The AWW Birthday Cake Book

It was my daughter's birthday last week, and naturally we poured over every edition of the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook to find the perfect cake. It was a pirate themed party, but we wanted something a bit more interesting than a round cake with a pirate face on it.

Of course, it's easy to get distracted by little trips down memory lane when it comes to these cookbooks. Hands up who had a number cake? A robot? Dolly Varden? The teddy bear with chocolate bikky paws? The jelly pool (if you did I am very jealous, I always wanted that cake!)? It's just not an Aussie kid's birthday party without an AWW cake. And anyone can make them, even those who are *cough* cuisinely-challenged. Your kid will be as proud as punch no matter what your creation - though of course, it's preferable if it's dripping with lollies and smothered in colourful frosting (or butter cream, as the 80's edition suggested. Mmm, butter cream).

That said, the awesome looking pirate ship in the current edition got the thumbs down from Charlotte - because the black icing looked "yukky". Even though I explained we could always just do chocolate icing, she was firm. No, no, no! As the only other option in the books were ye olde round piratey face, I turned to Taste for inspiration - and her eyes lit up when she saw this:

Chocloate! Lollies! Chocolate coins! Lollies! Chocolate! It was to be a treasure chest and nothing else. Thankfully, it was a massive hit at the party, despite having to field requests for the exact lollies and size coin each guest wanted. And I'm not neccessarily referring to the 4-year-old's, either. Equally thankfully, the recipe was basically a rectangle packet mix so it wasn't too taxing on the parental unit, either.

What was your favourite birthday cake creation? Mine was an icecream Dolly Varden when I was about 7. Sure my birthday is in the middle of winter, but at least it wasn't in danger of melting. Why in the world people loved the idea of a cake that looked like a toilet roll dolly (remember those?!) still evades me. And why in the world people needed a frilly cover for their toilet rolls in the first place is equally as mystifying. Tea cosies in all their knitted glory are making a comeback - perhaps the toilet roll dolly will be the next uber cool craft activity?