Aurelia's My Little Pony Birthday

You may have figured it out from our Halloween costumes (here and here), but My Little Ponies

are kind of a big deal at our house. So I wasn't exactly surprised when Reli asked for them to

be the theme of her 3rd birthday this year. (Way back in October! How late am I at sharing?)

Anyway, we don't do one of those big fancy parties where everything matches like you see so many of around blog-land. Those parties are adorable, but we usually travel home so that my family can be part of the day too. Plus Reli doesn't have any friends to invite over anyway. I know that sounds terrible, but she doesn't have any cousins yet, and every time we make new friends here in Virginia, they move away. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

(Hi Heather, I'm talking about you! ;D)

But even though it's just for grandparents, we still like to plan something that Reli will enjoy.  

And besides, I REALLY like decorating the cakes! (here's last year)

This year was especially fun for me since I was a HUGE My Little Pony fanatic when I was little,

and probably had them as the theme of my first 10 birthdays! The characters may have changed from

back when I played with them, but rainbows and flowers are always part of the MLP deal. 

I used this tutorial (just the technique not the recipe) to make the inside of the cake a special rainbow surprise, and everyone loved it. Most of the other decorations were made of marshmallow fondant, like the rainbow, river, and large flowers, but obviously not the ponies. I might be good, but I'm not THAT good! Then the grass was just green butter-cream with flower sprinkles, and the white is an amazingly fluffy marshmallow like icing that made the perfect clouds.

Fluffy Cloud Icing

(This recipe was originally posted here, but has been moved. So just in case...)

1 egg white

1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla (if you’re using other flavoring start off with a tsp, taste and then add more if necessary)

Combine the egg white with the sugar in a heat proof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan with simmering water (bain-marie) and whisk for 5 minutes. The icing should become thick and glossy. Take off the heat, add the flavoring and coloring (if you’re using any) and whisk for another 2 minutes (5 + 2 minutes = 7 that’s where 7 minute icing name comes from). Ice cupcakes, sprinkle with decorations and leave icing to set. Icing enough for 12 cupcakes.

I was super proud of how the cake turned out and would call the party a success...

but that also may have been because of the pony toys. Who knows?