My Baby’s 7th Birthday and Avoiding Artificial Colors in Birthday Cakes

My baby is turning 7.  I can hardly believe it!   Normally, I throw big parties with lots of friends.  I love to throw parties, but this year I have decided to do things a little differently.   I’ve decided that I want to keep things a little more low-key and family-focused.  We will have a small get-together with best friends, but this year is about celebrating with family.

Maybe, I’m being a little selfish.  When I throw a big party my little guy is thrilled.  He has fun bouncing around with his friends and I get lots of “Thank Yous” afterwards, but I don’t get to spend much of that time with him.  I really want to have a day full of hugs and kisses and lots of loving.  I know…………completely selfish, right?  Probably, but with good reason.  As the mother of a 21-year-old, I know that childhood disappears fast.  The days of him proudly holding my hand in public and kissing me in front of his friends will soon fade.  I don’t want to take those days for granted and so Lil C’s 7th birthday will be celebrated with those he loves the most…………and those that love him the most.  Family.

So…………………what does this have to do with strawberries?? 


I asked my little guy what he wanted for dinner so we could make sure to have all of his favorites and then it was time for the cake.  I asked him what kind of cake he wanted to have.  I wasn’t going to put any rules on him.  He could choose whatever flavor he wanted. No rules.  No worries.  I was sure he would choose a chocolate cake, but then he surprised the heck out of me and asked for a strawberry cake.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do because often Strawberry means artificial color.  I know I said no rules, but we try to avoid artificial colors as much as we can.  OK………I have a hard time letting go of that rule.  And if you don’t know why, you can read more here.

And then, I had a huge surprise.  I went into work the next day and quite literally there was a recipe for strawberry frosting in my email inbox.  The recipe uses real strawberries for both flavor and color.  I showed the picture of the cake to my little guy and he jumped up and down with excitement.  The cake with strawberry frosting and lots of fresh strawberries piled on top was exactly what he had in mind.

Thanks to all of the home cooking lessons, I didn’t have to make the cake on my own.  Sissy helped Daddy make the cake and then she helped me make the frosting.  We had a lot of fun trying the new recipe.  We used this recipe from Mary at Barefeet In the Kitchen .  We followed the recipe as written, but let me share a few thoughts on it.  The recipe calls for 1 and 1/2 cups of strawberries that you toss into the blender and puree.  The recipe then says to put 1/2 cup puree into your butter and sugar mixture.  I poured it all in.  Then went back to the recipe and read 1/2 cup.  I have no idea how much puree I actually used.  Was it 1/2 cup?  I don’t know.  It seemed like more.  For a while the mixture looked like puke.  Thank goodness it never tasted like it!  My daughter and I laughed quite a bit while making all kinds of disgusting jokes about how the frosting looked.  It did eventually turn into a beautiful pink color.  I also had to keep adding more and more sugar till I felt like it was thick enough to be frosting.  Without the added sugar it seemed more like a glaze to me.  I think next time I make this recipe I will try more butter or maybe some cream cheese.  And…….there will be a next time.  It was that good.

 

My little guy was quite thrilled with the results.  He really is a special kid.  He kept thanking me and hugging me and telling me how much he loved the cake.  That was certainly the result I was hoping for.  You only turn 7 one time.  And Lil C is the last of my four beautiful babies to turn 7.  I can hardly believe it.

Do you have any fun birthday traditions?  Do you have big friend parties or smaller family gatherings?  What is your favorite flavor of cake?

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One year ago:  Cinnamon Spelt Pancakes