Once my boys started having birthday parties with their friends, I quickly decided that I wasn't making two cakes (one for the friends party & one for the family party.) My solution was to make one cake, then serve cupcakes at the friends' party. He still gets to blow out the candles on the cake at both parties, but I don't have a boatload of cake leftover at the end. For his cupcakes I searched high and low for HTTYD toppers, but didn't find any. So, I made my own out of chocolate. I used the same method as I used for the characters on the "Up" cake. I call them chocolate transfers, but there is probably a better name for them. I had an email this week from Cori in Australia (Hi Cori!) asking if I made them myself, and I do. I don't usually ship them because they are extremely fragile. They also melt very easily. I had to stick this batch in the freezer because they wouldn't set up, even in my air conditioned house! Other than the transfers, the cupcakes are very simple - chocolate cake with white buttercream icing.
I also came across a fantastic tip for kids' birthday parties. Scoop out the ice cream before the party and put the scoop in muffin liners on a tray. Then stick it back in the freezer until it's cake time. It cuts down on the serving time immensely! All I had to do was plop a cupcake and an ice cream cup onto each plate and I was done!
