cake candles vary in style. You have trick candles that take extra effort to blow out. Candles exist in the shape of characters and multicolored stick candles. You can purchase candles in number shapes. Personalized candles are available, too.
Whatever type you choose, candles add a sense of awe to the birthday celebration and shouldn’t be forgotten.
July 22nd, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Cakes | Comments (0)
by -Nat
Yellow ducks create smiles on big and little faces. Something is comforting about seeing a little yellow duck. Children love rubber ducks in the bathtub. Sesame Street’s Ernie even sees a song to his rubber duck. Rubber ducks cover baby items from booties to bibs. A Yellow Duckie Birthday Party for a 1-year-old is a cute transitional birthday party for a baby becoming a toddler.
Fill a toddler pool with water and float a dozen or more ducks with a red dot drawn on the bottom of them with a permanent marker. Give each child an opportunity to pick a duck. All the ducks will have a dot since this is a 1-year-old party. All the children can receive a cute rubber duck for a prize.
Of course, you and the other guests will have to sing “The Five Little Ducks.” Most of the toddlers and older children should be able to sing this song with the birthday child and do the movements. Also, gather the children in a circle to play Duck, Duck, Goose. Paint yellow ducks on the children’s arms with face paint.
For decorations, you can use duck-themed paper goods. Decorating in all yellow, with stuffed or rubber ducks displayed around the party area will appeal to toddlers. If yellow isn’t a favorite party color, use light blue as your primary color representing the sky and water and accessorize with yellow.
Bake cupcakes and decorate them with blue icing. Put a yellow duck in the center of each one. Another option is to have someone make a birthday cake in the shape of a yellow duck for your 1-year-old’s Yellow Duckie Birthday Party.
July 20th, 2009 by Yolanda D. Young | Posted in Birthday Parties, Cakes, Party Themes | Comments (0)
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