Royal Celebrations for Kate & Prince William

The wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011 at 11:00 AM (be sure to check local listings for television airing time) is anticipated to draw a gigantic global television and internet audience. Princess Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles drew about 750 million television viewers. With so many royalty enthusiasts, royal celebration parties will take place all over the world for friends and family to gather together and watch the couple join in holy matrimony. Get a jump start on your royal celebration!

Invitations
Make your guest list and send out elegant, personalized white party scroll vertical invitations to watch the royal wedding.

Royal Party Decorations
Decorate the party space with wedding stacked mylar balloons. These balloon have the look of presents stacked upon each other in beautiful silver, purple and white. Add pearl white damask patterned latex balloons to make a royal balloon bouquet. Accent the party space with a few pink rose hanging topiary decorations. These topiaries feature luscious pink roses and includes pink ribbon for hanging. Another great decorating tip is to use gossamer streamers for decorating chairs, tables, tie fabulous bows, or create whimsical canopies. The possibilities are endless!

Tableware
No royal celebration would be complete without hors d’oeuvres and cake. Serve your special party food on the something blue wedding kit-n-kaboodle to make your table decorating a breeze. The basic kit includes: dinner plates, luncheon napkins, cups, thank you notes, white plastic cutlery, pink pearl and green pearl balloons, a candy pink plastic table cover, and silver curling ribbon. For a matching touch of floral elegance, add a pink rose bouquet centerpiece to dress up your table(s). To commemorate the carriage that the couple is expected to ride in after the ceremony, bake a carriage cake using the princess carriage cake pan.

Royal Party Favors
Have a champagne toast for Prince William and Kate with the frosted tulip flute personalized glassware imprinted with the couple’s name and date of the wedding that your guests can take home with them to remember the occasion. A guaranteed crowd pleasing favor is one of the many wedding chocolate lollipops to choose from.

Caution: Party Under Construction

If your child adores hard hats and the heavy equipment of a construction zone, Under Construction is a great birthday party theme with its colorful backhoe, bulldozer and dump truck design.

It also makes a cute theme for a baby shower!

The Under Construction Party Kit comes in Basic or Deluxe versions. The Basic Kit includes latex balloons, curling ribbon, table cover and tableware for up to 8 party-goers. Deluxe has everything the Basic kit does, and adds streamers, birthday candles, a metallic mylar balloon and an Attach N’ Go banner you can customize.

Our Construction Yard Sign makes a great outdoor marker for the party, as does generous usage of orange construction cones. Indoors, hang the whimsical Giant Tool Cutouts. Provide photo ops with the Giant Dump Truck Standee or the Construction Stand-in; each can be personalized to capture the moment in time.

The Under Construction theme also gives you plenty of fun options for cake. Decorate a sheet cake with mini construction hats, construction truck and cone candles, or our new Construction Dig Cake Deco Set. Another sure hit is the “dump truck cake.” The recipe is below.

Dump Truck Cake

One packaged chocolate cake mix

Two 3 oz. boxes of chocolate pudding prepared according to directions on the box

One box of Oreo Cookie Crumbs (or make them yourself in your blender)

One 9″ X 13″” cake pan

One well-washed Tonka Dump Truck

One yellow shovel scoop

Prepare and bake the cake according to directions on the package. After cake is completely cooled, cut it into bite-sized pieces. Layer the bed of the dump truck with cake, pudding, and crumbs. Continue to add layers until the dump truck is piled high with “dirt.” Serve heaping scoops of dirt with the shovel.

If you are serving more people than one boxed mix can cover, we recommend that you simply bake an extra rectangular cake or some cupcakes – which also gives you the chance to accommodate vanilla-lovers who attend the party.

Find more baby shower and birthday party supplies on ShindigZ Theme Party pages.

Jungle Animal Birthday Cake

Try this easy but immensely kid-pleasing decorated cake for a jungle- or safari-related themed kid’s party. You’ll need:

One cake mix

Hard board surface on which to build the cake

Chocolate icing

White icing

Green colored sprinkle sugar

Cake decorating icing to write happy Birthday or a package
of Happy Birthday Pick Candles

Small hard plastic toy jungle animals (or Lion King™ characters)
to fit the theme

First, you’ll need to bake your cake. We like a good boxed mix, but of course a scratch cake is great. Chocolate or vanilla will work. To make the cake moister, try adding a handful of chocolate chips into the batter before baking. You can match chocolate chips to a chocolate cake or white chips to vanilla, or go for opposites for a contrasting “confetti” sort of effect.

Bake the cake in a rectangular cake pan per the directions, and let it cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, prepare a board to support your cake creation. Foam core works if you have it readily available or select a large cutting board, corrugated or other sturdy flat surface. Cover the board with foil.

Place the rectangular cake on the covered board. Create zebra stripes across the entire cake – remember to continue the stripes onto the sides of the cake – by alternating white and chocolate icing. The stripes do not have to be perfect.

Using leftover white frosting, ice the part of the board that’s sticking out beyond the cake. Sprinkle green colored sugar on the white icing to create a grassy feel. At this point let’s note that you will need to decide whether you are going to write “Happy Birthday” on your board or on the top border of your cake. This will depend on how much board is sticking out. If you choose to write on the board, do leave some space in the icing without the green sugar.

Create a leafy jungle border by placing plastic leaf garland around the top outside edges of the cake, except for leaving space across the front for the Happy Birthday message or toothpick candles.

Add the toy animals to the top of the cake. It is best to have one animal for each child at the birthday party so you can place one on each piece when you serve it. You can clean off the animals later, and send them home in gift bags at party’s end.

A last trick we like is to store the cake in the oven to keep it fresh until party time. Obviously you want to be sure the oven is completely cooled before you do this. Place a piece of tape on the oven control knob to remind everyone it’s in there.

We’re sure the young “party animals” will love this cake. For more ideas for a safari/jungle theme, check out our Jungle Party Supplies catalog.

Try Your Luck with a Fortune Cookie Cake

The fortune cookie has an interesting history. First used in Japan as a temple tradition, its migration to the United States, subsequent evolution and marketing resulted in a version associated with Chinese restaurants but which is just about as American as apple pie!

At any rate, our offering today is a recipe for a Fortune Cookie Cake. This cake goes great with an Asian-themed party but also for going-away parties, retirement celebrations, and any other occasions where wishes for good luck and good fortune are in order. It’s also pretty easy to make.

Please note that the Fortune Cookie Cake requires a much larger cake pan than usual, but if you are baking for a small group you can certainly adapt the recipe for the more standard household 9” or 12” round pan.

Fortune Cookie Cake

16″ round cake pan

Two white or yellow packaged cake mixes

Three 16 oz. Containers of vanilla ready-made frosting

An 18″ round “board” or plate – foam, corrugated, etc. – preferably black for nice contrast in display

Parchment or waxed paper

“Pooh Gold” Wilton™ paste or gel food coloring

One computer-generated fortune

Prepare the mixes and the pan according to the manufacturer’s directions. Bake the cake according to directions on the package, but add an additional 5-10 minutes to the suggested time to bake. Because you are baking 2 mixes at one time, you will need to bake the cake for longer than the directions indicate. Check your cake using a toothpick inserted into the center every 5-7 minutes after the initial required baking time, and add more time as needed. All ovens bake differently, so add extra baking time in small increments.

Allow cake to cool. Place cake on wire rack in freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When removed from the freezer, place the cake on the cake board or plate after edging it with parchment or waxed paper strips for easy cleanup. Typically, a cake would be placed on the board upside down so that the top of the cake would be flat. For this cake, place the flat (bottom) of the cake directly on the cake board, so that the “bump” will be on the top of the cake. This gives the fortune cookie dimension. Cut a pie-like wedge out of the cake. Tint the vanilla frosting with the “pooh gold” food coloring. Frost the entire cake, then carefully remove the waxed paper or parchment strips.

Create a fortune with a personalized message using a large font and the “landscape” page setting on your computer. Trim the page so that the strip is approximately 4″ wide. Using a knife, make a slit in the cake near the “wedge”, and slide one end of the fortune strip into the cake.

We hope you enjoy the Fortune Cookie Cake! For more ideas, browse the Asian Party and Special Party Events catalogs at ShindigZ.com.

Cake Basics: Assembling Your Cake

Many decorated cakes are too large for standard plates and platters, or call for a more creative display. If that’s the case with your latest creation, prepare a base or “cake board” that’s a bit larger than the cake and echoes its shape. You can use a cutting board or a cookie sheet, pieces of foam-core, corrugated cardboard or plywood, or other materials with similarly large, flat surfaces. You can also buy cake boards online, for example at the Wilton™ Store. Cover your board with foil, greaseproof paper, plastic wrap, a piece of brightly colored plastic tablecover, paper doilies, or well-cleaned indoor/outdoor “turf”. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination, and can help turn a simple cake into the conversation piece of the party. Check our Catering Supplies catalog for more ideas.

The last step in prepping your cake board is to cover an inch or two around the edge with overlapping strips of waxed paper or parchment before you place the cake on it. (The cake itself should overlap the strips just a tiny bit.) After you have finished decorating the cake, you will then be able to pull out the strips, thus easily carrying away bits of smeared frosting or spilled sprinkles and leaving the board pristine.

After your cake has cooled to room temperature, place it in the freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The cake will be firmer, and easier to cut and frost. Upon cutting your cake into a shape, or in pieces to assemble together, don’t worry if it breaks. Think of your frosting as a combination of glue and cover-stick! No one but you will ever need to know. When the cake is carved into the shape you want it and in place on your board, spread a very thin layer of frosting over all the sides. This is known as the “crumb coat.” Let this coat dry for a few minutes before proceeding. This base coat will help seal in the crumbs, and prevent them from showing up when your cake is completed.

Most of all let your creative juices flow! Use little “props” related to your theme to assist you in your cake decorating, and don’t be afraid to experiment. The recipient of the cake is sure to be touched and thrilled by your effort. ENJOY!

Cake Basics: Mixes and Ready-Mades We Like

Our Favorite Cake Mixes

If you have a favorite family recipe, or just enjoy baking scratch cakes, our hats are off to you! However, if that’s not your scene, it’s good to know that many of the problems traditionally associated with boxed cake mixes have been eliminated. It used to be the main reason to take the extra time to make a cake from scratch was that mixes created cakes that were more tender and crumbly than cakes made from scratch. It was difficult to cut a “mix” cake into a creative shape, because the crumbs would infiltrate the frosting. Not today! We have tested and tasted all the boxed mixes on the market and can share with you our favorites.

The overall winner for great taste and ease in cutting and frosting is the Betty Crocker™ Super Moist Cake Mix™. A close second was the Pillsbury™ Moist Supreme Cake Mix™. Both have plenty of pudding in the mix, and they really are delicious.

If you are in the mood for something really different, make a Rice Crispies™ Treats “cake.” The shapes will work equally well, and it tastes delicious with frosting.

Our Favorite Ready-Made Frostings

In order to achieve that “bakery perfect” smoothness on your cakes, use a standard recipe for butter cream frosting. The downside of this type of frosting is that it generally tastes quite sugary, and uses either lard or shortening to give it a “stiffer” consistency. What’s the favorite of ShindigZ staffers? Not only is ready-made frosting easier, we think it tastes creamier and less sugary. Try Pillsbury’s™ Creamy Supreme™ frosting, or even Cool Whip™. Ready-made may not give a bakery-smooth finish, but they were all very tasty to eat! For best results, refrigerate the frosting first, and keep it chilled while decorating.

We Also Like Paste

We like paste colorings in frosting. They won’t thin your frosting like liquid colors can, and they usually give quite vibrant results with little effort. Admittedly, some strong colors can be difficult to achieve without changing the taste of the frosting. Look for “no taste” pastes, or start with a ready-made that already contains some of the desired color: for example, use pink (strawberry, raspberry) to obtain fire-engine red, and dark chocolate for a head start on black frostings.

Once you’ve selected your recipes or mixes, frostings and colors, why not take a spin around ShindigZ Party’s Birthday Candles and Cake Accessories pages for more ideas? We think you’ll be glad you did!