Birthday cake

I don't know why I make such a big deal about birthday cake, seeing that birthday cakes for me when I was growing up were the same frozen food section Pepperidge Farm cakes because those were the only ones Matthew could eat (and my mom doesn't bake). The memory is vivid because we'd all fight for the ridged plastic thing that was wrapped around the cake that was covered in frosting when you peeled it off the cake. Mmm...

But my birthday cakes were never fancy and I never had a themed birthday. Ever. But Tobey's one request for his birthday party was a space shuttle birthday cake, which sent me on this wild goose chase on how to make it work. Bake or buy? Ice cream or regular? The best advice I got was from a mom at school who said to buy a rectangular cake and plop a space shuttle toy on top and voila, a space shuttle cake! And that's what I kind of ended up doing, which sounds so simple, except that I toiled over where to get the ice cream cake from, once my mind wouldn't settle for anything but an ice cream cake, and I obsessed over the frosting color to make it close to the color of space. Looking back, it was a simple solution. But the circles of thought I went around to arrive to that conclusion gave me a headache.

So why do I bring this up now, 2 weeks after Tobey's party? Because I'm going to do a little birthday thing for Tobey at school and I can't repeat the same cake. I can't bring ice cream cake for practical reasons as well as the dirty looks I'd get from the parents for serving their kids ice cream at 10:15AM. I was all set to make cupcakes, frost and arrange them like the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters when Tobey dropped the bomb.

"For school, I want a Transformers cake."

Courtesy of a birthday gift, Tobey was introduced to the Transformers. The two decepticons that he has (we need to get him a couple of "good" Transformers to balance) can entertain him quietly for half an hour, better yet, half an hour at a restaurant. So bye, bye, space shuttle, hello Transformers.

I never thought I would give in to my child's whim like this. On the one hand, I see it as a challenge, guidance even, for me who likes to throw a good party. But while I always like to keep it simple, the reality is, when it comes to me throwing a party, I don't think I can keep it simple. I need voices of reason like Tom and my mom to help make things simple. Sure I only listen to them half the time but imagine the complexity if I never listened to them at all. Balancing practicality and artistry is what stresses me out. I can't do boring or blah or ordinary. Or at least I wouldn't be happy doing it that way.

I just can't do a boring square Transformers cake like this:


And while this is impressive:



I don't have the skill nor the time to make a truck nor does Tobey even know who Optimus Prime is or that he transforms into a truck because Tobey was only given evil Transformers.

No, I was thinking more along the lines of this:



except that I was planning on making cupcakes and frosting them all together into one robot (oh, excuse me, AUTObot). I have a feeling even that is pretty involved. But maybe I can make the design simple (ha!) using this cute picture of an Optimus Prime felt puppet as a guide:



Or maybe I should just make that boring square after all. Anyone got an extra Transformers toy I can put on top?