Firefighter cake was a blazing success!
Once I learned of the glories of adding dry ice to a birthday cake, I couldn't resist. My first creation was a volcano cake, complete with red lava frosting and dry ice smoke cascading down. When my son turned 5 last week we celebrated with a Burning House Firefighter Birthday Cake.
I built the house out of gingerbread, since a cake house seemed too wobbly. I put in plenty of doors and windows for the smoke to pour out, and gouged a big hole in the roof. The roof hole was originally intended to be a smoke hole, but our trial run demonstrated that the dry ice goes downhill, so we switched and put the fire up top.
For good flames, I stuck lots of birthday candles together with their ends nested in playdough for stability. The roof was removable for easy lighting and dry ice pouring. I used frosting to stick on pretzels to give the house a log cabin look. Seemed more authentic than just a candy gingerbread house.
To the rescue! The Playmobil fellows were on the job.
Then I placed the entire house on a flat 9 x 13" cake and arranged the toy firefighter crew and fire engines (and dalmatian) to come to the rescue. They were well out of harm's way and didn't get sticky at all.
Add hot water to the dry ice, light the candles and Voila! The smoke poured out the windows and added a realistic golden glow with the flames above. Needless to say, the children were fascinated and we did science experiments with the extra dry ice afterwards.
I'm not big on presents, but I do love experiences. This was a memorable birthday experience that delighted all ages.
How do you make a special day memorable for you or your family? What was a favorite birthday experience?
Oh my gosh, Heather, I love, Love, LOVE it!
I also resonate with your sentiment: "I'm not big on presents, but I do love experiences." You gave the best gift of all - phenomenal memories that will be carried and cherished well into adulthood.
Your experiment turned out exceedingly better than mine: http://holessence.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/short-storyflash-fiction-challenge/
And while the story was supposed to be fiction, it was based on actual events
Thanks for sharing - wow in return - I've never tried flash fiction. Or should we call it flash nonfiction?
That is just fantastic! Now my mind is really going..., thank you!
Can't wait to see what you come up with for a fun bday cake! Let me know how it goes!
all I can say is WOW!
Thanks! Pretty cool in real life.
I just showed this to my girls. They were in awe and had many questions—about the dry ice especially! Thanks for sharing, and Happy Birthday to Luke!
You can get dry ice for ~ $1 at Meijers. We had fun exploding the lid off a tupperware container after the cake fun. The pressure builds up as the CO2 builds up inside the jar -- and then BONK! The lid pops off. Extra fun if you put a little toy figure on top of the lid who jumps off spectacularly.
Cute idea for a cake. Very clever.
My best birthdays were sliding parties (January birthday in MN). A bunch of my friends and I would take our sleds, saucers, and toboggans to the nearby sliding hill and race up and down until we were too cold to stand it any longer, then goback to my house for cake and ice cream.
I can't remember a single present I received for all my combined birthdays age 1-18, but I'll always remember the sliding parties.
Your sliding parties sound wonderful! Yes - very telling. "I can't remember a single present I received for all my combined birthdays age 1-18, but I'll always remember the sliding parties." How true.
That is awesome!
Thanks, Wendy! Glad you enjoyed it.
Great cake!! What type of container did you use for the dry ice inside the house?
We used a small glass candleholder, but I've also used a plastic container - most recently the small measuring top to children's medicine bottle.
Birthday cakes are my hobby for the past 3 years and I just love making them. Thanks for publishing this.
What kind of candles did you use? It looks like more than a birthday candle
It was just birthday candles - but a bunch of them all pushed together to make one big blaze. Maybe 20?