Your little ones birthday is coming up and not only do they want their favourite princess to be there, they also want a cake that looks just like them! Over the years we have been to so many birthday parties and seen (and eaten) lots of birthday cakes; but one particular style of cake we always love to see (and our Princess Heather even had for her 21st birthday) is a Princess Doll Cake – so simple and elegant, but yet so effective and easy to make yourself!

Read on if you’d like to give it a try…

1. What You Need

• 2 Boxes of Cake Mixture (any flavour)
• Ready to Roll Icing (in the colour of the princess dress you would like)
• A Doll Pick (found on Amazon)
• 2 Round Cake Tins
• 1 Large Domed Mug or Heatproof Bowl

2. Making The Dress Base

Firstly you want to make two sponge cakes to form the base of the dress. Before starting this section, read the cake mixture boxes and gather the ingredients required (eggs or alternative, oil, water etc) to create the mixture. Preheat your oven to the desired temperature at this point.

1. Following the instructions on the box, prepare and mix your two cake boxes of cake mixture together (adding eggs or alternative, water and oil as per the cake mix box directions)
2. Once the cake mixture is mixed, grease/butter your pans and lightly dust with some flour to prevent your cakes from sticking.
3. Spread the batter evenly over both cake tins (if you have excess batter why not make some cupcakes for your guests?)
4. Pop your cake tins (and cupcakes) into the oven for the allocated period of time stated on your cake mix boxes!

3. Making The Top of the Cake

Whilst waiting for the two cakes to bake it is time to create the top of the ballgown. For this we made a microwave mug cake in a bowl to create the round top of the dress. This mug/bowl should be slightly smaller than your cake tins.

To make the perfect microwave mug cake why not follow this recipe from BBC Good Food.

4. Putting The Cakes Together

1. When the cakes are baked, remove them from the oven and leave them to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing them from their tins/bowls and then place onto a wire cooling rack to allow the cakes to finish cooling.
2. Once cooled, place frosting/filling between each layer of cake and stack them, keeping the round mug cake on the top to round off the top of the dress.
3. At this point you can use a flat knife to round off the edges of the cake to form one big ballgown.

5. Decorating Your Cake

Now it’s time for the most exciting part, bringing your cake all together and creating the princess that your little one desires! Make sure the cakes are completely cooled to avoid the decorations ‘sweating’ off and gather everything you need to decorate.

1. Roll out your ‘Ready to Roll’ icing ensuring it is not too thin to prevent any tearing.
2. Carefully lift and place the sheet of icing over your domed cake shape to create the perfect ballgown – if you want to add some patterns flowers/butterflies/patterns then it is a great idea to get two different coloured icing rolls.
3. Poke your Doll Pick into the top of the cake. It is a great idea to use some remaining roll out icing to create the bodice of the dress on your princess.
4. Style your princesses hair and add any final decorations onto the dress that you desire and ta da…there is your perfect princess cake!

Present your cake onto a cake stand and, for an extra special touch, we placed cupcakes around the cake decorated in complimentary colours for everyone to enjoy.

We hope your cake is a big hit with your little guests!

Whether it’s for the animals, for your health or for the environment, having a vegan lifestyle is now more popular than ever, so it makes sense that you would want your little one’s birthday party to also align with your values. If you’ve not thrown a vegan party before, you may be wondering where to start, so we’ve put together some ideas below to help.

1. Party Food

Any food you can think of can be made vegan so there’s no need to worry. First make a list of what party food you want, then research whether there is a plant-based version readily available or if you need to get the ingredients and make it yourself.

There are lots of ‘accidently’ vegan products, you just need to check the label. Not all items will have vegan written on them so it may require a quick scan of the ingredients list (watch out for things like milk, egg, whey, gelatin, carmine, beeswax, honey and lanolin). Some suggestions for easy party food include sandwiches (with Quorn ham slices and Flora margarine), houmous with vegetable sticks, pizza (you can get vegan options from many places such as Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, Dominoes, Papa Johns, Chicago Town frozen and White Rabbit frozen), Party Rings, Oreos, Jammie Dodgers, Hartley’s Jelly and Swedish Glace ice-cream. Check out the plant-based section at your supermarket for loads of options such as cocktail sausages, sausage rolls, ‘chicken’ nuggets and much more.

Photos of The Vegan Street Diner, Vegan Sweet Tooth London and Sophie’s Delights cheezes (available online and at Sparkle Vegan Events).

2. The Cake

The birthday cake is often the centrepiece of celebrations, so if you’re hiring a cake maker then ask if they offer vegan options (most do). The great thing about vegan cake is that you are covered for kids and parents that may have dairy or egg allergies or intolerances too. Those who are vegetarian or halal can also relax.

If a bespoke cake is out of your budget, then you can buy a great option off the shelf (such as OGGS or Asda) or make one yourself (just look up vegan cake recipes). Remember that you could do cupcakes instead of one big cake.

Photos of Jayne’s Vegan Bakes, Cakes Free From and Tiny Sarah’s Cakes.

3. Goody Bags

Veganism is also about caring for the planet so you probably want the party to be as eco-friendly as possible. Avoid plastic as much as possible – recyclable cardboard goody boxes are a good alternative. If you’re adding sweeties then you can buy vegan pick and mix, vegan fudge or vegan chocolate. Skittles, Jelly Tots and Love Hearts are all suitable.

4. Decorations

Make sure that your décor is also sustainable such as biodegradable balloons and fabric bunting. Ensure that candles aren’t made from beeswax (most party candles are made from soy or paraffin wax anyway).

5. Entertainers

A party needs entertainment! Snow Princess Parties have an array of fabulous characters to run action-packed games. Many of our directors and entertainers are vegan themselves.

6. Party Outfit

It’s more than likely that your little one will be dressed as their favourite princess or superhero for their party! If you’re looking for an outfit for yourself then make sure to avoid wool, fur, feathers and leather. Time for party make-up or face painting? Make sure it’s cruelty-free so hasn’t been tested on animals.

The Perfect Vegan Party

If you are based in South East England and need more inspiration, why not attend an event run by Sparkle Vegan Events? They showcase amazing caterers, bakers and small businesses with lovely eco-friendly creations; and their team would be happy to give advice. You can view their upcoming events at www.sparkleveganevents.com/calendar.

Magical wishes x