Let Them Eat Cake

Throwing a birthday party for a 7-year-old .

After picking the venue, you need to decide on the cake. In the past, I’ve ordered cakes from bakeries and I’ve made my own.  For E’s 9th birthday in November, we kept things simple.

He invited two friends over for a sleep over. We ordered pizza, they played X-Box, and I made the cake. All went smoothly—except for the cake.

E had requested a Master Chief cake. Those of you not familiar with the X-Box game "Halo" will not understand the enormity of his request. While I can freehand just about anything, military men with advanced weaponry is not my strong suit. But after getting some tips from my friend and cake decorator extraordinaire, Jen of Cakes by the Lake, I was proud of the end result.

The taste, on the other hand, was another matter. I made my own icing, which had worked out well in the past, but this time had kids spitting the cake into their napkins. You know if kids are spitting out cake, it must be bad.

I decided to avoid another cake-tastrophy and order one for C’s party. Thankfully there are plenty of options here in St. Peters to choose from.

If you’re looking for extravagant, or an “Ace of Cakes” type of confection, look no further than Sweet Ideas, or Cake’s by Georgia. Georgia and her team created a 3-D cake replica of Cardinal’s Stadium that was featured on Show Me St. Louis. Stop in and browse her albums full of novelty cakes. You can choose one, or challenge them to make whatever you can dream up. They will also work with you if you have a budget in mind.

Even if your birthday is in the dead of winter, there’s no need to wait until summer to pick up an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. My husband MJ requests one every year. They’re his favorite and he’s not afraid of insulting me by instantly bringing it up when his January birthday draws near. Besides your basic ice cream cake, you can request a Blizzard cake in your favorite Blizzard flavor, like Peanut Butter Cup or French Silk Pie.

Costco has a limited variety of simple cake designs, but the flavor is extraordinary. I have already put my order in for C’s cake which will be a two layer vanilla cake with a layer of vanilla cream cheese mousse in the middle.My mouth is already watering.

If you’re a chocolate lover, their chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate mousse may be the sugar coma you’re looking for.

There’s always Walmart, Dierberg’s, or Schnucks for cakes that include a variety of character cakes or cakes that are pre-made and ready for your birthday message. I’ve ordered several cakes from Walmart and they never disappoint. The cake is always moist and I could eat an entire tub of their whipped icing. The only problem I’ve run into is getting them to do a Star Wars cake. If it’s not licensed, they can’t do it.

If you choose to go it on your own, you don’t have to run out and buy a Wilton pan for your child’s character cake. Instead, visit My Three Sons Cake and Candy Supply on Main Street. They have Wilton cake pans for even the most hard-to-find characters. When I stopped in, I saw Harry Potter and a Transformer pan. You can rent the pan for $2, which means you won’t be stuck paying $15 to $20 for a Hannah Montana cake mold that you’ll only use once. My Three Sons also has premixed butter cream icing. You can also find candy molds and a wide variety of party treats if you’re the adventurous baking type.

There really is no reason for serving bad cake. So while C may have been requesting a cool Halo cake like E’s, I decided it would be best to leave it to the professionals.