My toddler recently turned three years old so we hosted a little shindig at home to celebrate.
Like my daughter’s birthday party last year, I wanted to have a relaxed do focused around lunch and a few party games. The theme was Lightning McQueen / Thomas the Tank Engine as my son couldn’t make up his mind. So we went with red and blue balloons to suit both
My son is mad about cars and trains so here’s what was on the menu:
- Ham & Pineapple Pizzas
- Sausage Rolls
- Fresh Fruit Skewers
- Car Biscuits with Marshmallow Fondant, an adaptation of this recipe by Nigella
- Racing Car Tim Tams
- Double Chocolate Cake, an adaption of this cake by Sweetapolita
- Stick Shifts (a boy version of these Fairy Wands)
- Winners’ Garlands (Cheerio necklaces)
My ex made these sausage rolls on the morning of the party using puff pastry and good quality sausage mince.
My mum made these fruit skewers – don’t they look pretty? I like skewers because they help keep fingers clean without the need for cutlery.
For the cut out biscuits I used a set of vehicle cutters I’d been saving up all year so we had car, truck, boat and plane biscuits. The marshmallow fondant tasted so much better than normal icing or fondant and was surprisingly unsweet. I say unsurprisingly because it’s basically melted dyed marshmallows and icing sugar kneaded until soft. The fondant is thicker than I would have liked because I simply could not roll it any thinner – you need serious muscles to be a baker!
Do you like these racing cars? I saw something like this online and thought it was such a simple idea. My kids’ grandmother is visiting from Germany at the moment and she and the kids had a fun time making these the day before, using icing to stick the smarties and cut jellybeans onto the Tim Tams.
The table centrepieces were jewellery trees made by my ex. They were on double duty as I also used them to display the Winners’ Garlands (Cheerio necklaces).
As The Hungry Australian Facebook fans will know, there was some debate about the cake in the days leading up to the party. For months my son has been telling me he wanted a Thomas the Tank Engine cake only to change his mind and declare Lighting McQueen to be his new favourite a few days earlier. At the 11th hour he changed back to Thomas.
My son loves chocolate cake so I made a double chocolate cake with good quality cocoa in the cake and milo in the Swiss meringue buttercream. My daughter made the flags and I attached them to some twine hung between two straws.
Some little fingers have already had a go at the icing!
I gave the trains a good wash in hot soapy water and rinsed them clean before placing them carefully on top of the cake.
Did he like it? Oh yes.
I like to cook a similar menu for my kids’ parties each year so regular readers will notice the similarities between this menu, my daughter’s 6 year old party menu and my daughters 5 year old party menu. Both these posts contain recipes and helpful tips on how to throw a kid’s party without losing your mind.
I have such good memories of my own childhood birthday parties. Each year my parents would throw me a party and my mum would bake me the cake of my choice from the iconic Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbook. It’s a tradition I’m more than happy to pass onto my kids, even if nowadays I’m just as likely to search for menu inspiration online.
