Notes

Did I Mention that the Boys are 12?

In the game for computers Minecraft players can create cakes if they own a table for crafting and the proper ingredients. To make my son's birthday cake for his Minecraft party, we first required a table to craft! Ours was made by attaching electrical tape to a flat wood cutting board.



I used two square cake pans to make a favorite cake recipe.



I iced only the top of the cake and not the sides. Then I added the next layer and iced the top and sides of the cake's top layer to ensure that the fondant would adhere to it. Look at the picture below to see me 'crafting' a cake on the 'crafting table'-- where virtual reality becomes geeky reality!



I added fondant that was uncolored to the top layer and then used kitchen scissors for cutting the edges. I had thought of making a line with the fondant and pre-cutting the sides but it was easier to put the fondant on top of the other layer and cut it into shape. I added some red dye to leftover fondant and then added the squares. It was easier for the fondant to stick to the white fondant after I soaked each square.



SNACKS



We were planning to have watermelon, but once we got into our Minecraft-mindset, we started seeing Creepers everywhere and pixelation all over the place.



(If you don't believe me this is the face of a Creeper!) https://talkegypt.net/ My son drew the face for me, and I etched into the melon rind with a knife. The boys had fun making melon balls, and even claimed they were eating Creeper brains. (Did I mention that the boys are 12 years old? Do you know?)



Another snack was also used as a game for the evening Digging for Diamonds! We began placing plastic "diamonds" in several plastic cups in the days leading up to the event. We added a different color of juice or soda each day. On the day of the party, each boy received a cup that held several colorful layers of ice. Digging is one of the ways to obtain resources in Minecraft. Mine-craft is the name they gave it.



We held a race to see who could extract the most diamonds in the fastest time.



CUPCAKES



After the kids' birthday party we invited guests family members to our home for dinner and to have more fun. I made cupcakes or "cut cakes" for the "after-party celebration". When I started Googling "Minecraft party", I was inspired by the Creeper-face cupcakes I discovered on a variety of blogs and Pinterest.



One of our friends has food intolerances and will be attending our party. We tried to ensure that he could enjoy the party foods as much we did. The Digging for Diamonds snacks were made with natural coloring. The Minecraft cake was only small red spots that were simple to remove. These Creeper cakes were more of the challenge.



Thanks to the internet, however, I found my new favorite food item: avocado frosting!



It's a bit gross It's not, but it was the hit of the night. The avocado icing isn't like avocados, or even guacamole. It tastes more like avocados and garlic and that's why it's so well-known! Instead, the high fat from avocado makes it an excellent butter substitute and the color of the avocado can't be beat! It remained vibrant green for days too.



I found my inspiration recipe from Alton Brown, however after looking through several variations on the web and trying a few variations the week prior to the event, I realized that adding some vanilla, reducing the amount of lemon and halving the amount of avocado gave the best results I was looking for.



My Creeper cakes aren't the most beautiful things in the world (if you want those, try Candy Bar Cupcakes' method--they look amazing!) They were simple to make and everyone loved them.



I made my favorite chocolate cake mix and baked it in a glass baking dish. Once cool I cut into squares and iced them using the avocado icing. Then I decorated them with the leftover chocolate icing from my Minecraft cake. I used a plastic yogurt lid as my template and spread the icing using a spreader. The green icing had to set for several hours before I could add the chocolate icing.


Website: https://talkegypt.net/