"Darrell Grainger" > wrote in message

> I actually plan on making two cakes. One for the adults that tastes really
> good and one for my god-child that looks really good. I was thinking big
> but simple graphics like Blues Clues, Winnie The Pooh or Hello Kitty
> because they should be recognisible to her. I'm just not sure 1) if these
> are characters that a 1 year old would recognise (haven't been watching
> too much kids cartoons lately) and 2) how would I make it 3d.
>

I am a mom of three kids, and here's my take...the baby will be exposed to
(and probably addicted to) licensed characters soon enough. Hopefully this
baby (yes, BABY...a one-year-old isn't a kid, he or she is still a baby,
verging on toddlerhood) hasn't been watching cartoons, but may recognize
characters from books or toys. If you want something that your god-child
will recognize, call the parents and ask. Some kids like characters, but
some are just attached to their stuffed green elephant, or purple cat, or
brown bear. In a pinch, most kids like Pooh Bear, though.

Family Fun magazine (familyfun.com) has lots of cool birthday cake ideas.
Or just use your imagination and figure out what you can make out of
circles, squares and rectangles. I made a really cute kitty cat cake for my
daughter's 2nd bday. Just baked a round cake, frosted it pink (her favorite
color), added tortilla chips for ears (covered w/ frosting), and used gel
icings (from the supermarket) to draw whiskers, eyes, and mouth. Then I
baked some cupcakes to go along with it, frosted and decorated to look like
the mama cat.

A friend's daughter is wild for elephants, so the mom baked squares and
rectangles, cut small parts off for legs and tail, and frosted all the
parts, then put them together to resemble an elephant in profile. A gumdrop
eye, some icing for ear and mouth, and it was done. Simple, but really
cute.

As for making something so cute and lifelike that the child wants to hug the
cake,...no matter what cake you offer, that might happen, or it might not.
Just let the baby be himself or herself, and don't worry if you don't get
the same photo op as your friend's baby with the panda cake. Every child
has his or her shining moments, the unpredictability of which is part of the
charm.