Outsourcing My Daugher’s Birthday Party

After our daughter was born, the number of people who told us “it goes by soooo fast” was too many to count. And they were right. A year has passed, and I can’t believe our daughter is a walking, babbling one year old little lady.

When I started thinking about my daughter’s first birthday party, which was quite literally 6 months ago, I knew that I didn’t want to be too stressed about an event that would be far more about us and our family than about our daughter. After all, how much will she possibly remember!? And I have seen many friends stay up all night obsessively decorating cakes and cupcakes for their child’s first birthday party, and I knew I did not want to be doing that!

Being a baker and food blogger I have a lot of friends who share my passion for baking and, well, food. And so instead of stressing myself out I asked my talented friends to make their “specialties” for the birthday party.

I was blown away by what they produced! Chocolate covered strawberries in several varieties made by my dear friend Laura; chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting and pink sparkly sprinkles from Sara Bakes Cakes; Strawberry Sugar Cookies by Brittany the Baker; Mini Panna Cottas with Macerated Strawberries and Tuiles from my dear friend and trained pastry chef Danielle Feinberg; and the most stunning strawberry and lady bug themed cake by my dear friend Kim Stoll. Not only was the cake beautiful to look at, but it was also delicious: fluffy white cake with a delicious strawberry buttercream made just for Ella, since strawberries are her absolute favorite.


Ella bdaycake1

And while I tried to sit back and truly not make anything, I had to whip up just one thing for my little lady’s birthday. I decided to go simple and classic with a homemade funfetti cupcake topped with my favorite new sprinkles: confetti sprinkles! I think the sprinkles add a fun, modern twist on the classic birthday cake. And you can order your own confetti sprinkles in several varieties on Amazon! (Yes they are kosher!) And for you fellow bakers out there I used an 8B tip, also from Wilton, to make those cool swirls with the icing.


birthday cupcakes

In typical Jewish mom fashion I was worried for weeks whether there would be enough to eat…and now I will be eating birthday cake for the next week. But hey, I am not complaining. I mean, who doesn’t want to eat a delectable slice of birthday cake before bedtime!?

We’ll probably scale back on the party, and the number of desserts, for next year. But this was a super fun way to celebrate our lady turning one with our friends and family. I was so proud of the beautiful things my friends created and so honored that instead of me staying up till 2:00 am decorating, they were willing to do it for me! Those are some good friends!


strawberry cookies

 

Keep on Noshing

The Best No-Bake Israeli Ice Box Cake

This no-bake cake is super easy and super delicious.

This One-Bowl Tzimmes Cake Is Sweet Perfection

Combining sweet Ashkenazi tzimmes into baked goods has become an American Jewish tradition.