As I've mentioned before, our home, along with millions of others worldwide, has (willingly and happily) fallen prey to the Disney marketing machine. Frozen has taken our home by storm, and Olaf seems to be the most frequently quoted character around here. Four-year-old Stacey's latest favorite saying is, "He's cra-a-a-a-a-zy" out of the corner of her mouth. Two-year-old Clara frequently tries to take off her head à la Olaf after the fall off the cliff. Even Andrew busts out some of Olaf's great lines when I least expect it ("Oh look at that. I've been impaled.")
So I was ridiculously excited when one of Andrew's old friends from high school connected with me via facebook (don't you love how the internet works sometimes?!) and requested a Frozen cake for her daughter's 4th birthday.
I immediately took to Pinterest to see what was out there. It's harder than you might think to recreate a familiar character out of sugar dough, so I knew I needed to keep it pretty simple, kind of along these lines. No handmade Anna and Elsa characters from this girl, I'm not that good. (I mean, seriously, LOOK at this cake! That is made out of sugar!)
After some discussion, we netted out on a small (6-inch) cake for their small (6-person) party, with a handmade fondant Olaf on top, flanked by store-bought Anna and Elsa figurines. Surely we could find a couple of cheap and cheerful figurines at Toys R Us to top off the cake, no problem.
Rookie mistake.
Store-bought toys from the biggest animated film of all time?
No dice.
Nothing at Toys R Us. Nothing at Target. Wal-Mart. Even the Disney Store was stocked out! Apparently people are paying thousands of dollars on eBay for Frozen stuff.
Disney really hit this movie out of the park, but it seems like no one in their supply chain got the memo.
Anyway, with no Anna and Elsa to steal the spotlight, Olaf was free to revel in his own personal flurry, all on his own!
So I was ridiculously excited when one of Andrew's old friends from high school connected with me via facebook (don't you love how the internet works sometimes?!) and requested a Frozen cake for her daughter's 4th birthday.
I immediately took to Pinterest to see what was out there. It's harder than you might think to recreate a familiar character out of sugar dough, so I knew I needed to keep it pretty simple, kind of along these lines. No handmade Anna and Elsa characters from this girl, I'm not that good. (I mean, seriously, LOOK at this cake! That is made out of sugar!)
After some discussion, we netted out on a small (6-inch) cake for their small (6-person) party, with a handmade fondant Olaf on top, flanked by store-bought Anna and Elsa figurines. Surely we could find a couple of cheap and cheerful figurines at Toys R Us to top off the cake, no problem.
Rookie mistake.
Store-bought toys from the biggest animated film of all time?
No dice.
Nothing at Toys R Us. Nothing at Target. Wal-Mart. Even the Disney Store was stocked out! Apparently people are paying thousands of dollars on eBay for Frozen stuff.
Disney really hit this movie out of the park, but it seems like no one in their supply chain got the memo.
Anyway, with no Anna and Elsa to steal the spotlight, Olaf was free to revel in his own personal flurry, all on his own!
I did end up printing out a stock photo of Anna and Elsa and mounting it on thin cardboard so the family could prop it up next to the cake while they sang Happy Birthday. I don't know any four-year-olds who wouldn't love to see their beloved characters standing right there next to their cake. (I forgot to take a picture though, before I sent the cake off on its merry way.)
Frozen madness notwithstanding, my favorite thing about this cake is that it is totally for a little girl. Underneath that fondant ice and snow lies glossy pink strawberry buttercream (and the scent of strawberry oil wafting through my kitchen was mesmerizing).
The lighting is a bit dark, but here's the cake, just before I laid on the blue fondant:
Frozen madness notwithstanding, my favorite thing about this cake is that it is totally for a little girl. Underneath that fondant ice and snow lies glossy pink strawberry buttercream (and the scent of strawberry oil wafting through my kitchen was mesmerizing).
The lighting is a bit dark, but here's the cake, just before I laid on the blue fondant:
Happy 4th birthday, Alexandra!
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