The importance of 4
Yesterday was a very important day in this house, Tilly's 4th birthday. Her brother has his birthday in August which makes Tilly's birthday feel like a very long wait.
She has been dreaming of her birthday since, well, since her last one I suppose. The grand age of 4 feels very grown up and the whole business of having a 4th birthday has been consumming all of us for weeks. Clearly there can be no talk of Christmas until this important birthday was done with. This year I made my very first proper birthday cake. I do lots of baking but have never really ventured into the realms of creative icing. Basic iced fairy cakes are no problem and I sometimes adorn the lemon drizzle cake with a little bit of lemon icing, always with a homespun (drippy) finish. Tilly had asked for a princess dress cake and I distantly remembered reading of this idea in my Nigella. Unfortuately Nigella really didn't offer very much by way of instruction but a quick google boosted my confidence a little. I couldn't find cake tins suitable and was forced to use pyrex bowls to get dome shapes. Subsequent oven temperatures and baking times were all a little haphazzard and I must confess that some cake did go to the bin (although it wasn't so bad that some of it didn't pass through our mouths too). 
Eventually the sponge was completed and so began the decorating. I never really thought I would one day find myself stripping Barbie and painting her with apricot jam, I suspect there are people who would pay to watch, should I ever fall on particularly hard times. I inserted her into the cake (again this is slightly uncomfortable territory) and proceeded to dye my fondant and create a ballgown. I must say that I am rather delighted with my efforts. I really was half expecting a last minute dash to the supermarket got rather stressed at one point but ended up being rather proud of my iced cake.
She wants a Fairytale Castle next year....
Yesterday was a very important day in this house, Tilly's 4th birthday. Her brother has his birthday in August which makes Tilly's birthday feel like a very long wait.
She has been dreaming of her birthday since, well, since her last one I suppose. The grand age of 4 feels very grown up and the whole business of having a 4th birthday has been consumming all of us for weeks. Clearly there can be no talk of Christmas until this important birthday was done with. This year I made my very first proper birthday cake. I do lots of baking but have never really ventured into the realms of creative icing. Basic iced fairy cakes are no problem and I sometimes adorn the lemon drizzle cake with a little bit of lemon icing, always with a homespun (drippy) finish. Tilly had asked for a princess dress cake and I distantly remembered reading of this idea in my Nigella. Unfortuately Nigella really didn't offer very much by way of instruction but a quick google boosted my confidence a little. I couldn't find cake tins suitable and was forced to use pyrex bowls to get dome shapes. Subsequent oven temperatures and baking times were all a little haphazzard and I must confess that some cake did go to the bin (although it wasn't so bad that some of it didn't pass through our mouths too). 
Eventually the sponge was completed and so began the decorating. I never really thought I would one day find myself stripping Barbie and painting her with apricot jam, I suspect there are people who would pay to watch, should I ever fall on particularly hard times. I inserted her into the cake (again this is slightly uncomfortable territory) and proceeded to dye my fondant and create a ballgown. I must say that I am rather delighted with my efforts. I really was half expecting a last minute dash to the supermarket got rather stressed at one point but ended up being rather proud of my iced cake. She wants a Fairytale Castle next year....
Comments
I also did a castle one year, not as scary as it sounded. I did a couple of squares layered, with another square quartered and centered for the tower. Then I rolled small pointy ice cream cones in icing and sprinkles for the turrets. :0) I'm sure if you can manage the doll, a castle will be easy peasey.
India
Your Barbie-in-the-cake is soooo beautiful, I wish I would be 4 years old again to get such a marvellous cake.