Son’s birthday is an occasion to arrange a modest family holiday. And of course, how can you do without a cake? I want to please my child with something tasty, healthy and original.
When ordering dessert in the confectionery, it is advisable to pay attention to the raw photos of the real shops on the confectionery website, the reviews and the period of work on the sales market.
But in some cases, the hostesses prepare sweets themselves, including cakes in the form of a figure symbolizing the age of the child. This is a good practice in confectionery.
Ideas development
About 15-20 years ago a variety of biscuits, "Napoleons", honey cake were baked on holidays. They acquired a kind of edible jewelry. Cakes for a boy for 4 years with age symbols were difficult to pick up. They were also decorated with a variety of curved or straight candles, colorful numbers, candle numbers.
For an attractive appearance, cream figures were used. For example, flowers on the edge of the product, leaves, labels.
Round or square cakes were preferred in shape , depending on what kind of baking dish the hostess had. Mostly they were standard.
Decor Options
Nowadays, the decorative possibilities of a baked product are much wider. For 4 years a boy can make a cake made by a loving mother in the following ways:
- write the name of the birthday person, wishes or a meaningful word with edible cream or use mastic for these purposes;
- decorate with candles, numbers, figures of cartoon characters;
- mark the cake with berries, cream or chocolate patterns;
- sprinkle the cake with coconut, chocolate chips or colorful confectionery powder;
- use marzipan;
- bake the product itself in the form of a beloved hero from a book, cartoon, game;
- bring the appearance of the cake closer to the ball, binoculars, typewriter, lego figure, any animal, mountain or volcano;
- bake in the form of number 4 with additional decoration;
- make thematic sweetness (with your favorite hero, transport, nature motives);
- lay on top a layer of sweets, small chocolates;
- give a round, square or rectangular shape.
What is important for the baby?
Four-year-olds value and pay attention to:
Taste buds at this age are very sensitive, and children are more picky about culinary masterpieces. With memories of food of that period, whims, refusals of food or preferred dishes pop up.
A delicate, crumbly delicacy will delight any crumbs.
- Beautiful appearance and bright colors
At this age, everything is bright and beautiful.
When choosing a cake, the interests and hobbies of the child are taken into account. Parents know what their son likes to do (watching cartoons, reading books, playing). You can ask the child in advance about the perfect culinary gift: what sizes and shapes it should be.
Many festivities have a thematic focus. For example, a pirate, sea, fairy-tale, on the theme of your favorite game or cartoon. Then, not only the cake is made out, but also the room in the chosen direction of the celebration. You can rely on your favorite character, book or animated character. It can be Spider-Man, Batman, Winnie the Pooh, minions, fixies, teenage mutant ninja turtles.
Mastic will help make the character more voluminous and vibrant. For a flat image, waffles and printed pictures are used. It is also possible to get an image with a combination of icing and melted chocolate (dark, white). If you need a figure, then painted mastic is used. First, the parts are manufactured separately, at the end they are combined into a single whole. The figurine is attached to the cake with cream or jam.
By this age, preschoolers have formed ideas about ideal sweetness. Large or small, single-tier or in several tiers.
Airy, delicate, sweet cream like children and adults.
How to choose a design?
When choosing a filling and decorations for a 4-year-old children's cake for a boy, parents are guided by:
- expectations;
- wishes;
- interests;
- composition of the goodies.
Exotic fruits and berries (not tried) are not put in the product. For decoration, they also don’t choose berries unattractive in the boy’s opinion.
Only natural dyes are used: juice of strawberries, beets and carrots, raspberries or cherries, spinach, egg yolk. They will not cause irritation. Some colors are obtained by mixing or diluting juices.
Festive treats are decorated using several technologies: using butter or yogurt, mastic, custard, marzipan, aising.
Oil cream consists of butter, condensed milk. For decoration, you will need confectionery syringes. Borders, roses, petals, curls are made with special nozzles. If there are no devices, a bag of paper, paper or other material rolled up in the shape of a cone will do.
Increasingly, yogurt cream is used in cakes. It is easy to prepare, has a small fraction of fat, goes well with berries. Oil creams are more oily.
Colorful marshmallows are made from marshmallows, butter, starch, and powdered sugar. All decorations are realistic and colorful.
The plasticity of the mastic will help to decorate the cakes and hide the flaws of the cakes. A novice will handle it. She is easily painted, afraid of water. But not everyone may like it because of cloying. And the product should be decorated in this case before serving.
Using sugar mastic, machines or animal figures are created on the surface of the cake. It is very tasty and quickly eaten. It consists of gelatin, water, citric acid and powdered sugar.
Fruits and berries should be seedless and fresh. If they are used as decoration, then they cover the cake before serving. You can use apples, bananas, pears, cherries, currants and others. They can be cut or applied whole. If necessary, use frozen or canned fruits and berries.
With the help of dragees and small chocolates, decorate the cake with patterns. If chocolate plates cover the side of the product, you get a kind of barrel.
It is important to consider:
- quality of the necessary products;
- lack of preservatives, chemistry, allergens;
- freshness of the product.
The cake itself and its components should be made on the day of the birthday.
Complexity of execution
The main difficulty in decorating is the elaboration of small details. This is especially true for the non-standard shape of the product. The complexity of the cake depends on the number of inscriptions, figures and small elements. If you are going to make a cake yourself, then you should calculate your strengths and capabilities so as not to spoil the child's holiday.
What can not be done?
It is not recommended to decorate the boy with a cake for 4 years:
- inedible objects (multi-colored paper for inscriptions);
- allergenic products;
- alcohol.
It is important to know that the baby can swallow small parts, so they must be edible. Also, do not forget about products that can cause an allergic reaction in your child or his guests.
Specific ideas
A cake in the form of numbers will be good. It can be decorated with a path for cars or trains, a parking lot, a car, a character from books, congratulations.
A cake in the form of a train is most practical to cover with mastic for color. The cabin of a fairy-tale character, such as Thomas or Tishka, is made.
Cake boy for 4 years, "Paw Patrol" will be the perfect gift for a lover of the same name series.
The cake in the form of lego details and figures is suitable for a little explorer. For example, a robot or transformer will look good.
If a child loves superheroes, you can make a three-level cake in which each level is dedicated to one character.
A cake in the form of a football or hockey field will appeal to a little athlete. You can also form a product similar to a weight or barbell. It all depends on the preferences of the baby.
Colors
For boys, yellow, blue, green dyes are most often chosen for decorating cakes. But the best option would be to use your child's favorite flowers and various decorations.
Pastry Tips
If this is your first time trying to make marshmallows, mastic or other decoration, then you should practice in advance and fill your hand.
When choosing a particular filling and decoration, it is advisable to calculate the approximate costs of the constituent elements of the cake.