Monster truck birthday cake

We invited a few of Arlo’s friends round today for a special birthday lunch party – the big man turns three tomorrow!

It was a low-key affair – four little people and mums – which meant the kids played pretty harmoniously while we munched our way through a heaving table of food.

We played four rounds of pass the parcel, Arlo’s absolute favourite game, but that was the extent of the entertainment. They spent the rest of time bouncing on the trampoline and bursting balloons.

Small parties are definitely the way forward!

When we asked Arlo what kind of cake he wanted, he’d been flitting between a dragon and a monster truck. He finally settled on a monster truck cake – can you get monster truck cupcake toppers? Of course not.

So after much trawling through google images for inspiration we were debating creating a cake track and planting little monster trucks on it, or cutting out something in the shape of a monster truck.

In the end we went for the latter option. I baked the cakes and then I delegated shaping and icing to Matthew. He’s such a perfectionist, while I’m a bit slapdash, so I knew he was the man for the job.

I made my basic chocolate cake recipe, fudge iced the wheels, and then we rolled out coloured fondant icing to decorate the rest.

Arlo was delighted; we heaved a sigh of relief!

Grown up party snacks

I used some of the meat from the box that Keevil and Keevil sent me – baked a batch of sausages drizzled with honey, and a tray of chicken drumsticks with olive oil, thyme, orange zest and soy sauce.

The chicken was plump and juicy, and the sausages really meaty and tasty. A great standard from such a low-priced box.

And then this trio of dishes were inspired by this month’s Good Food Magazine little mini mag. It’s all about party food this edition, and boy are there some blinding little ideas.

Mini jacket potatoes – these are new potatoes rubbed in oil and seasoned then baked in the oven.  I added a dash of creme fraiche and sliver of sundried tomato.

They look really cute and taste yum.

These are little cubes of butternut squash, marinated in sesame oil, soy sauce and honey, coated in sesame seeds and roasted. A really light and delicious bite that adds a vibrant streak of orange to the table.

And this little number is a heavenly mix of ricotta and goats cheese, scattered with pomegranates and chives with a lovely honey and vinegar dressing. Fabulous as a dip or smothered on bread.

If you’ve got some parties coming up i’d really recommend checking out this month’s Good Food as there is a lot of inspiration in that little booklet – stuff that’s a little bit different to the norm but very achievable.

We now have a ridiculous amount of food to get through this weekend having totally over-catered – hey ho! Happy Bank Holiday weekend everyone 🙂