Birthday celebration no. 2

This one wasn't just for Louka, it was also for my dad and me. However, Louka did get most of the presents. She had been saying she didn't want any presents, or cupcakes, and that she would throw them away, but in fact she seemed quite pleased to get them.

Louka and I spent the morning making cupcakes: this time Louka not only placed the patty-pans, she also helped cream the butter and sugar, stir in the eggs, banana and flour, and ice the finished cakes. While they were baking I let Louka watch some Play School while I made up some ganache to ice the cakes. I should have done it beforehand, as it was still too runny to do a neat job. Never mind, it looked nice and shiny and they tasted great.


At my parents' place I topped them with candles and little dinosaurs from the museum. Thicker icing would have helped.


As usual, my parents prepared a delicious barbecue and my dad's traditional Jewish cheesecake. The three birthday people helped blow out the candles. Louka's big present was a ride-on toy (her "new car") that unfortunately needed to be assembled but came with no instructions. I should have checked. She also loved the paints and drawing book.