Oh no my buttercream is melting!

It's hot, too hot! Too hot for butter cream icing anyway. I've spent the last two days making birthday cakes for my gorgeous niece (3) and nephew (1). I've made a banana cake with marshmallow frosting ducky pond with bulrushes and lily pads for my nephew and a butter cake with butter cream frosting fairy toadstool house for my niece. I hope we get to take some photos before they melt away in the heat at the party.

I learned something interesting, that is, butter cream will not stick marshmallows together to form toadstools even if the instructions say that it can be done. However the MacGyver in me worked out how to get them stuck together.  Put the regular marshmallow on a toothpick and using a small flame (I used a gas lighter) heat the end of the marshmallow, then quickly pull away the crusty bit and stick it to the underside of the toadstool cap shaped marshmallow. Remove the toothpick and Yip Yip Yippee it worked.

I'm so thankful for such a great husband who helped me clean up all the mess created by 2 days of cooking, but also made dinner tonight and washed all the dishes too. He also provided 'artistic support' by suggesting where to place the decorations on the cakes.

Now I just need to work out how to get the cakes to the party tomorrow without damaging them... and not forget the birthday gifts and the extra bits I need to stick onto the toadstool cake (fairies, butterflies coconut grass and cocoa to sprinkle on the mallow mushrooms).

On Monday I will get back onto the Christmas baking only the Pudding Cakes, Brandy Butter and Nut Tartlets to do now. Thankfully I have a few weeks until my son's birthday BUT I need to hope for cool weather because he wants an Echidna styled ice-cream cake.

Echidna: An Australian egg laying mammal also known as a spiny anteater. Click the link to see a picture, my favourite is the short beaked ones