Puppy Dog Birthday Cake

The Story of a Puppy Dog Birthday Cake - A Mother's Moving and Humourous Story ...

I say ‘crept up’ because it seemed like it was only moments before that this little baby (ok, so at roughly nine pounds, perhaps not so ‘little’ at all) was being placed into my arms for the first time. And I say ‘assorted emotions’ because I really was an emotional liquorice allsort - layered with joy, happiness, pride, love and even sadness.

I felt joyful to celebrate such a momentous occasion, I was proud of the gorgeous little girl that my baby had bloomed into, but I was sad that the twelve months had slipped by so quickly. (No doubt when we chink glasses for her 18th I will feel the exact same way.)

And how else could I express these emotions but with a lovingly homemade birthday cake!? So, as a mum on a mission, I set about searching for THE perfect cake to say it all.

Perhaps ‘Happy Birthday! I love you!’ can be said with spots and stripes, flowers and flourishings?..	Or was it best said with a multi-tiered masterpiece?..	Or surely pink perfection would show how much I loved her?..

But just when I was getting carried away, I remembered the key ingredient. My daughter.

And so I stopped googling ‘elaborate and massively awesome birthday cakes’ and instead started pondering her favourite things. Her bunny-blankie, walking, early mornings, blueberries, sippy-cups, books, very early mornings, Tiddles-the-cat, bananas, Alfie-the-dog... that’s it! One of her much-loved things was our dog Alfie. Indeed, ‘Alp’ was the very first word that she said and once mastered, she promptly started pointing to all dogs wherever we went and excitedly squealing ‘ALP-Y!’

I knew then that there was only one cake that would say it all. That was the beginning of the Banana Puppy Dog Birthday Cake with Buttercream Frosting and Allsorts Trimmings.

Method: Paws and body were fashioned from rich banana cake. A shiny white coat was added with vanilla and butter, whipped hard until pale then, whipped even harder with carefully double-sifted icing sugar. Eyes and nose were given with chocolate buttons, then ears, mouth and toes with liquorice strappings. Freckles were piped from chocolate just for fun. And, with a slice of strawberry rollup (call it mother-desperation-invention), emerged a cheeky tongue!

Time: More than I would like to admit... and the cleaning of the aftermath kitchen, even longer. Ha!

But in the end, our little ‘Alp-Y!’ cake was adored by the birthday girl and enjoyed in a lovely, happy mess!

(It still remains to be seen if my inner domestic goddess, or lack thereof, could have risen to the challenge of a spotty, stripy, multi-tiered, pink, flourishing masterpiece. I will, very generously, give myself the benefit of the doubt!)

That’s it. That is the story of my daughter’s Puppy Dog Birthday Cake. I am now left wondering what other words have been said and are still to come from lovingly homemade cakes. And how about you, what story of flour, sugar and eggs do you have to tell?



I am Emma and I am wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, an employee and most recently, a busy mummy to an 18 month old daughter and a 3 month old son. My two beautiful babies have given me new priorities in life and as such, I am now working enthusiastically towards establishing my own business, Bibbles – Beautiful Bibs, Smocks and Aprons, so that I can be a work at home mum.

As I work towards this goal, I also blog at The Wannabe Work At Home Mum, in the hope that sharing my journey will provide some insights, or at least some laughs, for others with similar aspirations. Unexpectedly, blogging has stirred a new found love of writing and I am more than happy to be a guest blogger for fellow ‘mumpreneurs’.

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