The older I get, the less effort I seem to put into my own birthdays. I mean, I love birthdays, especially mine. I always have. I want to celebrate in a big way every year, but parties just don’t seem to happen like they once did in my twenties. It’s alright though, because now I’m a Momma and I have an awesome preschooler to throw birthday parties for. And she is certainly one to appreciate a good party. She never fails to give me the perfect reactions of sheer childhood excitement and joy that I always hope for. My kid is A-W-E-S-O-M-E!
My kid also knows what she wants. Believe you, me.
When she turned 2, and actually grasped the fantastic concept of a themed birthday party, she had already decided what kind of party she wanted for her 3rd birthday. At TWO!! She, with the utmost certainty said that she wanted a puppy party, or a “Fernando” party (Fernando is one of her little stuffed animal “guys” who also happens to be a puppy dog.) I knew this desired theme was being inspired by the party she had just had, because for her 2nd birthday, I used her most favorite stuffed animal guy in the whole world, Happy the rainbow Hedgehog, as the inspiration and theme. So I was almost certain that she picked another one of her “guys” thinking that all birthday parties must be themed around stuffed animal friends. Makes sense when looking at it from the perspective of a very clever, creative and confident toddler.
Fast forward to a year later. When her 3rd birthday got closer, my kid was still holding strong to a puppy dog birthday party, the very same idea she had declared nearly a year before, after turning 2. I have to admit, I wasn’t feeling up to the challenge of making a “Fernando” cake, because my kid is all about the details, each and every little, meticulous nicety, and so if I made one deviation from her beloved cream and brown miniature puppy dog, I would never hear the end of it. I’m a smart Momma, so I steered her toward one of her most favorite books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and that party was awesome and so much fun to plan. However, having the memory of an elephant, my now 3-year-old, on the VERY SAME NIGHT of her 3rd birthday party, had once again shared and declared her wish for her 4th birthday party's theme, that was 364 days away. No kidding. Can you guess what it was? Yep, a puppy dog party! One way or another, she was determined to have a “Fernando” birthday party.
Throughout the year, I would randomly ask her, “So what kind of birthday party do you want when you turn 4?” And it was always some sort of variation of, “I already told you, a Fernando party.” There was obviously no chance of changing her mind. However, as the year went on, I was able to get her away from being so specific with just Fernando, and encouraging her to embrace the idea of a more general puppy dog party, incorporating all kinds of dogs, including Fernando.
Fast forward to this fall, almost a year after her 3rd birthday, and it was final, my soon-to-be 4-year-old would be celebrating her 4th birthday with a puppy dog party. Why did I ever question it to begin with?! With only a month left until her special day, l happily threw myself into the planning and prepping.
I was still in no state to attempt a puppy dog cake, so I took to Google with my mad internet savvy searching skills in hopes of finding something unique and fun. The internet is a wonderful thing, people. The ideas and creativity is overflowing, and it's truly inspiring. What I discovered was this awesome Dog Food cake, perfect for a puppy party!
Super simple to make and fun! If only all birthday cakes were this easy.
Oh, and as we were cleaning up after her birthday party this year, my little, grown-up, sassy, but sweetheart of a 4-year-old says to me, “Momma, I want a beach party for my birthday when I turn 5.”
Of course you do. Of course she does!
INGREDIENTS
1 boxed cake mix of the chocolate variety (I used Devil’s Food)
1 box of Cocoa Puffs cereal
1 container of chocolate icing
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
1 Pyrex 2.5 L bowl
1 medium sized dog food bowl *I don’t have a dog, but I found the perfect blue (my kid’s favorite color) dog bowl for $4.99 at Ross – the very same bowl was $15.99 at PetSmart!!
Preheat the oven to whatever temp the cake mix box says.
Prepare cake as directed on the box.
Bake in the 2.5 L Pyrex bowl for about 40-50 minutes. Use a toothpick to test the cake if you’re unsure. Insert the toothpick and then remove quickly. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done!
Remove cake from oven and cool completely.
Once the cake is cooled completely, take it out of the Pyrex bowl and put it into your chosen dog food bowl, rounded dome side up. My dog bowl was the perfect size for this size cake, so I didn’t have to trim my cake at all. It fit perfectly!
Frost the cake generously with the chocolate icing and immediately press the cake with Cocoa Puffs cereal until the cake is completely covered.
That’s it! You’ve got yourself one tasty and unique dog food cake for a perfect puppy dog party!
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