Twenty Third Birthday Party

For my twenty third birthday party my mum and I decided to try out a fondant cake. It took a lot of research on my mum's side to figure out which gum paste to use and what coloring method to apply. My job was to decorate with the tools we bought from Amazon the week before my birthday. This time we really went for it: a homemade tiered cake, decorated cookies in a dozen different forms, cupcakes with chocolate frosting and a traditional German cheesecake. My mum prepared the doughs and ordered the fondant and I started decorating the cookies two days before my birthday. It was fun to do but also a lot of work as this was my first time working with a gum paste - figuring out how to get the colors right, create round edges and what tools to use. After this baking experience I think I know a bit more about this time consuming art and would recommend anyone to check out various blogs for tips and help before hand. To get inspired (and frankly, to get intimidated) check out Hünerli Bayanlar, a well-known blogger from Turkey who throws beautiful themed parties with decorated fondant cookies and cakes.

For the food party we needed to redecorate our apartment to create an area with a buffet style food table and a cake and cookie corner. My mum bought a a kitchen apron by Jamie Oliver with water resistant pens to immortalize this day by having everyone signed it. Friends and family came with more food such as mini-pizzas, a carrot salad, chocolate cakes, various Turkish pastries and Afghan rice bowl. Everything tasted delicious and it was fun to see others enjoy it. My special present was the arrival of my granny from Turkey as I hadn't seen her for over a year. It was great day which we wanted to capture in one big family and friends picture but I guess someone was always looking away on the picture. It's quite a challange to get them all in one take - so I'm sorry if there are any unwanted face expressions:)

The recipe we used for the cupcakes is the basic vanilla cupcake recipe from Hummingbird bakery - I added chocolate chips and cherries plus used a white and dark chocolate frosting instead of a sugar frosting. It's very easy to color a white sugar frosting with coloring pastes - gotta admit, I just discovered this fact.

So thank you for coming and sharing this day with me. The food and presents were amazing, I loved them all!

Lots of love
Pelin